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Mysore's Wembley? The Dasara Exhibition's Imagined Economies*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2013

JANAKI NAIR
JANAKI NAIR*
Affiliation:
Centre for Historical Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi 1100067, INDIA Email: nair.janaki@gmail.com
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Abstract

Most scholarly works on exhibitionary practices of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have focused on the meaning and importance of display, and the cultural bases, and indeed biases, that supported various inclusions and exclusions. The exhibition has usually formed part of a larger narrative of new rituals that were enacted in the modern period to serve, variously, imperial, market or patriotic objectives. Can the persistence with which the Princely Mysore state organized its Dasara Exhibition from 1907 until well after independence be understood solely within these frames? In both its choice of location and its timing, the Dasara Exhibition was organized with dogged insistence, despite its obvious failures. This can only be understood in relation to the larger changes that were envisaged for the economy of the region, as the state attempted to build a supplement, even an alternative, to the princely splendour and pomp that was on conspicuous display. This paper looks at the subtle changes and shifts that occurred during the first half of the twentieth century in exhibitionary practices as they related to both real and envisaged changes within the economy that the Mysore bureaucracy was obliged to bring into being.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 47 , Issue 5 , September 2013 , pp. 1549 - 1587
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

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Footnotes

*

This paper was presented at seminars in the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta; the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and at Yale South Asia Studies, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. I have greatly benefitted from the responses of all audiences and from critical readings of the draft by an anonymous referee, Radhika Singha and Tapati Guha Thakurta.

References

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3 I have traced the early twentieth century emergence of Mysore city in ‘Museumising the Cityscape of Mysore’ Mysore Modern: Rethinking the Region under Princely Rule (Minnesota: Minnesota University Press, 2011), pp. 127–164.

4 No other princely state of colonial India spatialized the mutually constituted royal/administrative division in the cities of Mysore/Bangalore: the former, the Royal Capital of a Wodeyar family making its claims to an unbroken past; the latter, the seat of administrative and political power under indirect British rule.

5 On the political consequences of displaying economic unity of a Germany in the making at three mid nineteenth-century universal exhibitions, see Green, Abigail ‘Representing Germany? The Zollverein at the World Exhibitions, 1851–1862’, The Journal of Modern History, Vol. 75, No. 4 (December 2003), pp. 836–863CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also, Carpenter, Kenneth E. ‘European Industrial Exhibitions before 1851 and Their Publications’ Technology and Culture, Vol. 13, No. 3 (July, 1972), pp. 465–486CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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12 Hayavadana Rao, C., ‘The Dasara in Mysore: Its Origins and Significance’ (Bangalore: Bangalore Printing and Publishing Co., 1936), p. 148Google Scholar. ‘The social side of the festival has been greatly developed in recent years, especially since H. H. Sri Krishnaraja Wodeyar. . .came to the throne.’ See also Ikegame, Aya, ‘The Capital of Rajadharma: modern space and religion in colonial Mysore’, International Journal of Asian Studies. Vol. 4. No. 1. 15–44CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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19 Torriani, Riccarda, ‘The Dynamics of National Identity: A Comparison of the Swiss National Exhibitions of 1939 and 1964’ Journal of Contemporary History, Vol. 37, No. 4 (October 2002), pp. 559–573CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Stanard, Matthew G. ‘Selling the Empire between the Wars: Colonial Expositions in Belgium, 1920–1940’ French Colonial History, Vol. 6, 2005, pp. 159–178CrossRefGoogle Scholar. Belgium's late entry and exclusive focus on the Congo were the striking features of the exhibition. Conal McArthy, ‘Objects of Empire? Displaying Maori at International Exhibitions, 1873–1924’, Journal of New Zealand Literature. Special issue: From Maning to Mansfield: Journal of New Zealand Literature (2005), pp. 52–70.

20 Benedict, ‘International Exhibitions and National Identity’, pp. 5–9.

21 Briggs, Victorian Things (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1988), p. 62.

22 Mathur, Saloni, India by Design: Colonial History and Cultural Display (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007)Google Scholar. Contrary to Briggs’ assessment, nineteenth-century India was showcased as the repository of ‘the invention and cunning of workmen’, skills that had long been lost to industrial manufacture. Birdwood, George: Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878: handbook to the British Indian Section (Bristol Selected Pamphlets, 1878), pp. 48–49Google Scholar.

