Mysuru: With a crack appearing at the top of the historical Silver Jubilee Clock Tower (Dodda Gadiyaara) near the Town Hall in the heart of Mysuru city, the district administration has decided to immediately begin work on repairing it.
A meeting of the Mysuru Heritage Experts Committee called by Mysuru deputy commissioner, Abhiram G Shankar here on Monday, decided to restore the clock tower while taking care not to damage its heritage features.
Members of the committee, Eechanur Kumar, Dr N S Rangaraju, Major General (retired) S G Vombatkere and others, visited the tower Monday evening with Mysuru City Corporation commissioner, Shilpa Nag, deputy director (heritage), department of heritage, archaeology and museums, Nirmala Matpathi, engineers and others to inspect the damage.
Recalling that the MCC had stopped the tower bell from ringing without consulting the heritage experts committee over 20 years ago, blaming it for the hairline crack that had developed in it in the late nineties, Mr Eechanur Kumar said it was now suspected that the rusted and bent iron bar from which the bell is hung could be responsible.
The 75 ft tall clock tower was built on August 8, 1927 to commemorate the silver jubilee of former Mysuru maharaja, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar's reign. Designed in the Dutch Gothic style, it was built with sandstone bricks from Rajasthan. The clock itself with its 5ft tall bell was brought from France.
Besides restoring the clock tower the committee also decided to work on conservation of other heritage buildings like the Jayalakshmi vilas palace and Sri Bommaiah choultry in Mysuru.
Ms Nirmala Matpathi revealed that a meeting had been called by the Chief Secretary in Bengaluru on May 16 to discuss conservation of these and other heritage buildings of Mysuru.
