Thank You & Looking Ahead with the DHF
Staff at the Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion handling an artefact from the Folklore Museum.
As 2024 comes to a close, we celebrate a year of meaningful partnerships and initiatives to preserve the Deccan’s rich architectural heritage. Here is a glimpse of some of our achievements this year and a preview of what’s ahead in 2025.
Landmark restoration projects Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion & Folklore Museum in Mysuru
The Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion, currently being restored by the Deccan Heritage Foundation.
This milestone project, led by the DHF co-founder Dr. Helen Philon, focuses on conserving an early 1900s building and its ethnographic collections while developing a sustainable heritage management model for academic institutions, including the University of Mysore.
Rang Mahal Pavilion in Hyderabad
The nearly complete restoration in progress of the Rang Mahal gate.
The DHF has restored the Rang Mahal and its garden at the former British Residency, now on Osmania Women’s University campus. Reconstruction is nearly complete, and the space will soon host concerts and cultural events.
Stepwell and Surrounding Temples in Sudi, Gadag District
The Nagakunda stepwell in Sudi. Photograph by Surendra Kumar
We are thrilled to announce an exciting new project to restore a 10th-11th century Nagakunda stepwell and surrounding Kalyani Chalukya temples! Through this project, we hope to engage local communities and promote sustainable tourism.
Empowering future generations
Dr George Mitchell at Mittal Institute in Harvard delivering a lecture on Hampi Vijayanagara. Photo credit: The Lakshmi Mittal and Family South Asia Institute at Harvard
The DHF co-founder Dr. George Michell toured the U.S. earlier this year, delivering lectures on Hampi Vijayanagara to packed audiences at institutions such as Harvard, UPenn, UChicago, UC Berkeley, and the Indian Consulate in New York. A recording of the entire lecture at The Mittal Institute at Harvard is available online.
Upcoming publications
New cover of City of Victory: Vijayanagara by John M. Fritz and George Michell with photography by John Gollings.
The DHF is also at work on an updated edition of City of Victory: Vijayanagara, a richly illustrated volume on Hampi, in partnership with Pictor Publishing. This much-awaited publication will be available toward the end of 2025.
The DHF’s projects rely on the generosity of friends and patrons like you. Please consider making a gift today to support our work. We thank you immensely for your engagement with the DHF, and looking forward to sharing more of our work towards preserving the Deccan’s rich heritage with you in 2025!
