Opinion A century ago, when girls walked through the gates
Despite its glorious past and despite protests, on February 8 this year, the building was demolished to make way for the construction of the Vivekananda Memorial. The children were moved to the Government Maharani Teachers Training Institute, located on the other side of the road.
The Maharani Kempananjammanni Girls School stood on Krishnavilasa Road in Mysore for over a century until its demolition earlier this month. (Express Photo by Kiran Parashar) 
A well-planned Mysore was built only after June 1799, when Mummadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar became king and shifted his capital from Srirangapattana to Mysore in 1801. But it wasn’t until nearly a century later, under another Wodeyar king, Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar-X, and his queen Vani Vilasa Sannidhana that the city became the birthplace of a revolutionary idea — public education for girls and women. Until then, public education was the privilege of the boys and the men.
Now, in the midst of the controversy over the hijab, with concerns being expressed over whether this will lead to dropouts among girls, it’s pertinent to recall the moment when public education for girls became a reality and led to the establishment of the Maharani Kempananjammanni Girls School — the first school in the then Mysuru state.
With the queen taking personal interest, the school came up during the reign of Chamaraja Wodeyar-X. His Dewan Rangacharlu is said to have instructed Palace Durbar Bhakshi Ambil Narasimha Iyengar, who was also a tutor to Prince Chamaraja Wodeyar, to work towards setting up the school.
Iyengar convened a public meeting in 1880 and with private subscriptions, started a girls’ school on March 16, 1881, in Mysore. It was revolutionary in more ways than one — admission was open to all sections of society, irrespective of caste or religion. To begin with, 28 girls and five teachers joined. The subjects taught were Kannada, Music and Sanskrit. Because of the Maharani’s interest in the project, the school was named after her.
With the passing away of her husband soon after — Chamaraja Wodeyar-X died young in 1894, during a trip to then Calcutta, of diphtheria — Maharani Kempananjammani was appointed Regent until her minor son Krishnaraja Wadiyar was old enough to rule.
Initially, the girls’ school was located on the temple premises, within the Palace fort. As the number of students rose steadily, it was shifted to a vacant plot behind the Jaganmohan Palace — which now serves as an art gallery — until the construction of a new building was taken up at Krishnavilasa Road, where the school, later named Maharani New Type Model School (MNTM), stood until its unfortunate demolition earlier this month.
After the inauguration of the new building in 1889, Chamaraja Wodeyar is known to have said: “You are all aware that the school, which was started only a few years ago, is now one of the most popular institutions in Mysuru. I have watched its progress with great attention, and had hitherto accommodated it on a part of the Jaganmohan Palace premises. I believe that it has now acquired those dimensions which make it desirable that it should have a proper separate school.”
By then, the strength of the school had gone up to 59. The Prince of Wales, who visited the school the same year, is said to have been so impressed that he expressed his intention of “informing the queen of the progress of this school”.
Some years earlier, on December 2, 1886, Lord Dufferin, the Viceroy of India, too had visited the school, accompanied by his wife. To commemorate the Viceroy’s visit, a clock tower was constructed next Devaraja Market. Among the students in the school then were a middle-aged widow from an orthodox family and six students who reached the high-school stage.
Among the other high-profile visitors to Mysuru and to this school was Swamy Vivekananda, who is known to have stayed at the residence of Sheshadri Iyer, the second Dewan of the princely state. Chamaraja Wodeyar-X was said to have been among those who sponsored Vivekananda’s visit to Chicago, from where he wrote a letter thanking the Maharaja.
On April 1, 1891, the school was taken over by the Government of Mysore and in 1895, the Maharani Kempananjammanni’s Girls School became a high school. The same year, three girls from the school passed the matriculation examination for the first time
The school pioneered another revolutionary idea to check dropouts — a ‘home-teaching branch’ for girls who can’t attend school for reasons of domestic compulsion and for elderly women.
In 1897, a college for girls, named the Maharani’s College, was started on the school premises that offered only Arts subjects. After about 20 years, the college was shifted out to a new premises.
In 1993, to mark a century of the school’s existence, the ‘Vani Vilasa Kempananjammanni Auditorium’ was announced.
The school complex now has a girls’ high school, a junior college and a Teachers’ Training Institute. Despite its glorious past and despite protests, on February 8 this year, the building was demolished to make way for the construction of the Vivekananda Memorial. The children were moved to the Government Maharani Teachers Training Institute, located on the other side of the road.
(The writer retired as professor of Ancient History and Archaeology from the University of Mysore)
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