23 Breckenridge, ‘The Aesthetics and Politics of Colonial Collecting’; more generally, see Cohn, Bernard, ‘The Transformation of Objects into Artifacts, Antiquities and Art in 19th century India’ in Colonialism and its forms of knowledge: The British in India (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002), pp. 76–105Google Scholar.

24 Breckenridge, ‘The Aesthetics and Politics of Colonial Collecting’, p. 202.

25 Hughes, Deborah L. ‘Kenya, India and the British Empire Exhibition of 1924’ Race and Class, vol. 47 no. 4, (April 2006) pp. 66–85CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

26 Dutta, The Bureaucracy of Beauty.

27 Ibid., p. 56.

28 Hoffenberg, Peter H. ‘Photography and Architecture at the Calcutta International Exhibition’ in Pelizzari, Maria Antonella ed., Traces of India: Photography, architecture, and the Politics of Representation, 1850–1900 (Canadian Centre for Architecture and Yale Center for British Art, 2003), p. 178Google Scholar.

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30 Sarkar, Sumit, The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal: 1903–1908 (Delhi: People's Publishing House, 1973), p. 115Google Scholar. Trivedi, Lisa, ‘Visually Mapping the “Nation”: Swadeshi Politics in Nationalist India, 1920–30’ Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 62 No. 1 (February 2003) pp. 11–41CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Dutta, The Bureaucracy of Beauty.

31 Trivedi, ‘Visually Mapping the Nation’, p. 16.

32 Ibid.

33 ‘B. L. Rice, Mysore in General, 1897, p. 31.

34 http://www.indiannumismatics.com/products.php?id=&pg=68 [accessed 30 December 2010].

35 S. P. Rajagopalachari, Chairman's Speech, Mysore Dasara Exhibition, 1933.

36 Sreenivasan, M. A., Labour in India: Socio-Economic Conditions of workers in the KGF (Bombay: Vikas, 1980), p. 18Google Scholar. The reference was to the long frustrated attempts of Mysore to obtain permission from the Government of India to start an Iron Works, which was finally begun in 1924.

37 Simmons, Colin, ‘The Creation and Organisation of Proletarian Mining Labour Force in India: The Case of Kolkar Gold Fields, 1883–1955’ in Holmstrom, Mark ed., Work for Wages in South Asia (Delhi: Manohar, 1990), pp. 96–117Google Scholar; Nair, Janaki, Miners and Millhands: Work, Culture and Politics in Princely Mysore (Delhi: Sage Publications, 1998)Google Scholar.

38 A fuller account of this important period is in ‘Reconceptualising the Modern, the Region and Princely Rule’ in Mysore Modern: Rethinking the Region (Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 2011).

39 File no. 11 of 1912, Dewan's Files, Economic Conference, Karnataka State Archives (hereafter, KSA).

40 Crown Representative Records (CRR) R/2, 20/133, India Office Library (hereafter, IOL). Chatterton, Industrial Evolution in India, (Madras: Hindu Office, 1912). Indeed, Visvesvaraya did not hesitate to rebuke Chatterton for being unduly gloomy about the state of Mysore's economy. As early as 1914, he reacted sharply to Chatterton's ‘doleful tone’ reminding him ‘it is not your business to point out the backwardness of Mysore industries, but to indicate its possibilities and stimulate efforts. . . .’ Visvesvaraya to Chatterton, 14 December 1914. File no 11 of 1912, Dewan's Files, KSA.

41 Visvesvaraya Papers, 1899–1918, Reel 1, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.

42 Chandrasekhar, S., Dimensions of Socio Political Change (Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1985), p. 223Google Scholar.

