Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya KCIE FASc, more commonly known as Sir MV, was an Indian civil engineer, statesman and the 19th Diwan of Mysore, serving from 1912 to 1919. He pursued his degree from one of the best and the 3rd oldest engineering college in Asia, College of Engineering, Pune.
One of the most eminent engineers ever produced by India, Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, better known as M. Visvesvaraya, was a man of high principles and discipline. An engineer par excellence, he was the chief architect behind the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara dam in Mandya which helped to convert the surrounding barren lands into fertile grounds for farming. An idealistic person, he believed in simple living and high thinking. His father was a Sanskrit scholar who believed in providing quality education to his son. Even though his parents were not financially rich, the young boy was exposed to a richness of culture and tradition at home. Tragedy struck the loving family when his father died when Visvesvaraya was just a teenager. After the death of his beloved father, he struggled hard to get ahead in life. As a student he was poverty stricken, and earned his livelihood by tutoring smaller kids. Through his hard work and dedication he eventually became an engineer and went on to play a pivotal role in designing the flood protection system in Hyderabad. He was decorated with numerous awards and honors for his relentless contributions to the country.
Visvesvaraya was born into a Telugu Brahmin family in a village near Bangalore, India. His father was a prominent Sanskrit scholar of his times. His parents were very simple but principled people. Even though the family was not rich, his parents wanted their son to get a good education. He completed his primary education from his village school and went to high school in Bangalore. His father died when he was just 15 and the family was plunged into poverty. In order to continue his education Visvesvaraya started giving tuitions to small children and earned his livelihood this way. He joined the Central College in Bangalore and studied hard. He was a good student in spite of all the hardships in his life and completed his Bachelor of Arts in 1881. He went to the prestigious College of Engineering at Pune after he managed to get some help from the Government.

After his graduation in 1884, he found a job with the Public Works Department (PWD) of Mumbai and joined as an Assistant Engineer. Over the course of this job he served in Nasik, Khandesh and Pune. He then joined the Indian Irrigation Commission and helped to implement a complex system of irrigation in the Deccan area. During this time he was told to devise a method of supplying water from the river Sindhu to a small town called Sukkur. He designed and carried out the waterworks for the Municipality of Sukkur in 1895. He is credited with the development of the Block System which would prevent the wasteful flow of water in dams. His work was becoming so popular that the Government of India sent him to Aden to study water supply and drainage systems in 1906-07. He did so and designed a project based on his study which was implemented in Aden. The Visakhapatnam port was in danger of being eroded from the sea. Visvesvaraya with his high intelligence and capabilities came up with a good solution to solve this issue. During the decade of the 1900s Hyderabad city was reeling under the threats of flood. Once again the brilliant engineer supervised the engineering work at Hyderabad by lending his services as a Special Consulting Engineer in 1909. He was appointed as the Chief Engineer of Mysore State in 1909 and as the Diwan of the princely state of Mysore in 1912, a position he held for seven years. As the Diwan, he made immense contributions towards the overall development of the state. He helped in founding the Government Engineering College at Bangalore in 1917 which was later renamed as the Visvesvaraya College of Engineering in his honor. He served as the chief engineer for the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and dam in 1924 across river Kaveri in Mandya district near Mysore in Karnataka.
He is best remembered for the instrumental role he played in the construction of the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and dam in 1924. This dam not only became the main source of water for irrigation for the nearby areas, but was also the main source of drinking water for several cities.
Visvesvaraya was knighted as the Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire (KCIE) by the British for his contributions to the society in 1915.
He was awarded with independent India’s greatest honor, The Bharat Ratna in 1955 for his relentless work in the fields of engineering and education. He is the recipient of several honorary doctoral degrees from eight universities in India.
To name few of the many things he was responsible for:
The architect of the Krishnarajasagara dam – or KRS or Brindavan gardens. One of the biggest dams in India which irrigate a hundred and twenty thousand acres of land. This was built at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore. It changed a barren Mandya district into rice granary, provides drinking water to Mysore and Bangalore.
Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works – as its Chairman he rescued it from becoming extinct.
Mysore Sandal Oil Factory and the Mysore soap factory
Mysore University – Sir M.V.’s question was “If Australia and Canada could have universities of their own for less than a million population, cannot Mysore with a population of not less that 60 lakhs have a University of its own?”
State Bank of Mysore (it was first named as ‘The Bank of Mysore’)
Public libraries in Mysore and Bangalore
Encouraging girls to attend school.
Mysore Chambers of Commerce
Kannada Sahitya Parishad or the Kannada Literary Academy
Sri Jayachamarajendra Occupational Institute, Bangalore – funded by the ENTIRE money [Rs 200,000] he earned from rescuing Bhadravati Iron Works.
In 1912 he set up Hebbal Agricultural School, now University of Agricultural Sciences.
In 1903 he designed automatic, weir water floodgates, installed at Khadakvasla reservoir.
He implemented irrigation system in Karnataka.
Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic Institute.
The Bangalore Agricultural University (University of Agricultural Sciences).
The Century Club
Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bengaluru