Shri. Venkatakrishnayya is well known for his social activities in mysore and his dedicated life. He has done yeoman`s service for in the field of social service and education. By dint of his simplicity and devotion to social work he endeared himself to the people of mysore who therefore revered him as “ Tatayya”.

- Late Sri Chamaraja Odeyar, Maharaja of Mysore

Shri Venkatakrishnayya has been aptly described as the grand old man of Mysore for he was indeed the father of public life of the state. He took an active interest not only in the political emancipation of the people, but equally in other spheres of social reconstruction and economic resurgence of the forefront of the state. An eminent nationality who stood in the forefront of freedom Struggle. Rightly, venkatakrishnayya is known as a Grand old Man and his contribution to the awakening of independence and freedom among the people of Mysore (Karnataka) state was the most significant.

- V.V. Giri Ex: President of India

I am not secluded from the group of admirers who respect, appreciate Sri Venkatakrishnayya’s Patriotism, Public service and selflessness in contributing his life for the betterment of Soceity. I would always cherish with great honor the memories of support provided by him during my service in the state of Mysore.

- Sir. M.Vishweshwarayya

I hold a great respect in my heart for Sri Venkatakrishnayya’s efforts towards Public Service, eradication of discrimination among poor and backward classes of the Soceity. I would like to bestow upon him the title of ‘Bheeshma of Mysore’. He is also respected as ‘grand old Man of Mysore’ among the public of the state of Mysore.

- Mahatma Gandhi

The Greatest Patriot of Modern Mysore
If it be proper to regard the spiritual value of a thing as higher than all its other values, it should be no exaggeration to describe Sri M. Venkatakrishnayya as the greatest among the patriots of modern Mysore. For it is he, more than any one else, that conceived and expounded the ideal of Mysore as a State—of Mysore as an object worthy of the especial love and service of all Mysoreans. He created this ideal for himself at the re-birth of the State-nearly half a century ago-and preached it through foul weather, as through fair, from the press and from the platform, in the school-room and in the council-hall. He watched over the safety and the honour of Mysore as though he were a sentinel appointed for that one purpose by the gods-so unslumberingly, so unweariedly. Dewan after Dewan had come and gone ; but this patriarch remained ever there, without resting, without wavering, keeping up a cry that was long ridiculed, long ignored, long defied.

-Dr.D.V.Gundappa (DVG)

A outstanding Leader :
I cannot remember a single instance in which he betrayed a good cause. He was held in high honour both in court and official circles. It was he that created a powerful press in Mysore and made it subserve the best interests of the State. He had a broad and cosmopolitan outlook and rose above narrow communalism. He thought in terms of the State and not of individuals or communities as such. Many are the non-brahmins to whom he stood as a god father in their early struggles for place and preferment and they remember him with gratitude to this day. He made great sacri¬fices for the public good and he died a poor man.

- Rajasabhabhushana Dewan Bahadur SIR K. P. PUTT ANNA CHETTY
(Rid. First Member of Council)

Acclaimed by Gandhiji as the “ Bhishma Pithamaha of Mysore” Venkatakrishnayya had the distinction of rendering almost a century long service to his home state and to his mother land. His long life was filled with multifarious activities for the welfare of his people. May his life as statesman, social worker and humanist serve as a beacon to the youth of mysore.

-K.M.Munshi, Historian

Shri Venkatakrishnayya was a dynamic personality and a great moral force in the Country. He rendered invaluable services and took a high rank among the distinguished educationists of mysore.

- P. Mahadevayya
(Retd. Chief Justice)

Tatayya had a syncretic vision, an absolute consciousness of personality, creative boldness and a real political wisdom in the service of mysore, India and mankind. He aspired always for peace and goodwill and always aought to widen the horizons of human freedom.

- Dr. M.V. Krishna Rao.

“ There is not a single institution in mysore with which he was not conneted. He had been a member of the Representative Assembly, Legislative Council and the District Board for several years and up to the moment of his death he continued to be a councilor of the City Municipality. He was the founder and Head Master of Marimallappa`s High School for about 40 years until its management was taken over by the Government. He was a member of the Univeersity Senate for some time. The Anathalaya in the city which mainatains and educated about a hundred students was founded by him several years ago. He was one of the trustees of the Sharada Vilas High School. He was an experienced journalist, having been the proprietor and editor of several Kannada and Angol-Vernacular newspapers such s “ Mysore Patriot”, “ Mysore Herald”, “Sadhvi”, etc. It was the rigour of the mysore Press Law that terminated Mr. Venkatakrishnayya`s journalistic activities. He was a constant contributor of articles on public questions in the columns of the “Hindu” and the papers in the Mysore State. Though old in age, he was young and enthusiastic in spirit and was a great friend, guide and philosopher whose advice and assistance were of great value to hundreds of students up to the time of his death.”