43 D'Souza, V. L., Economic Development of Mysore State (Bangalore: Government Press, 1937)Google Scholar, especially pp. 18, 24–32, 44. See also Bjorn Hettne, Political Economy of Indirect Rule: Janaki Nair ‘Reconceptualising the Modern’; Rangaswami, VanajaThe Story of Integration: A New Interpretation in the Context of the Democratic Movements in the Princely States of Mysore and Travancore (Delhi: Manohar Publications, 1981)Google Scholar.

44 The Government of Mysore's policy of state aid took many forms: pioneering industries where private enterprise was not forthcoming, offering facilities to private entrepreneurs, and taking up between 9 and 62 per cent of total paid up capital in joint-stock companies. Lalbhai, KasturbhaiReport on State Owned and State aided Industries in Mysore (Bangalore: Government Press, 1951)Google Scholar.

45 The Mysore subsidy had been fixed at 7 lakh star pagodas, or Rs. 24.5 lakhs in 1799. At the time of Rendition, in 1881, a further 10.5 lakh burden was placed on the state to compensate for the standing army Mysore would have maintained for external services, though the addition was not collected until 1896. As was pointed out in a long and detailed correspondence beginning in 1915, Mysore thus, with 4.7 per cent of the territory and 8.2 per cent of the people in all Princely states put together, was contributing 40 per cent of the total tribute. Though the tribute was reduced by 10.5 lakhs in 1928, and its name substituted for ‘payment’ in 1931, repeated pleas for remission in toto of this obsolete payment, which accounted for one sixth of the state's revenues in 1931, were turned down until 1938, when there was remission (amounting to Rs 5.39 lakhs) of the excess over 5 per cent of the revenue. See Papers Relating to the Mysore Tribute, Karnataka State Archives (mimeo) Bengaluru.

46 R/1/2, File No. 11, 1915, Sl. No 1–23, IOL.

47 R/2 File no 119, 1917, Sl. No 1–2. IOL.

48 L/P&S/13/1307, IOL.

49 G.O. no. D 4856–925-17C 278–45-1, December 29, 1945, Karnataka State Archives.

50 Ismail, My Public Life, p. 33.

51 File no 42 of 40–41, CB 181–40-1, KSA; ‘Papers relating to the Starting of an Automobile Company in Mysore: Outline History and Index,’ KSA.

52 Visvesvaraya Papers, Reel 7: ‘Automobile Industry in Bombay’, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML); Walchand Hirachand Archives, File no 552, Part I Vol I, NMML.

53 File no 3 (35) P/40 Sec. Sl. No. 1–49 of 1940, CRR, KSA.

54 File no. 42 of 40–41, CB 181–40-1, KSA.

55 Greenhalgh, ‘Education, Entertainment and Politics’ pp. 75, 82.

56 Ibid., p. 87.

57 File no 16 of 1872, Sl. No.s 1–9: Nagar Division Superintendent's Office to Secretary to Chief Commissioner of Mysore, 27/28, Dasara Exhibition Files, Mysore Divisional Archives, KSA.

58 Birdwood, The Industrial Arts of India (London: Chapman, 1884)Google Scholar.

59 Honorary Secretary of Vienna Exhibition, 1873, J. H. Garrett, File no. 16 of 1872, Sl. No. 1–9, General Miscellaneous, KSA.

60 File no. 16 of 1872, Sl. No. 1–9, General Miscellaneous, KSA.

61 File no 22 of 1876, Sl. Nos. 1–20; General Miscellaneous, KSA.

62 Proceedings of the Chief Commissioner of Mysore, General Department, 11 January, 1878, File no 22 of 1876, Sl. No 1–20, General Miscellaneous, KSA.

63 Indian Engineering, 14 April 1889, p. 361.

64 Hoffenberg, Peter H., An Empire on Display: English, Indian, and Australian Exhibitions from the Crystal Palace to the Great War (Berkeley, University of California Press, 2001)Google Scholar.

65 This may in part have had to do with the strains on the Mysore budget, despite the reduced subsidy for 15 years after the devastating famine of 1877–1879, although Indian Engineering was unrestrained in its comments in 1901of Mysore's fall from grace, and noted that the Mysore Darbar had ‘long ceased publishing any statements to show the progress made in this province extending the cultivation of land year by year’, Indian Engineering, 2 February 1901, p. 71.

