M.

Visvesvaraya
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, KCIE (popularly
known as Sir MV; 15 September 1861 12 April
1962)[1] was an Indian engineer, scholar, statesman
and the Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918. He is a
recipient of the Indian Republics highest honour, the
Bharat Ratna, in 1955. He was knighted as a Knight
Commander of the British Indian Empire (KCIE) by
King George V for his contributions to the public good.
Every year, on his birthday, 15 September is celebrated
as Engineers Day in India in his memory. He is held in
high regard as a pre-eminent engineer of India. He was
the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the
Krishna Raja Sagara dam in Mysore as well as the chief
designer of the ood protection system for the city of
Hyderabad.

a ood protection system for the city of Hyderabad.

He was instrumental in developing a system to protect
Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion.[7] Visvesvaraya supervised the construction of the KRS Dam across the
Kaveri River from concept to inauguration. This dam created the biggest reservoir in Asia when it was built.[8]

He also designed and patented a system of automatic weir

water oodgates that were rst installed in 1903 at the
Khadakvasla Reservoir near Pune. These gates were employed to raise the ood supply level of storage in the
reservoir to the highest level likely to be attained without
causing any damage to the dam. Based on the success
of these gates, the same system was installed at the Tigra
Dam in Gwalior and the Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) Dam
in Mandya/Mysore, Karnataka.

Assistant Superintending Engineer, Poona, 1897

99; visited China and Japan, 1898;

He was called the Father of modern Mysore state" (now

Karnataka): During his service with the government of
Mysore state, he was responsible for the founding of (under the patronage of the Mysore government) the Mysore
Soap Factory, the Parasitoide Laboratory, the Mysore
Iron & Steel Works (now known as Visvesvaraya Iron
and Steel Limited) in Bhadravathi, the Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Institute, the Bangalore Agricultural University, the State Bank of Mysore, The Century Club, Mysore Chambers of Commerce, University
Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore and numerous other industrial ventures. He encouraged pri1 Early years
vate investment in industry during his tenure as Diwan
of Mysore. He was instrumental in charting out the plan
Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was born on 15 Septemfor road construction between Tirumala and Tirupati. He
[2]
ber 1861, family to Mokshagundam Srinivasa Shaswas known for sincerity, time management and dedicatry and Venkatalakshmamma in Muddenahalli village,
tion to a cause.
Chickkaballapur District,(Bifurcated from Kolar District
[3]
). Bangalore, Mysore State (now Karnataka), India.
Visvesvaraya lost his father at the age of 12. He enrolled
1.1 Career timeline
for primary school in Chikballapur and attended high
school in Bangalore. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from
Joined service as Assistant Engineer in Bombay,
Central College, Bangalore then aliate of the University
1885; served in Nasik, Khandesh and Poona;
of Madras in 1881 and later studied civil engineering at
[4]
the prestigious College of Engineering, Pune.
services lent to Municipality of Sukkur in Sind,
[5]
Visvesvaraya took a job with the Public Works Depart1894: designed and carried out the water works of
ment (PWD) of Mumbai and was later invited to join the
that Municipality, 1895;
Indian Irrigation Commission. He implemented an ex Executive Engineer, Surat, 1896;
tremely intricate system of irrigation in the Deccan area.

Executive Engineer for Irrigation, Poona, 1899;

Sanitary Engineer, Bombay, and Member, Sanitary
Board, 1901; gave evidence before the Indian Irrigation Commission, 1901;
designed and constructed automatic gates patented
by him at Lake Fife Storage Reservoir; introduced a
new system of irrigation known as the Block System, 1903; represented the Bombay Government at
the Simla Irrigation Commission, 1904; on special
duty, 1905;

In 190607, the government of India sent him to Aden

to study their water supply and drainage system. The
project prepared by him was implemented in Aden
successfully.[6]
Visvesvaraya achieved celebrity status when he designed
1

3 AWARDS AND HONOURS

Superintending Engineer, 1907; visited Egypt, only the achievements listed above, but many other inCanada. United States of America and Russia, dustries and public works owe their inception or active
1908;
nurturing to him. He was instrumental in the founding
of the Government Engineering College at Bangalore in
services lent as Special Consulting Engineer, Hyder1917, one of the rst engineering institutes in India. This
abad, to supervise and carry out engineering works
institution was later named the University Visvesvaraya
in connection with the Musi oods, 1909;
College of Engineering after its founder. He also commissioned several new railway lines in Mysore state.
retired from British service, 1909;
Chief Engineer and Secretary to the Government of
Mysore, 1909;
Dewan of Mysore, P. W. and Railway Department,
1913;

3 Awards and honours

Board of director of Tata Steel, 19271955.[9][10][11]

Diwan of Mysore

The Bharat Ratna medal

Bust of Visvesvaraya at JIT

After opting for voluntary retirement in 1908, he took a

foreign tour to study industrialised nations and after, for
a short period he worked for the Nizam of Hyderabad,
India. He suggested ood relief measures for Hyderabad
town, which was under constant threat of oods by Musi
river. Later, during November 1909, Visvesvaraya was
appointed as Chief Engineer of Mysore State. Further,
during the year, 1912, he was appointed as Diwan (second
Minister) of the princely state of Mysore. He was Diwan
for 7 years.
With the support of Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV, Maharaja
of Mysore, Visvesvaraya made good contribution as Diwan to the all-round development of Mysore state. Not

