A two-day exhibition on historical documents and photographs organised by the Karnataka state archives department was inaugurated at Venkatappa Art Gallery in the city on Thursday.
The exhibition is open between 10.30 am and 6 pm on Friday.
Invitation for the coronation function of Mysore king Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV (1895), a detailed statement of the revenue of the erstwhile princely state of Mysore, a letter from chief commissioner about plan and instructions on conducting the Dasara Durbar at Jaganmohan Palace (1897) and a document related to the pension of Dewan Sir M Visvesvaraya are some of the priceless documents which are on display at the exhibition.
Inaugurating the exhibition showcasing more than 200 interesting historical documents, Minister for Kannada and Culture Govind M Karjol said, “The archives department has been corresponding with the British Library in London to obtain historical documents related to the state. The department has over five lakh documents pertaining to the history of Karnataka.”
He said the youths should be made aware of the documents which are of great importance to researchers through exhibitions. The Kannada version of the book ‘A guide to the Record’ was released on the occasion. There wer hardly any visitors because of the strike of BMTC employees.
RARE TREASURE AT THE EXHIBITION
Documents related to Dewans of the Mysore like Mirza Ismail, Sheshadri Iyer, records of Mysore palace and British rule have been displayed in the exhibition.
The other interesting letters include those written by artist Ravi Verma regarding dispatch of oil paintings to Mysore Palace and a list of purohits to be invited for bridegroom’s house during the wedding ceremony of Narasimharaja Wadiyar.
The documents related to water supply to Mysore city from Virajanadi channel to take up repair works of Devaraj Channel, a letter containing remarks of Sir M Visvesvaraya at the opening of the 10th session of the Mysore engineers conference in 1917, a letter through Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV rejecting the mercy petition of Kanneswara Rama in 1920 and a letter from artist K Venkatappa praying for scholarship to learn Veena in 1917 are also on display.
The first Kannada newspaper Mangaloora Samachara (1843) and papers like Kannada Navajeevana, Mysore Star, articles on Byramma, who swam non-stop for 18 hours in 1930, an article on Padappa Dharappa Chougale-first Kannadiga to take part in Olympics have been showcased.