Of blossoms and bungalows
Uncategorized / May 28, 2012 / Raintree MediaThere is a city beneath the city and Poornima Dasharathi, heritage specialist, lifts the veil off the new to reveal the old as she takes you on a leisurely stroll down one of Bangalore’s oldest neighbourhoods, Malleswaram.
Sitting on the granite steps leading up to the Kaadu Malleswara temple under the canopy of a pipal, with birds chirping a mile a minute, it is easy to slip away into the 17th century when this was a hill peppered with boulders with a tiny temple perched on its top, visited by people from a nearby village, Madigenahalli.
Two centuries later, Bangalore claimed it and Malleswaram aka North Extension was born in 1895 under the rule of the Wodeyars. Our guide Poornima Dasharathi points out that we were at that moment in the oldest part of Malleswaram.
One of the temple’s earliest patrons was the Maratha king, Shivaji’s half-brother, Ekoji in 1669. Many patrons and donations later, the temple is a far cry from what it once was and has added colourful gopurams and easy to clean floor tiles. The sanctum sanctorum is all that remains untouched and has been retained exactly as it was originally built.
Kaadu Malleswara temple |
Stepping outside, it is hard to reconcile with the busyness of everyday life, the crowds and traffic. Traffic includes largely indifferent donkeys from the nearby dhobi ghat. Dasharathi leads us to the popular Veena Stores on Margosa Road for a quick cuppa which can still give the new coffee chains a run for their money.
An IT engineer for eleven years, Dasharathi got the opportunity to travel around the world. The heritage walks in London and Melbourne left her impressed. After a stint with INTACH, she started Unhurried in January 2012 and has since then organised walks and tours to niche places as she believes there is more to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu than just Hampi and Mysore. A storehouse of information on history, architecture, customs and anecdotes, Dasharathi’s storytelling skills come into play during the walk.
The area’s earliest residents were the Telugu-speaking workers at IISc, the Saraswat Brahmins employed at Raja and Minerva mills, and high ranking government officials who were mostly Iyengars. Dasharathi led us past a row of new bungalows which now belong to the descendants of one of Malleswaram’s first residents, HV Nanjundaiah, the first Vice-Chancellor of Mysore University.
Scientist CV Raman’s bungalow |
A few doors down is scientist CV Raman’s bungalow that has been maintained by the Raman Trust and hence, untouched by developers. Dasharathi says that like most of the spacious bungalows, even this was influenced by the Europeans. There are jackfruits and hibiscuses and cotton trees, some we are told were planted by Raman himself. His wife who played the veena (Carnatic stringed instrument) frequented the Sevasadan Association, which is but one of the many cultural associations one can find here.
The walk was wrapped up at the Central Tiffin Room, now known as Shri Sagar, on 7th cross. Digging into some delicious benne dosa (butter dosa) with her family was musician and actor, Vasundhara Das, who is just one of the area’s celeb residents. Others include badminton player Prakash Padukone and his daughter, the Bollywood actor Deepika Padukone when she is in town.
Poornima Dasharathi, Unhurried |
Dasharathi feels that people are growing more aware of the local history and have begun to appreciate heritage better when seen from a different angle that includes history, architecture, customs and occupations, which is unlike the generic descriptions usually given by tourist guides.
Other walks around Bangalore at Unhurried include the Pettah Walk and Cantonment Walk. They also organise tours to explore the eco trail in Banawasi, the culture-rich South Canara and Kodigeri near Ooty where John Sullivan first discovered the verdant Nilgiris. You can contact Dasharathi through the website www.unhurried.in.
By Anuradha Prasad/ Raintree Media Features/ www.raintreemedia.com
Read the story on the Goa Herald:
Recent Posts
Categories
Archives
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2019
- April 2019
- December 2018
- July 2018
- April 2018
- December 2017
- March 2017
- January 2017
- July 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- November 2015
- October 2015
- July 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- May 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- July 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- January 2013
- November 2012
- October 2012
- September 2012
- August 2012
- July 2012
- June 2012
- May 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
- February 2012
- January 2012
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- August 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- June 2009
- December 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006