Visvesvaraya was appointed a Companion of the Order

of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1911.[12] In 1915, while
he was the Diwan of Mysore, Visvesvaraya was knighted
as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) by the British for his myriad contributions to
the public good.[13] After India attained independence, he
was awarded with the nations highest honour, the Bharat
Ratna, in 1955.[14] Sir M.V. was awarded honorary Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers.[15] He
was also awarded a fellowship of the Indian Institute
of Science (based in Bangalore). He was awarded several honorary doctoral degrees including D.Sc., LL.D.,
D.Litt. from eight universities in India. He was president
of the 1923 Session of the Indian Science Congress. He
was the most popular person from Karnataka, in a newspaper survey conducted by Prajavani.

The Samadhi of Sir M.V. at Muddenahalli

4 Works
Visvesvaraya, M (1920), Reconstructing India, P. S.
King & son, ltd, OCLC 2430680
Visvesvaraya, M (1936), Planned economy for India, Bangalore: Bangalore Press, OCLC 19373044
The Knight Commander of The Indian Empire medal

Visvesvaraya, M (1951), Memories of my working

life, Bangalore, OCLC 6459729

3.1

Visvesvaraya, M (1932), Unemployment in India; its

causes and cure, Bangalore: The Bangalore Press,
OCLC 14348788

Recognition

Visvesvaraya has received recognition in various elds,

most notably the education sector and the engineering
sector. Visvesvaraya Technological University which
is based in Belgaum, the University to which most
engineering colleges in Karnataka are aliated to, has
been named in his honour, as well as prominent colleges like University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore, Sir M. Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bangalore and Visvesvaraya National Institute
of Technology, Nagpur. College of Engineering, Pune,
his alma mater, has erected a statue in his honour.[16]
The Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum,
a museum in Bangalore is named in his honour.

3.2

Memorial at Muddenahalli

The Visvesvaraya National Memorial Trust manages a

memorial of Visvesvaraya at his birthplace Muddenahalli. The memorial exhibits his awards, titles and personal belongings, including his living room, spectacles,
cups, books and a block with which his visiting cards were
printed. Models of the Krishna Raja Sagar dam, which
Visvesvaraya designed and supervised the construction
of, are also exhibited. The memorial is located adjacent
to his house, which was refurbished and regarded as a
temple by the locals.[17][18]

Visvesvaraya, M (1917), Speeches, Bangalore:

Govt. Press, OCLC 6258388
A Brief Memoir of my complete working life, Government Press, Bangalore, 1959

5 References
[1] Sir M. Visvesvaraya | Sir MV | Karnataka Personalities.
Karnataka.com (1 October 2007). Retrieved on 30 December 2013.
[2] Nath, Pandri (1987). Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya: life
and work. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 47.
[3] Karnataka News : Remembering Karnatakas icon Sir.
M. Vishveshvarayya. The Hindu (15 September 2010).
Retrieved on 30 December 2013.
[4] Kannada Anubhava. Bangalore: Department of Kannada, RV College of Engineering. 2010.
[5] http://www.coep.org.in
[6] Gupta, Jyoti Bhusan Das, ed. (2007). Science, Technology, Imperialism and War. History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization. Volume XV, Part
I. Pearson Longman. p. 247.
[7] Visvesvarayas services recalled. The Hindu.
September 2006. Retrieved 21 March 2011.

16

[8] Husain, Dildar (1966) An Engineering Wizard of India,

Institution of Engineers (India) AP, Hyderabad.
[9] Sinha, Arindam (23 September 2014). How a relentless
R&D approach propelled Tata Steel to the zenith. The
Financial Express. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
[10] 44th Sir M Visvesvaraya Memorial Lecture by Dr. Amit
Chatterjee (PDF). Advancement of Engineering in India
in New Millennium: A Compilation of Memorial Lectures
presented in Indian Engineering Congresses (20012010):
1213. December 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
[11] Mahanti, Subodh. The Most Celebrated Indian Engineer: Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya. Vigyan Prasar Science Portal. Retrieved 26 July 2015.
[12] The London Gazette: no. 28559. p. 9363. 8 December
1911.
[13] The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 29180. p. 5329.
1 June 1915.
[14] Padma Awards Directory (19542007)" (PDF). Ministry
of Home aairs. Retrieved 26 November 2010.
[15] Welcome to Chikballapur District Visvesvaraya.
Chikballapur.nic.in. Retrieved 11 August 2010.
[16] Engineers Day 2010 Celebrations. Today24news. 15
September 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
[17] MV memorabilia give glimpses of a genius. DNA India.
13 August 2011. Retrieved 28 October 2011.
[18] Kamath, Vijesh (8 September 2009). For locals, Vivesvarayas house is a place of worship. Deccan Herald. Retrieved 28 October 2011.

External links
Works by or about M. Visvesvaraya at Internet
Archive
Memoirs of my working life (1951)

EXTERNAL LINKS

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