Moti Talab, Mysore

This photograph of the Moti Talab, Mysore taken in the 1890s by an unknown photographer, is from the Curzon Collection's 'Souvenir of Mysore Album'."Moti Talab, or lake of pearls, near the French Rocks, is formed by the embankmant carried across a gap between two hills which stems the water of the Yadava River. The bund is 78 cubits high, 150 long, and 250 broad at the base, and is said to have been built by Ramanujacharya, the Srivaishnava reformer of the 12th century. The tank was breached by Tipu Sultan in 1798 to prevent its being of use to the enemy, but was restored by the British and is maintained in good order." This note comes from the album. 'Souvenir of Mysore'.

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Pupils attending Maharani's Girls' College, Mysore

This photograph of pupils attending Maharani's Girls' College, Mysore taken in the 1890s by an unknown photographer, is from the Curzon Collection's 'Souvenir of Mysore Album'.A note with the photograph reads, "This College, named in honor of H.H. the Maharani-Regent, was established in 1881. The institution is unique in its class in Southern India, educating, as it does, young ladies of the middle and higher classes of the high caste Hindus, and providing new walks of life for their widows...A Lady Superintendent selected in England, with University honors, presides, and the standard of education includes the first in Arts Degree of the Madras University. There are also special classes for preparing Brahmin widows for the Education Department and for the instruction of married ladies in subjects of domestic economy and accounts."

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The Dasara Hall with Throne, Palace, Mysore

This photograph of the Dasara Hall with throne, Mysore Palace taken in the 1890s by an unknown photographer, is from the Curzon Collection's 'Souvenir of Mysore Album'.The note with the photograph reads, "This throne is one of the articles of interest in the palace. The original structure, which was of fig-wood overlaid with ivory, is generally stated to have been sent by Aurangzeb to Chikka Deva Raja in 1699. The Palace legend, however, runs that it had once been the throne of the Pandus, that Kampula Raja brought it thence and buried it at Penugonda, from which place the founders of the Vijayanagar Empire, to whom its locality was revealed by an ascetic, recovered it, and that it was handed down from dynasty to dynasty until it came into the possession of Raja Wodeyar. It is certain that the ivory throne was used by Chikka Deva Raja and his successors up to the accession of Tipu Sultan, and that, after the downfall of Seringapatam, it was employed at the Coronation, by the British, of Krishna Raja Wodeyar III."

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Maharani's Girls' College, Mysore.

This photograph of the Maharani's Girls' College, Mysore taken in the 1890s by an unknown photographer, is from the Curzon Collection's 'Souvenir of Mysore Album'. A note with the photograph reads, "This College, named in honor of H.H. the Maharani-Regent, was established in 1881. The institution is unique in its class in Southern India, educating, as it does, young ladies of the middle and higher classes of the high caste Hindus, and providing new walks of life for their widows...A Lady Superintendent selected in England, with University honors, presides, and the standard of education includes the first in Arts Degree of the Madras University. There are also special classes for preparing Brahmin widows for the Education Department and for the instruction of married ladies in subjects of domestic economy and accounts."

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