My Village City- K.R.Sagar. Brindhavan Garden

 

Brindavan Gardens (Krishnaraja Sagara)

 

Built in 1924, this is India's first irrigation dam. Sir.M.Vishweswariah, the engineer who designed and built this dam, has shown his acumen in converting a dam site into a beautiful garden with colourful fountains and ponds downstream. The dam is named after the then Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who financed this novel project. KRS represents a marvel of civil engineering achievement in pre-independence India and was among the first in the world to use automatic sluice gates. Locally available surkhi was used instad of importing cement from England (a scarce commodity in those days).

With his slogan of "Industrialize or Perish," Sir. M.V. as he is better known, this visionary engineer built not only the KRS dam but a whole chain of generating stations and industries to modernise the then princely Mysore state at the beginning of this century. Krishnaraja Sagar also has an engineering (hydraulics) research station to study water flow, control, and design of dams.

Brindavan gardens is located 12 Kms north-west of Mysore city and has rows-of colourful fountains. There is a boating pond to cross the dam from the south bank to the north bank and at the northern edge are the dancing fountains. Using advanced lighting techniques, the fountains are made to jump and dance to the tune of music. The dam is over 3 Kms long and is constructed at the junction of three rivers - Kaveri, Hemavati and Lakshmanathirtha. This site has been popularised over the years by the large number of Indian/foreign films shot at this location.

K.R. Sagar is located in a pivotal postion overlooking the entire gardens. The northern bank also houses a well established horicultural nursery providing good variety of fruit/flowering plants. At 6.30 PM the garden lights up with fountains shining to different coloured lights. The variety of flower beds glow in the light adding to the charm. This spectacular sight makes Brindavan gardens unique and it lasts till 8 PM every day (longer during week-ends).

K.R. Sagar dam is well connected to Mysore by road and rail (Arasikere line) There are many tourist buses going directly to Bangalore. This dam has not only served as a model to several dams in India, but is also a testimony to prove the superiority of surkhi (a mixture of brick powder and lime) over cement, in dam construction. The best season to visit KRS is June-July when the monsoon brings in plenty of water which gushes through the sluice gates which open automatically after the maximum head of 124 Feet is reached. The beauty of KRS can be enjoyed all year long except during the summer months, when there might be little water in the lake.

ILLUMINATION AT BRINDAVAN GARDENS

Illumination timings of Brindavan Gardens at Krishnaraja Sagar has been extended from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm from Oct. 19 to 23.
The entry to the Gardens is open to the tourists and public on all the days from Oct. 1 to 31.
The illumination timings are from 6.30 pm to 7.25pm from Monday to Friday and from 6.30 pm to 8.25 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Entry to the tourists will be restricted half an hour before the closing of illumination.

However, the timings will be from 6.30 pm to 9.30 pm from Oct. 12 to 21st, on account of Dasara festivities.

On all these days, entry to the visitors will be stopped 30 minutes prior to the close of illumination timings.

Brindavan Gardens is a show garden that has a beautiful botanical park, full of exciting fountains, as well as boat rides beneath the dam. Diwans of Mysore planned and built the gardens in connection with the construction of the dam. Display items include a musical fountain. Various biological research departments are housed here. There is a guest house for tourists. It is situated at Krishna Raja Sagara dam.