M. Visvesvaraya

M. Visvesvaraya around 1890

Sir M. Visvesvaraya ( Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya , in the spellings M. Visweswaraiah , Vishweshwariah or Vishweshwarayya * 15. September 1861 in the village Muddenahalli, Kolar district , † 14. April 1962 in Bangalore ) was an Indian construction and hydraulic engineering - engineering and from 1912 to 1918 divan from Mysore.

origin

He was born in the village of Muddenahalli , 40 miles from Bangalore in India . The family was a devout Telugus speaking Brahmin family of the Vaidiki-Mulukanadu sub-caste. His ancestors came from the village of Mokshagundam near Giddalur in the Prakasam district of present-day Andhra Pradesh and had emigrated to Mysore about three hundred years earlier . His father was a Sanskrit -Students and an authority in the Hindu - Dharmashastra -Theologie, and he practiced Ayurveda .

Youth and education

Visvesvaraya lost his father at the age of 15. The family was in Karnulu at the time and then moved back to Muddenahalli. Visvesvaraya went to school in Chikballapur and then to high school in Bangalore. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Madras in 1881 and later studied civil engineering at the College of Science in Pune , now known as the College of Engineering, Pune (COEP).

Engineering activity

He accepted a job in the Public Works Department in Bombay and was invited to serve on the Indian Irrigation Commission. He presented an extremely complex system of irrigation in the Deccan area. He also designed a system of automatic weir locks and had it patented. They were installed for the first time in 1903 at the Khadakvasla reservoir in Pune . The benefit of these closures was to raise the water level as much as possible during flooding in order to absorb the flood without endangering the dam. Due to the success of these closures, the same were used on the Tigra Dam in Gwalior and the Krishna Raja Sagar Dam in Mysore . The Krishna Raja Sagar Dam on the Kaveri River was the largest water reservoir in India at the time. - The Tigra Dam (1917) and the Khadakwasla Dam (1961) later caused major flood disasters due to dam breaches.

Visvesvaraya achieved fame when he designed a flood protection system for Hyderabad . He was also involved in developing a method to protect the port of Visakhapatnam from wave erosion.

Divan from Mysore

After a voluntary retreat in 1908, he was appointed Diwan (First Minister) of Mysore , one of the largest and most important kingdoms in India , in 1912 . With the support of the Maharajas of Mysore Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV. As a divan, he made unprecedented contributions to the general development of the state. Not only the Krishna-Raja-Sagar dam, but also the "hydel" projects in Shivanasamudra , the steelworks in Bhadravati , the University of Mysore and many other industrial companies and public institutions owe their existence or active growth to him. In 1917 he was involved in establishing the Government Engineering College in Bangalore , one of the first engineering schools in the country. This institution was later named the "University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE)" after its founder. It is one of the most reputable higher education institutions in the state of Karnataka .

honors and awards

The institutions that have been named in his honor are deservedly numerous and include, for example, the Technical University of Belgaum (Visweswaraiah Technological University), to which all state colleges in Karnataka are affiliated. In addition, in 1960, the Visvesvaraya Regional College of Engineering was established in Nagpur , now known as the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology. As part of his centenary celebrations, the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum was established in Bangalore.

When he was Diwan of Mysore, he was beaten by the British on June 3, 1915 for his many services to the public good to Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire . After India became independent, he received the highest Indian order, the Bharat Ratna , in 1955 .

Web links

Commons : Mokshagundam Visvesvaraiah  - Collection of images, videos and audio files