Jayalakshmi Vilas MansionMaharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar of Mysore had three daughters and two sons. The two sons of the Maharaja, Krihsanraja Wodeyar IV and Narasimharaja Wodeyar lived in the Main Palace; the King constructed three mansions for his three daughters. These three mansions were built in three different corners of Mysore on top of small hillocks that gave an excellent view of the city. The three mansions were named after the three princesses.

Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion is about a century old and is one of the five royal mansions built by Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar and it was built for his oldest daughter. It was built in 1905 and was renovated in 2002. When the mansion was built at a cost of Rs.7 lakhs and was restored at a cost of Rs.1.17 crores. Restoration work began on April 21,2000 and was completed in about 18 months. The main hall in this mansion is the Kalyana Mantapa which has an eight-petal shaped dome with stained glass windows with a gold-plated Kalasha(tower) at the top. A new gallery called as Writer's Gallery has been created in the Kalyana Mantapa hall that will exhibit personal items, photographs, awards and writings of renowned writers of Kannada. A special illumination system has also been added to this heritage structure. This mansion is said to be the first university museum complex in the country.The mansion now is the property of the Mysore University. This mansion today houses the Folklore Museum and is a research center of the Mysore University. The Museum exhibits a rare collection of things related to folklore, archaeology and geology collected from different parts of India.