Engineer's Day 2020: Some facts about Sir M Visvesvaraya, one of the greatest engineers

In India, we celebrate Engineer’s Day on September 15, as a tribute to the greatest Indian Engineer Bharat Ratna Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya. More commonly known as Sir MV was an Indian civil engineer and statesman and the 19th Diwan of Mysore, serving from 1912 to 1919.

India’s legendary dam builder was born on September 15, 1861, at Muddenahalli near Chikkaballapur in Karnataka and went on to become one of India’s greatest engineers. His birthday, 15 September, is celebrated as Engineer's Day in India, Sri Lanka, and Tanzania in his memory.

When Visvesvaraya was the Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1918, he transformed the state into what was then known as a 'model state'. For his numerous industrial, economic, and social projects, he was called "Father of Modern Mysore".

The foundation of Jayanagar was laid in 1959. It was one of the first planned neighborhoods in Bangalore and, at the time, the largest in Asia. It is believed that the locality, designed by Visvesvaraya, has one of the best-planned layouts in Asia.

His most famous project was the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and Dam, which was India’s largest reservoir at the time.

Sir M Visvesvaraya received India's highest honor, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955.