Vidhana Soudha

The Vidhana Soudha, located in Bangalore (Bengaluru), is the seat of the state legislature of Karnataka. It is an imposing building, constructed in a style sometimes described as 'Neo-Dravidian', and incorporates elements of Indo-Saracenic, Rajasthani Jharokha and Dravidian styles.

It was built in the 1950s. Shri Kengal Hanumanthaiah, Chief Minister of Mysore from 1951 to 1956, is credited with the conception of the Vidhana Soudha. He visited Europe, Russia, United States and other places and got the idea of building Vidhana Soudha by incorporating various designs from the buildings he had seen. The foundation was laid by the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, on July 13, 1951. It was completed in 1956. Kengal Hanumanthaiah took a lot of interest and effort in building this marvelous granite building. It is also called as Taj Mahal of south IndiaFact|date=July 2008. Thousands of prisoners were used to build this building because of shortage of laborers. Kengal Hanumanthaiah had to face lot of criticism as the cost of building increased during the construction.

The Vidhana Soudha has four floors above and one floor below ground level and sprawls across an area of 700 by 350 feet. It is the largest Legislative building in India. Its eastern face has a porch with 12 granite columns, 40 feet tall. Leading to the foyer is a flight of stairs with 45 steps, more than 200 feet wide. The central dome, 60 feet in diameter, is crowned by a likeness of the Indian national emblem.

The cost of construction at that time was just 17.5 million rupees. But presently, annual maintenance cost itself is more than 20 million rupees (which include repairs, painting, and other miscellaneous expenses).

The building is illuminated on Sundays and public holidays.

The Karnataka government has constructed a replica named "Vikasa Soudha" to the south of the building. Initiated by the then Chief Minister S M Krishna and inaugurated in February 2005, it is intended to be an annex housing some of the ministries and legislative offices.

Opposite to Vidhana soudha is The High Court of Karnataka. Both buildings are in the Cubbon park.

Trivia

*The majority of the unskilled labour used were prisoners, and they were set free when the construction was completedFact|date=April 2007.
*Over the entrance is inscribed the sentence "Government Work is God's Work".
*The Karnataka State Archives is located beneath the structure. It holds major government records and is accessible to the public. Fact|date=February 2007.

References

* [http://www.kar.nic.in/kla/vds.htm Vidhana Soudha]