- THE HINDU ( Daily News Paper), 1933

A TRUE HUMANITARIAN
Mr. Venkatakrishnaya played a leading role both in protesting against the civil service scheme in its original shape and in influencing Sir M. Visvesvaraya to modify it and conci¬liate native Mysorean sentiment. Mr. Venkatakrishnayya’s compassion for the underdog being well-known, his good offices were often sought and, in proper cases, readily given. Mr. Venkatakrishnayya's" main interests lay in educational and humani¬tarian work. The welfare of Mysore youth was his principal concern. It was an interesting sight to see him working in his house or walking along the road surrounded by a number of people, most of whom were his students or ex-students or proteges. To them, he was not only guide, philosoper and friend but also a kind of foster parent.

The Anathalaya at Mysore is a standing monument to the memory of a man who devoted his life to the amelioration of young people, handicapped by poverty. To many such the Anathalaya offered a home and the opportunity to pursue their studies and make a decent start in life.

- N.Madhava Rau ex-Dewan of Mysore

A CHAMPION OF GREAT CAUSES
The very mention of his name conjures up a vista of intense patriotic and political views and feelings which characterised the noble and human Grand Old Man of Mysore. He was a man of indomitable courage of conviction and always ready to make any sacrifice, if it tended to the public good. Sri Venkatakrishnayya had a close and intimate knowledge of the British parliamentary system of government. He keenly felt that it would do India a lot of good if our country adopted it with such modifications which Indian conditions warranted.

Sri Venktakrishnayya was a political guru to many budding young patriots. Many of them, in after years, distinguished themselves remarkab¬ly well as Lawyers, Judges, Politicians, Doctors, Journalists and Teachers. He thus laid a foundation for the study of public questions; needless to say, that this is an asset to any country and bound to survive long.

H. H.the late Maharaja Sri Krishnaraja Wodeyar had great regard for Sri Venkatakrishnayya. On one occasion he learnt that Sri Abbas Khan, member of the Assembly, spoke roughly about Sri Venkatakrishnayya and that the Presi¬dent of the Assembly did not take serious notice of it. H.H. the Maharaja sent for Sir Mirza and expressed his feeling of disappointment at Sir Mirza's failure in not pulling up Sri Abbas Khan. Sri Venkatakrishnayya was invited by sending his car to bring him and apologised for the inci¬dent.

- K.Krishna Rao

Sri M.Venkatakrishnayya is a Great Architect of Young Minds

- D. LAKSHMANAIYA, M.A., BL.

A Pioneer and A Path-Finder
The life of a reformer is not a bed of roses. It is full of hurdles and he has to struggle hard to realise his ideals. His greatness is realised in many cases only after his death and we pay our homage by erecting statues. Till 1947 the country was under the yoke of the British who ruled for over two hundred years. A slave nation with no freedom whatsoever, denied of all political rights, could not assert itself. The masses were steeped in ignorance and poverty. At that time men like Sri Venkatakrishnayya devoted their lives to ameliorate the condi¬tion of the people and worked for the eradication of some of the prevailing social evils. He was an embodiment of affection and tenderness towards those in suffering—widows and orphans.

- Smt. Kameswaramma Kuppuswamy

A GREAT HEAD- MASTER
Among the headmasters of old, one who was a great patriot and did something mighty to his school and country, is the Grand-Old-Man of Mysore, late Sri Venkatakrishnaiah. A tall, majestic man, who looked as if born to rule, was he. With a closecollared coat, a white pant, a white turban and bespectacled, he was for many years dominant figure of Mysore. He was the head¬master of a midddle school which later was converted into a high school and became known as the Marimallappa's High School. The school has a majestic and imposing building in the heart of the city. Venkatakrishnaiah was its first headmaster and taught English to sixth form now known as the tenth standard. His poetry teach¬ing, it is said, was full of force and emotion and during those lessons he tried to put great thoughts into the mind of the pupils and inspire them. Kind-hearted as Venkatakrishna¬iah was, he encouraged the poor and deserving boys to get admitted to the school and gave them free-ships, half-freeships and got for them scholar¬ships too. His sympathy for the poor was such that he started an Anathalaya in the Narayana Sastry Road and that is a monumental work which is perpetuating his name. Its motto is "Service to humanity is service to God". Poor and deserving boys are given food and shelter during their period of study.