66 Hence Hughes, ‘Kenya, India and the British Empire Exhibition’, 66–8.

67 Ibid.

68 Report of S. G. Sastri, Industrial Chemist, to Director, Industries and commerce, Bangalore, 21 January 1925, File no 42–24, Sl. No 31, 32, 33, 35.KSA

69 P. G. D'Souza, Director of Industries and Commerce in Mysore to Secretary Revenue Department, 23 January 1925, File no 42–24, Sl. No. 6, 14, 1924–5, Industries and Commerce, KSA.

70 Officer in Charge, Mysore Court, British Empire Exhibition, Wembley, London, to Director of Industries and Commerce, Mysore Bangalore, 18 July 1924, File no 42–24, Sl. No. 6, 14, 1924–5, Industries and Commerce, KSA.

71 Keshaviengar was chiefly, though not solely, concerned with the sales of sandalwood oils. Indian Engineering, Vol. LXXXVII (January–June 1930), p. 6. In 1933, 100,000 square feet of Mysore granite kerb stones were sold in Great Britain. Indian Engineering, Vol. XCV (January–June 1934), p. 145.

72 The Sri Krishnaraja Silver Jubilee Souvenir (The Trades Publicity Corporation, Bangalore, 1927).

73 The Book of the Madras Exhibition, 1915–16 (Madras Government Press, 1916).

74 File no 535–05 Sl. No 1–9, October 1905, Proceedings of the Government of His Highness the Maharaja of Mysore, Order No, 1498–1818 dated 9 September 1905, General Miscellaneous, KSA.

75 Resident of Mysore to Dewan, 16 September 1905, File no 535-05 Sl. No 1-9, October 1905, General Miscellaneous (GM) KSA.

76 With five sections—Agricultural, Industrial, Health and Hygiene, Educational, and Loan displays—the Benares Exhibition included 22 groups, and several exhibits to inculcate not only pride in manufacture but encourage new habits and tastes whilst representing the nation. File no 366 of 1905, Sl. No 1 and 2, GM, KSA.

77 S. M. Fraser to Krishnamurti, 26 January 1906, and Krishnamurti to Fraser, 30 January 1906, File no 539 of 1905, Sl no 1–15, GM, KSA. Mysore's search for uniqueness was expressed in the exuberance of one Deputy Commissioner who proposed that ‘an exhibition of typical people of the rural and aboriginal tribes residing in our province may be arranged at a convenient place. . .such an exhibition would probably be unique in the whole of India and cannot fail to attract appreciative notice.’ Such a supplement to the Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition was promptly dismissed as inappropriate in an exhibition on industry and agriculture.

78 Opening Address, Exhibition Committee President, File no 1/1907, Sl. No 11, GM, KSA.

79 Ibid; Indian Engineering, September 19, 1908, p. 34.

80 Madras Mail, 5 October 1907.

81 Ibid.

82 Madras Mail, 7 October 1907.

83 Indian Engineering, 11 July 1908, p. 19.

84 File no 1/1907, Sl no 11, Address of President, Dasara Exhibition Committee, to His Highness Sri Krishnaraja Odeyar Bahadur, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

85 File no 1/1908, Sl. No. 2–15, Address of President, Dasara Exhibition Committee, to His Highness Sri Krishnaraja Odeyar Bahadur, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

86 Madras Mail, 2 October 1911.

87 Ibid.

88 File no 2/1909, Sl. No 15, Dasara Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition, Dasara Volume II, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

89 File no. 3/1909, President's address to Mysore Dasara exhibition; File no. 1/1913, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

90 Indian Engineering, 23 October 1909, pp. 264–265.

91 Bennett, ‘The Exhibitionary Complex’, p. 95.

92 Benjamin, The Arcades Project, p. 9.

93 File no 1/1907, 59, GM, KSA.

94 File 2/1909, Magaju Govindsahoojee, Puntusapet, Bangalore city to P. Raghavendra Rao, Huzur Secretary to His Highness, Maharaja of Mysore, 24/12/10, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

