Sir M. Visvesvaraya Biography: Birthday, Early Life, Career, Awards, Recognition, Death Anniversary, Facts

Sir M. Visvesvaraya Biography: Sir M. Visvesvaraya Biography: Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya 61st Death Anniversary: Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was the first Indian civil engineer, the 19th Diwan of Mysore, and a statesman. He was also known as MV or M Visvesvaraya. He was born on the 15th of September 1861 and died on the 14th of April 1962. Visvesvaraya began his formal education in Bangalore, earned a Bachelor of Science from the University of Madras, and then earned a Diploma in Civil Engineering (DCE) from the University of Bombay via the College of Engineering, Pune, the third-oldest engineering college in Asia.

Sir M. Visvesvaraya Biography

Name	M. Visvesvaraya
Awards	Bharat Ratna (1955)
Profession	Civil engineer and statesman
Date of Birth	15 September 1861
Place of birth:	Muddenahalli
Date of Death:	14 April 1962

Sir M. Visvesvaraya Early years

M. Visvesvaraya was born on 15 September 1861 in Muddenahalli, Kingdom of Mysore (present-day Chikkaballapura district, Karnataka) to Mokshagundam Srinivasa Shastry and Venkata Lakshmi, who were members of a Telugu Brahmin family. Visvesvaraya’s progenitors originated in Mokshagundam, a village in present-day Andhra Pradesh, and migrated to the kingdom roughly three hundred years before his birth.

Visvesvaraya obtained a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree from the University of Madras after completing his primary education in Bangalore. Later, he attended the College of Engineering, Pune (then the College of Science at the University of Bombay) and received a Diploma in Civil Engineering (DCE) as an engineer. Here, he joined the Deccan Club and served as its first secretary; he would have been acquainted with the progressives in Pune, such as Sir R. G. Bhandarkar, Gopal Krishna Gokhale, and Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade, who were all club members.

Sir M. Visvesvaraya Career

Visvesvaraya began his career with the British Indian government and later worked for Hyderabad State. He joined the Indian Irrigation Commission in 1899 and designed and patented a system of automatic weir water floodgates. In 1906/1907, he was dispatched to the British colony of Aden to investigate water distribution and drainage systems. In 1908, he travelled abroad and performed labour for Nizam Osman Ali Khan. The perennial threat posed by the Musi River prompted him to design a flood protection system for Hyderabad.

Visvesvaraya was appointed Diwan of Mysore by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV and was instrumental in devising a system to protect Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion. He was responsible for the establishment of factories and institutions funded by the maharaja, such as the Mysore Soap Factory, Parasitoid Laboratory, Mysore Iron & Steel Works, Bangalore Polytechnic, Bangalore Agricultural University, State Bank of Mysore, Century Club, Mysore Chamber of Commerce, Mysore Apex Chamber of Commerce, and a number of other industrial establishments. In addition, he encouraged private investment in industry and designed a road between Tirumala and Tirupati.

Awards and recognition

Visvesvaraya on an Indian stamp from 1960
King Edward VII made Visvesvaraya a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in 1911. King George V knighted Visvesvaraya as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) in 1915 for his contributions to the public welfare while he was Diwan of Mysore.

In 1955, following India’s independence, Visvesvaraya was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour. He received an honorary membership from the Institution of Civil Engineers in London, a fellowship from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, and several honorary degrees, including D.Sc., LL.D., and D.Litt., from eight universities in India. He presided over the 1923 session of the Indian Science Congress as its president.

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Recognition

Visvesvaraya was recognised in numerous disciplines, including education and engineering. Visvesvaraya Technological University in Belagavi (to which most engineering colleges in Karnataka are affiliated) was named in his honour, as well as prominent colleges like University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore; Sir M. The Institute of Technology, Bangalore; and Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur; Visvesvaraya Hostel, IIT (BHU) Varanasi; Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum, Bangalore.

His alma mater, the College of Engineering in Pune, erected a statue in his commemoration. He is honoured by the naming of two metro stations in India, one in Bangalore on the Purple Line (Sir M. Visveshwaraya Station, Central College) and another in Delhi on the Pink Line (Sir Vishweshwaraiah Moti Bagh).

Sir M. Visvesvaraya Death

Visvesvaraya’s Samadhi at Muddenahalli.

He passed away on April 12/14, 1962, at the age of 100.

Visvesvaraya was renowned for his sincerity, time management skills, and commitment to his cause. Visvesvaraya was an uncompromising Lacto-vegetarian who never consumed meat or eggs. He was also a nonsmoker and an alcoholic abstainer.

Visvesvaraya’s affection for the Kannada language was a fundamental aspect of his personality. He established Kannada Parishat to advance the Kannada language. He desired that seminars for proponents of Kannada be established and conducted in Kannada.

Facts about Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya:

• M Visvesvaraya was born in the Karnataka village of Muddenahalli, Mysore, to a Tamil Brahmin family. His surname, Mokshagundam, derived from the village in Andhra Pradesh where his progenitors resided.
• As a member of the Indian Irrigation Commission, he conceived and implemented a sophisticated irrigation system. He also invented and patented the Block system, an automatic floodgate technology.
• The Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) Dam on the Kaveri River in Mandya, Karnataka, where he served as both chief architect and engineer.
• The dam was named after Krishna Raja Wadiyar IV, the ruler of Mysore.
• Visvesvaraya believed that India required large-scale enterprises, factories, and steel mills in order to prosper economically. He disagreed with Mahatma Gandhi’s claim that India could attain self-sufficiency through rural or domestic industries alone.
• Visvesvaraya concurred that modern education was essential for the development of a nation, and he helped found Mysore University in 1916.
• He devoted a significant portion of his life to building infrastructure for Mahboob Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad, and then
• Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV, the king of Mysore.
• After the 1908 Musi River flood, which claimed thousands of lives, Visvesvaraya helped construct a drainage and sanitation system that prevented future flooding in Hyderabad.
• He was a rationalist who was punctual, devoted to his work, had a clear vision for India’s future, and was a fervent patriot.
• Additionally, known as the Father of the Modern State of Mysore.