– K.T.Ramaswamiengar

A GREAT SOUL
Tatayya's deep, sweet, and childlike nature, his simple, unassuming and devastatingiy frank manner, his warm and unaffected friendship, his capacity to forgive generously, unquestioned personal integrity and high noble purpose have given him an honoured place in Mysore and outside.

Tatayya had a syncretic vision, an absolute consciousness of personality, creative boldness and a real political wisdom in the service of Mysore, India and mankind. He aspired always for peace and goodwill and always sought to widen the horizons of human freedom. Pursued and prosecuted, freed or threatened with im¬prisonment alone and in full exercise of his power, his life was an example of confidence, rectitude and rigoruous discipline. There was in him the combination of force with prudence and national pride for a great country and its culture with the personal humanity of a single man. As a liberal, he fought for freedom of the individual, for education of woman, for restora¬tion of rights, for redemption of the untoucha¬bles, amelioration of the suffering of widows, for employment of defectives, for starting of orphanages, for establishment of handicrafts institutes and a host of others besides. He was born to fight for the goodness which is at the heart of things and this ideal quickly grew into an objective of freedom social, economic and political.

- Dr. M. V. KRISHNA RAO

A TRIBUTE by Dewan Sir Mirza Ismail
If the name of Mr. Marimallappa is for ever identified with this School, another name is also closely associated with it. For a long period Mr. M. Venkatakrishnayya, "the Grand Old Man of Mysore", as he was affectionately known, ruled over this institution with silken reins, and to be near the place of his life's work, built himself a house on the opposite side of the road. We all know the very considerable part Mr. Venkatakrishnayya played for about half a century in the life of the State in more than one department. Today, I invite you to pay the tribute of respect and gratitude that is justly due to his memory as a headmaster who so closely associated himself with the school that it is impossible to think of it without recalling his name.
(From speech delivered by Sir Mirza M. Ismail at the Founder's Day celebrations of the Marimallappa's School, Mysore, on Dec. 20, 1938),

A fearless Journalist
Sri M. Venkatakrishnayya was a fearless journalist and his out-spoken and frank criticism of the Government at that time was the direct cause of the passing of the Mysore Newspaper Regulation in 1908 and this fact is admitted by the Dewan in his submission note dated 29-3-1909 for he stated ".........the proposal was to revive a paper (Mysore Herald) the conduct of which under its former proprietors was one of the causes for the passing of the press Regulations".

- H. V. CHANDRASEKHARAYYA

An Unique Personality
Sri M. Venkatakrishnayya was born of poor parents, and all his life he was a poor man and yet Mysoreans honour him as they honour their Maharajas. While the Maharajas ruled our state, Tatayya ruled our hearts. Tatayya was an ordinary matriculate and in life he was an ordinary Head Master of a High School. But he had an extraordinary reputation. Hence everything about him is unique. In fact no other word in the English language comes to one's mind, when one thinks of the life and work of our dear Tatayya. He had a heart that would melt at the sight of pain and poverty, but a heart that would rebel against injustice. All his life, he was a journalist and his papers, both in English and Kannada, championed the cause of the oppressed and the underdog. He spoke through a thousand platforms pleading the case of the underdog.

- H. SUBBA RAO

Socrates of Mysore
It is pleasant to be asked to write about one who holds such an unrivalled place in the history of public life in the State. It is on the other hand a somewhat hard task to do justice to the many virtues and many merits of the illustrious personage. I am perhaps the youngest friend of Mr. Venkatakrishnayya, my first formal acquaintance with him dating from somewhere in 1916, when he was seventy years old and I had just entered manhood. But long before, at the age when the personalities who play on the arena of a country's public life begin to dwell in the memory of its school-boys, his name had been registered in my juvenile mind as the ideal Headmaster and as the solitary patriot of this benighted State.

Mr. Venkatakrishnayyais a singular persona¬lity in the history of contemporary Mysore. I have said above that some one had called him the Dadabhai Naoroji of Mysore. But he is not only the Dadabhai Naoroji, but also the Thomas Arnold, W. T. Stead, Lord Northcliffe, John Bull, Howard the Philanthropist, and the Socrates of Mysore! His activities in life were so varied and so full that each one of them would be enough to fill the life of an ordinary man ; and the blending of all of them in him, like the seven colours of the rainbow blending in the Sun, rendered his career extraordinarily imposing.