95 File 1/1913, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

96 One submission by P. Krishna Rao, Acting Deputy Clerk from Hassan, of ‘MBA Medicated Oil’ which is ‘hair oil pure and simple’ had won the gold medal in the ‘essential oils domestic’ category. Letter dated 18 October 1913, File 1/1913, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

97 Madras Mail, 9 October 1911.

98 Madras Mail, 6 October 1913.

99 M. Visvesvaraya, to Mirza Ismail, 19/10/13, File 1/1913, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

100 File no 1/1916, Maharaja's address to the Mysore Dasara Exhibition, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

101 ‘Presidents’ address’, Dasara Industrial Exhibition, File no 1/1914, Sl. No 24, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

102 File no 1/1909, Sl. No 16, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

103 File 1/1913, Sl. No 22, Dewan's Speech at the Opening of the Seventh Mysore Dasara Industrial and agricultural Exhibition, 3 October 1913, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

104 File no 1.1914, Sl. No. 24, Address of G. H. Krumbiegal, President, Dasara Industrial and Agricultural Exhibition, 1914, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA. Emphasis added.

105 The place of manufacture of the machines is not mentioned, though it is likely that they were British firms, transacting in India.

106 Madras Mail, 24 September 1914.

107 Indian Engineering, 7 October 1916, p. 23; 14 October 1916, p. 248.

108 File no 114–14, Sl. No 3 and 6 (1914–15) G. M. Alfred Chatterton to Secretary to Government of Mysore, for education and agriculture, GM, KSA.

109 File 1/1914, Sl. no 24, Dewan's speech at the Opening of the Eighth Mysore Dasara Industrial and agricultural Exhibition, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

110 GO no 9311–73 A and E 217–19-2 1 April 1920, File 7, 1920, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

111 File 9/1919, Kantharaj Urs to Mirza Ismail, 15 March 1920. Dasara files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

112 Kantharaj Urs to Mirza, 19 August 1920, 13 October 1920, File 7, 1920, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA. Madras Mail, 22 September 1920.

113 Madras Mail, 23 October 1917.

114 Madras Mail, 17 October 1909.

115 Report of the Chairman, Mysore Dasara Exhibition, 1939, Mysore Information Bulletin. Vol. II, No 12, p. 304.

116 Mysore Information Bulletin: Vol. 1, No. 6, Bangalore, November 1938.

117 Swarajya, 24 October 1928. Rice mill machinery, unknown to Mysore mill owners, was on display; Bhadravathi Iron and Steel Works was well represented; there were ornamental railways and fountains, water pumps, and beautiful lamp posts. In the automobile section, nothing new or novel was reported.

118 Richards, The Commodity Culture of Victorian England, p. 61.

119 Swarajya, 24 October 1928.

120 Times of India, 23 October 1928.

121 File no 26/1919 Sl. No 186, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

122 In 1939, the Maharaja recalled the 1907 exhibition as one that gave all classes an opportunity ‘of seeing what the neighbours are producing’. Mysore Information Bulletin, 1940, Vol. II, no. 10, p. 250.

123 Address by Chairman, Mysore Dasara Exhibition Committee, File no 26/1929, Sl no 186, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA. Report of the Chairman, Mysore Dasara Exhibition Committee, Mysore Information Bulletin, December 1939, Vol. II, no 9, p. 304.

124 Fifth Annual Meeting of the Exhibitors’ Association, File No. 29/1933, Sl. No 303; also File no 3/1939, Sl. No 9, Mysore Dasara Exhibition, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

125 Mysore Information Bulletin, December 1939, p. 304.

126 Cited in Speeches by Mirza Ismail, Vol., II, p. 361.

127 Dewan's Address, Mysore Dasara Exhibition, File no 3/1939, Sl. No 9, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

128 S. Kumaraswamy, Principal, Chamarajendra Technical Institute to Charles Todhunter, September 21, 1933, File no 29/1933, Sl. No 303, Mysore Dasara Exhibition, Dasara Files, Mysore Divisonal Archives, Mysore, KSA.

