Mayo Hall

The Mayo Hall is situated next to the Public Utility Building on M.G. Road and its backyard touches Field Marshall Cariappa Road. Lately, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) has built an island fountain park in front of it, which is a pleasant sight for passers by. Till recently, the Mayo Hall was also the venue for BMP Council meetings. Today, the Mayo Hall houses a couple of departments of the BMP, including its Record Room. Some traffic courts also function from here.

The Mayo Hall in Bangalore is a remarkable brick and mortar structure, built in memory of the then fourth Viceroy of India (1872), Lord Mayo. When he was on an official visit to Andaman Islands in 1872, a convict there assassinated him.

Although the construction began in the year 1875, it could be completed only in 1883. The Bangalore Municipal Authority started functioning from here in 1883. The Mayo Hall, according to a contemporary gazetteer, "Has produced a profound impression all over the country" and this led to the construction of a number of memorial institutions like the Mayo Hospital and the Mayo School of Arts at Lahore

According to the Bangalore District Gazetteer (page No.946), the building was built at a cost of Rs 45,000, which included a public subscription of Rs 25,000. Of the Rs 45,000, Rs 5,000 was spent on furnishing the place. In June 1883, it was handed over to the Bangalore Municipal Commission, on condition that the upper storey of the hall, "Should at all proper and reasonable times be available to the public for all meetings of a public nature, free of any charge.

" The Mayo Hall has tall columns and the mouldings atop have minute friezes in mortar. "The building in elevation is remarkable for its composition of architravated and pedimented windows, varied with key-storied arches, beautifully executed consoles, balustrated ledges and typical Greek cornice." (as recorded in the Gazetteer).
The adjoining block - previously referred to as "station public offices"- was built in 1904 and inaugurated by Sir James Bourdillion, the then British Resident in Mysore. This block is in stylistic consonance with the Mayo Hall building.