- G. R. JOSYER

A Pure Soul
By his simplicity of manners and by the absence of all guile in him, he made such an impression on the minds of all who came to know him as a person who was a genuine well-wisher of the people and who made no scruple to sacrifice his own interests if such sacrifice was needed for the public good. This genuineness on his part always appeared to me to be the secret of Venkatakrishnayya's hold on the affection of the people throughout the later years of his life.

- Rajakaryaprasakta Rao Bahadur M. SHAM A RAO (Rtd, I, G. of Education)

A Great Patriot
My acquaintance with Mr. M. Venkatakrishn¬ayya covers a great many years. We did not always see eye to eye but even when we differed I always believed in the sincerity of what he thought to be right, in his patriotism, in his love for India and the Mysore State, and in his desire to do all he could in the best interests of India.

- Rev. G. W. Sawday

A Distinguished Educationist
His conception of a teacher was of a high order. Though he took up service in a private institu¬tion, which was managed by a Board of Trustees, he put his heart and soul into his work with a determination to build up a reputation for the School and to make it popular. He achieved so great a success in this direction that the Marimallappa's High School came to be recognised as the main feeder of the Maharaja's College and it must be said to his everlasting credit that he firmly established the founder's name and fame throughout the State.

He was a tower of strength to struggling students of whatever caste, colour or creed. His sympathy towards them knew no bounds, and it was always a pleasure to him to help them to the best of his ability.

According to him no nation can become great unless the individuals composing it possess the necessary elements of greatness. In his esti¬mation, power, position and wealth were nothing when compared with sterling character, and he impressed upon his students to cultivate a high elevation of mind and to apply the knowledge acquired in School and College to their conduct in life. He worked unceasingly to this end throughout his life and moulded the character and habits of his pupils, who bore the impress of his influence, more successfully than most other teachers of his time. He was a dynamic personality and a great moral force in the country. He rendered in¬valuable services and took a high rank among the distinguished educationists of Mysore.

- Rajadharmapravina Dewan Bahadur P. MAHADEVAYYA
(Rtd. Chief Justice)

A Many-sided Personality
His sympathies were always with the weak and oppressed. He took a prominent part in the social regeneration of his countrymen. Benevolent by nature he endeared himself to all. He was a good fighter in public interests. He disliked hypocrisy and poured the vials of his righteous wrath on the heads of those guilty of it. On such occasions his language was a little too violent and unrestrained. This created trou¬ble for him on several occasions. But he survived them chiefly because of his goodness and unsel¬fishness of his heart.

- Rao Bahadur M. C. RANGIENGAR

An Outstanding Leader
It is a sacred duty we owe to the land of our birth to keep alive the memory of the great men who have played an important part in influencing the course of events and shaping the destinies of the country. I consider the late Mr. M. Venkatakrishnayya takes an honourable place in this roll of fame. I had known him at least for 40 years as a teacher, journalist, publicist and as an outstanding public man interested in all affairs concerning the people. I came more intimately in contact with him during the last 25 years and learnt to appreciate his high-mindedness, patriotism, catholicity and love of common people. Whenever there was a cause of right and equity he took up the challenge and fought bra¬vely regardless of the frowns of the men in auth¬ority. This secured for him early the love of the people as it made him the BETE NOIR of the offi¬cial. He was always ranged on the people's side which made him their idol. His influence among merchants and common folk was dreaded by those who were clothed in authority. Yet he tried to be just and never hit below the belt.

- Rajasabhabhushana Dewan Bahadur SIR K. P. PUTT ANNA CHETTY
(Rid. First Member of Council)

May our county produce many more such dedicated man

- Nittur Srinivasa Rao

He is the Grand old Man of Mysore, who exemplified in his long life of nearly a century, the ideas of service to the people, liberality of social outlook and educational advancement. Selflessness and fearlessness were virtues which he in cessantly practiced in his life, though they meant for him a great deal of personal suffering and hardship. If his teaching & examples are followed even in a small measure, the life of the present and future generations will become richer & nobler.

- C. Narasimha moorthy I.A.S

Younger generations of today should know how great he was, He was great as a public man, great as an educationist, great as a journalist.

His kindheartedness and sympathy for the poor and helpless were well known. His sterling character and his unswerving devotion to the cause of the public has won him universal esteem.

- M. P. Somashekara Rao.

Shri venkatakrishnayya blazened the road to responsible Governament, freedom of press and Independence of India , when to dream and talk about them was considered as seditious. He inspired many an young man who came in personal contact with him to lead a straight, fearless and hardworking life

- V.S.Narayana Rao.

May his, in these times of rapidly changing values, be a shining example to the presert and future generations.

- A.R. Nageshwara Iyer.