“A Temple Dedicated to The Nation,” is what Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru called Vidhana Soudha in Bangalore, which houses the State Legislature along with the Secretariat of Karnataka. In addition to being amongst the top tourist places to visit in the city of Bangalore, it is also the largest Legislative building in the entire country. The conception and construction of Vidhana Soudha was done by the then Chief Minister of Mysore, Kengal Hanumanthaiah, with Nehru laying down its foundation stone on July 13, 1951. Subsequently, the iconic structure was completed in 1956, with a total cost of almost INR 1.84 crore.
Boasting of four different entrances in all the four directions and four storeys, with an additional floor below the ground level, Vidhana Soudha is also popularly known as the “Taj Mahal of South India.” At the moment, the structure stands tall at 150 feet, with an opulent and exquisite Neo-Dravidian style of architecture. Moreover, it has several elements of Indo-Saracenic, Dravidian as well as Rajasthani designs implemented into it.
Spread over an expanse of 60 acres, this stunning white building has many carved pillars, pediments, bases, arches as well as cornices, which add to its immense beauty. With four different floors, the building has a porch on its eastern side, with 12 huge columns of granite. Additionally, the central dome of the building is supported by eight pillars, with a crown of the four-headed lion, the national emblem of the country.
Vidhana Soudha also has almost 300 rooms, which accommodate around twenty-two different departments of the State Government. As of now, its replica, called the Vikasa Soudha has been built by the Karnataka Government adjacent to it, which acts as a secretariat building. Also, it is located right opposite to the High Court of Karnataka.
Influenced by the House of Commons in London, the Vidhana Soudha is spread over 60 acres of land. It is popularly known as the building that houses the State Legislature Assembly and the Secretariat of Karnataka. The foundation stone of Vidhana Soudha was laid down by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1951.
It has been described by many dignitaries in many different ways over the years. Inaugurated on October 10, 1956, Vidhana Soudha is the original seat of power in the state of Karnataka. The construction of such a building was due to the immense amount of nationalist sentiments that were growing amongst people soon after India gained its independence. During that time, the administrative offices were based out of Attara Kacheri, built by the British in 1868.
It is due to this that plans were made for India’s own structure of legislature. However, the plan was mooted during K.C. Reddy’s tenure, who was the first Chief Minister of Karnataka. Regardless, soon after that, Nehru laid its foundation stone down, followed by Hanumanthaiah, who completed the construction of the Vidhana Soudha.
Hanumanthaiah was Reddy’s successor and wanted to shed light to the nationalist sentiments. And so, he asked B.R. Manickram, the chief architect of the project to build the structure right opposite to the Attara Kacheri, that too at a slight elevation. Ultimately, the house of the legislature and secretariat was built, spreading over 5,00,000 square feet, with a total cost of INR 1.84 crore at that time.