INTACH Bangalore invites you to the Foundation stone-laying ceremony of Bengaluru Parampareya Udyaana (Bangalore Heritage Park), a one-of-its-kind, open air, garden museum showcasing urban heritage. It was conceived of as a theme park by the Government and has been conceptualised and designed as a heritage park by INTACH Bangalore.
The museum will highlight the art, architecture, culture and history of Bangalore. It is spread over the Bugle Rock Park, Bull temple area and Mallikarjuna Temple area.

Foundation stone-laying ceremony on:  2 September 2011, at 6.00 pm.

Location: In front of the Bull Temple, Basavanagudi (opposite BMS Engineering College)

Shri Sadananda Gowda, Honourable Chief Minister of Karnataka, will lay the Foundation stone, in the presence of other government dignitaries, people’s representative and authorities. We look forward to your presence at this event.

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Update 2th September, 2 pm: The Foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Bengaluru Parampareya Udyaana (Bangalore Heritage Park) scheduled for this evening at 6:00 pm has been cancelled.…

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The idea of a day set aside to commemorate the world’s heritage – a day on which to highlight the efforts required to protect and conserve heritage and to underscore its vulnerability – was first mooted by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS). It was adopted by UNESCO in 1983 and ever since, April 18th has been observed as World Heritage Day the world over.

This year, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in Bangalore is celebrating the day with a couple of different events. In association with NGMA, we have a set of talks on art and architectural restoration to be held at NGMA on 16th April. On the 17th, INTACH together with Namma Bengaluru Foundation (NBF), has a Heritage Walk at Gavipuram. Also with NBF, watch out for a heritage quiz on FM radio on the 18th.  

A citizen’s guide to heritage

What can citizens do to…

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The Hindu carried an interesting editorial late last year on developing heritage cities in India.

Most people don’t associate Bengaluru with heritage. While it is true that Bangalore has only a few monumental historic buildings like – two forts, two palaces and a scattering of temples.

What we do have is: a large network of tanks, plenty of trees and parks, and a number of historic zones. Places like Basavanagudi, Whitefield and Chickpet have a unique historic character defined by their architecture, layout and/or mix of communities and professions. Charming precincts like these are what drew people to Bangalore and gave it the ‘Garden City’ and ‘Pensioner’s Paradise’ epithets.

Today, unfortunately, Bangalore is a classic example of paving over paradise to put up parking lots.

To those who argue that losing heritage is inevitable if we want to modernise, I have only one word: London... though almost any European city…

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Two different heritage-related events took place last weekend. The first was an INTACH Parichay which took place on Saturday, 29 January, at Shivajinagar. About 20 of us gathered at St Mary’s Basilica and then gradually made our way towards Russel Market, where Mohammed Idrees Choudhury spoke to us about the market and what makes it unique. Then followed Adams square, the mews, Renuka theatre and finally the Jain temple and the fabulous Gani Building (“Shivajinagar ki shaan”, as one shopkeeper near the building called it) on OPH Road.

As walk leader Pankaj Modi pointed out, the charm of Shivajinagar lay not so much in its old buildings (which are, of course, charming) as in its diverse, composite culture and its way of life. The walk also saw some brief discussions on urban change and conflicting needs in our city, partly sparked off by Hasiru Usiru volunteer, Vinay Sreenivasa, who spoke…

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INTACH's Parichay at Kudlu earlier this week started off most unusually - with a sacrifice. As one group of people assembled near the Muneshwara temple in Kudlu, waiting for the Parichay (heritage walk) to begin, another set of people had gathered there for a sacrifice of two goats and two chickens.

With that auspicious beginning, this Parichay's walk leader Rohan D;Souza, began talking to the group about Bangalore's lakes. Or tanks, to be more precise. As Rohan, a researcher at National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), pointed out, Bangalore's water bodies are not natural so calling any of them a lake is a misnomer.

Rohan gave us a brief snapshot of Bangalore's topography and the hundreds of tanks that were built in its three valleys (Arkavathi, Vrishabhavati and Koramangala) to harness water. Some of these, like the Agara tank, date back to at least the…

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"Uplands" in High Grounds, Bangalore became the residence of Sir MV after his retirement.  When the owner wanted the bungalow, he shifted to No. 5, Cubbon Road, a small bungalow placed at his disposal by the Mysore Government. . . . Sir MV lived alone in those days except for his cook, his personal assistant, Sadgopalachar, and12 servants. At the instance of Advani and other friends that he should have somebody to look after him in his old age with love and affection, he permitted only M. R. Krishnamurthy, his nephew and his wife to stay with him in "Uplands." It was found that the supply of water at No. 5, Cubbon Road, was inadequate.  One day there was not enough water for Sir MV to take his bath.  He asked his nephew not to complain or bring pressure on the Water Supply Division to make special arrangements for…

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The last week was a busy one for INTACHers, what with two heritage walks back-to-back, besides a lot of parleys and planning for a forthcoming event (you'll hear more about it soon).

Saturday's Parichay (as our heritage walks are called) was led by Krupa Rajangam and was at Whitefield, where the altar of a historic church might be sacrificed at the altar of ‘development', if the BBMP has its way. Both residents of Whitefield and other Bangaloreans turned out in good numbers to learn more about this historic neighbourhood.

Krupa and I led the week's second heritage walk on Sunday, 25th July. The group this time consisted of 35 children between 7 and 16 years, all from economically disadvantaged families, and part of an after-school education programme run by the NGO Swagath Education and Community Action (http://swagath.org.in). This was the second INTACH walk for…

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It isn’t often that an old structure gets added to the cityscape but exactly this happened two months ago when the Muzrai Department excavated the old tank associated with the Someshwara Temple in Ulsoor.

A cowshed stood at the spot earlier and a little shop on one side. The unearthing of the tank involved demolition of portions of some houses along its sides and so naturally generated some controversy – the excavation is now mired in a court case.

Like in the case of the temple itself, we have no exact date for the construction of this rectangular stepped tank or Kalyani, but it probably dates from when Kempegowda renovated the temple in the 1500s.

Locals say their grandparents remember the tank in the old days and that it was filled up about 150 years ago. The debris that came out during the excavation corroborates this:…

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Last week’s photo was of a memorial that is said to be of Lakshmamma, daughter-in-law of Kempegowda, founder of Bangalore. The story goes that when Kempegowda was building his new fort, its southern gate would collapse every night.

Astrologers advised him to conduct a human sacrifice but Kempegowda was reluctant to do so. And then one morning, as workers went to work on the gate once again, they found it had not collapsed. But nearby lay the body of Lakshmamma, Kempegowda’s pregnant daughter-in-law, who had killed herself to appease the Gods. A distraught Kempegowda is said to have built a temple in Lakshmamma’s name. The temple is less than half a kilometre from this memorial in 6th Block, Koramangala.

This poignant story of sacrifice is almost certainly apocryphal. If only some of the Horticulture Department’s plans for Lalbagh would also remain so. The Department wants to have a…

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This memorial in Koramangala is supposed to mark the spot where a daughter-in-law is said to have died for the sake of our city many, many years ago. Where exactly is this memorial and how is it connected with the story of our city?

INTACH is a non-profit organisation, setup to protect and conserve India's vast natural and cultural heritage.

See the answer in my next post.  ⊕

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