Vidhana Soudha is the largest legislature-cum-office building in the country. No other state capital in the country boasts of a comparable structure. Vidhana Soudha, a grand edifice of the Dravidian Style. is built almost entirely with the ‘Bangalore Granite’ excavated from the environs of Mallasandra and Hessaraghatta. 

The building has three main floors with numerous spacious storage rooms in the cellar. The buildings total area is 550505 sq ft with the overall length of 700 feet and width of 350 feet. The height of the building from the floor level to the top of the central dome is 150 ft. 

The concept of the Vidhana Soudha and the execution of the project is entirely credited to late Sri K Hanumanthaiah, Chief Minister of the then Mysore State from 1951 to 1956. He wanted a building which would not only be functional as a secretariat and a model of spaciousness, but which should become the prime edifice of the city – a “People Palace”, symbolizing in its very appearance the seat of government.

“Sovereignty had been shifted from the Palace to the Legislature and it is therefore imperative that the building should depict this transfer of power and reflect the power and dignity of the people and that should be the main characteristics of the Building.” K Hanumanthaiah

The then Prime Minister Sri Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru laid the foundation on 13th July 1951. The construction project of the Vidhana Soudha began in 1952 and was completed by 1956. Mr. B R Manickam, the Chief Engineer of the State Public Works Department led a team of engineers and architects to accomplish this project. Sri K Hanumanthaiah provided detailed instructions to the architects from time to time during the construction period. 

• The Vidhana Soudha was completed in 4 years. The project started in 1952 and was completed in 1956.
  
• About 5000 labors and 1500 chisellers, masons and wood carvers worked on the project.
  
• Most of the un-skilled workers deployed in the construction were convicts, who were freed after construction. 
  
• The entire cost of the project was Rs. 1.75 crores. Today the annual maintenance cost is around 2 crores.
  

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