129 Mysore Information Bulletin, November 1940, Vol. III, No 11, p. 339.

130 On the necessity of creating a market for home appliances, see Madras Mail, 7 October 1930.

131 In 1911, Chatterton noted, ‘the country has a population of 300 millions, and the scarcity of labour is due to the fact that they are inefficient, that is to say, inefficient from a modern standpoint.’ Madras Mail, 25 October 1911.

132 Dewan's Address, File no 3/1935, Sl. No 337, Mysore Dasara Exhibition, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

133 Madras Mail, 13 September 1935.

134 Charles Todhunter to Mr Kantam, President, Dasara Exhibition Committee, 14 September 1929, File no 22/1929, Sl. No. 9, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

135 Parayil, Sujith Kumar. ‘Photography in 20th Century Kerala.’ Ph.D. Dissertation, Manipal University, 2007.

136 Dewan's Address, Mysore Dasara Exhibition, 1935, File no. 3/1935, Sl. No. 337, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

137 Madras Mail, 3 October 1935.

138 Regular and detailed reports of the Dasara festivities did not fail to add that the Exhibition was a ‘big fixture’ drawing large crowds, and presenting a picture of the state's progress even at the expense of overcrowding. Madras Mail, 9 October 1929.

139 Madras Mail, 25 September 1933.

140 Madras Mail, 7 October 1930.

141 Mysore Information Bulletin, September, 1941, Vol. IV, no. 9, p. 198.

142 Ibid., ‘Most Useful and Well organized exhibition in India’, October 1940, p. 339.

143 Benjamin, The Arcades Project, p. 182.

144 Madhav Rao to Thumboo Chetty, Huzur Secy to H. H. the Maharaja of Mysore, 22 October 1936, File no. 29/1936, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA; Mysore Information Bulletin, 1936, p. 244.

145 Mysore Information Bulletin, 1939, p. 330.

146 Dewan's Address, All India Dasara Exhibition, Mysore, 1935, File no 3/1935 Sl. No 337, Dasara Files, Divisional Archives, Mysore, KSA.

147 M. Shama Rao, Modern Mysore: From the coronation of Chamaraja Wodeyar X in 1868 to the present time (Bangalore: Higginbothams, 1936), p. 389.

148 Times of India, 23 October 1928.

149 Madras Mail, 30 September 1935.

150 Ibid., 17 October 1934.

151 Ibid., 7 October 1932.

152 Mysore Information Bulletin, November, 1940, Vol III, no 11. p. 339.

153 Mysore Information Bulletin, September, 1941, Vol. IV, no 9. p. 198.

154 For a more detailed discussion of war-time expansion of production in Mysore, see, Janaki Nair ‘The Emergence of Labour Politics in Mysore’ (Ph.D. Dissertation, Syracuse University, 1991), Chapter II.

155 Bjorn Hettne however suggests that Mysore's industries were already in decline. See, however, Kasturbhai Lalbhai ‘Report on the State Aided Industries of Mysore’.

156 Benjamin, The Arcades Project, p. 201.

157 Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities (London: Verso, 1991), p. 204Google Scholar.

158 Hayavadana Rao still saw the exhibition as a necessary ‘diversion’: ‘The Exhibition has helped provide the much required diversion on the social side, to the large numbers of visitors who are attracted to Mysore during the Dasara Season. . .’ C. Hayavadana Rao, ‘The Dasara in Mysore’ p. 148.

159 Richards, The Commodity Culture of Victorian England, p. 8,

160 Chatterjee, Partha, Nationalist Thought in a Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse? (Minnesota: Minnesota University Press, 1992), p. 47Google Scholar.

161 On the concept of ‘political society’ with reference to post-independent political practices, as distinct from ‘civil society’ of the restricted kind, see Chatterjee, Partha, ‘On civil and political society in postcolonial democracies’ in Kaviraj, Sudipta and Khilnani, Sunil eds, Civil Society: History and Possibilities (Delhi: Foundation Books, 2002), pp. 165–178Google Scholar. For the distinct paths taken by colonial and post colonial societies such as India, see Sudipta Kaviraj, ‘In search of civil society’ in the same volume, pp. 287–323.