19.1Temple idioms
The region's temple architecture moves from restrained Ganga-period Dravida shrines at Talakadu, through the stellate, soapstone-carved Hoysala mode at Somanathapura, to the tall granite gopuras and pillared mandapas of the Vijayanagara and Nayaka periods visible at Srirangapatna and on Chamundi Hill.[1]
19.2Indo-Saracenic Mysore
From the late nineteenth century the state commissioned public buildings in the Indo-Saracenic manner, fusing Islamic domes and arcades with Hindu and Gothic detail. Amba Vilas (Mysore Palace, 1897–1912) by Henry Irwin is the best-known example; others include the Lansdowne Building, Devaraja Market, the Oriental Research Institute, Crawford Hall and the Mysore Medical College.[2]
19.3Planned civic form
Under dewans Seshadri Iyer, Visvesvaraya and Mirza Ismail the city received boulevards, circles, parks, drainage and electric lighting — Mysore was among the first Indian cities lit by hydroelectric power from Shivanasamudra in 1905 — producing the low-rise, tree-lined heritage core that conservation plans now protect.[3]