Pixelated Memories: Hiriya Kempe Gowda

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February 11, 2015

Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens, Bangalore

"It is after all so easy to shatter a story. To break a chain of thought. To ruin a fragment of a dream being carried around carefully like a piece of porcelain.
To let it be, to travel with it, is much the harder thing to do."

– Arundhati Roy, "The God of Small Things"

I had been attempting to write about Lal Bagh ("Red Garden") Botanical Gardens for quite a while now, but in deed somehow the thread of imagination continued to be disrupted. Of course, this particular tale too, identical to the stories of most of the monuments and heritage spaces of Bangalore, begins with the legendary Hiriya Kempe Gowda I (ruled AD 1513-69) who established the medieval city that presently is known as Bangalore/Bengaluru (the city's history though extends several centuries prior to that in the form of small villages delineated from each other by dense forests) and involves in its flow Hyder Ali (reign AD 1761-82) who had, as the Chief Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Wadiyar King Krishnaraja Wadiyar II (reign AD 1735-66), appropriated for himself the territorial and militarily resources of the state of Mysore/Karnataka and his son and successor Badshah Fath Ali Khan Tipu Sultan (reign AD 1782-99).

A lazy afternoon in Lal Bagh

Regarded as one of the most densely forested cosmopolitan cities of India, Bangalore, "The Garden City of India", once possessed unimaginably expansive forest lands filled with a wide range of flora and fauna, large plains shrouded with layers of vibrant green grass and vast landscaped gardens. In recent years, however, in its unconcealed attempts to establish itself as an ultramodern, highly advanced IT hub with an assortment of massive IT industrial zones, uberexpensive restaurants, glitzy pubs and gigantic malls and skyscrapers that often project as disgusting eyesores against the skyline, the city has sacrificed its numerous public and heritage gardens and green spaces at the altars of burgeoning urbanization and greed-fuelled commercialization. Something similar plagued Lal Bagh and reduced it from an enormous heritage garden complex situated in the heart of the city to a moderately large tourist spot frequented predominantly by tourists and the IT professionals who, lured by the city's financial prospects and employment opportunities, have come to it from different parts of the country. Unarguably of course, most of them do not understand what the garden complex had originally meant to the city's historical timeline, nor what the city has irrevocably lost to become what it is today. The celebrated gardens, boasting of over 1,800 floral species, were declared a Governmental Botanical Garden in 1856 and have since been come to be regarded as a renowned center for horticulture research, conservation and botanical artwork. It is currently under the aegis of the Govt. of Karnataka's Directorate of Horticulture. Marshal Josip Tito, the President of Yugoslavia from 1953-80, had, in 1955, famously declared –

“If India is a garden, Lalbagh is the heart of it!”

Ancient! - The Gneiss rock surmounted by Kempe Gowda's watchtower

In a corner of the immense gardens, protruding steeply into the skyline and overlooking the vast limits of the city, rests an ancient rock face christened as Peninsular Gneiss and dated to be anywhere between 2,500-3,400 million years old (that's 2,500,000,000 years! Incredible, right?!). Indisputably regarded as the oldest landmass in the Indian subcontinent, the patterned rock face is surmounted on one of its peripheries by a small, four-pillared watchtower whose simplistic pyramidal, multi-tiered spire is reminiscent of Dravidian (south Indian) temple architecture – this was one of the four watchtowers that Kempegowda commissioned in the four cardinal directions delineating the extreme limits of his dominion. The four faces of the spire each depict, surrounded by statues of seated cows, a rather effortlessly carved simplistic sculpture of a Hindu deity - Shiva (the primordial Lord of death and destruction), Krishna (a flamboyant cowherd-king-statesman-warrior-philosopher who supposedly lived over 5,000 years ago and is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the God of life and nourishment), Ganesha (the elephant-headed, pot-bellied God of auspiciousness and knowledge and the younger son of Lord Shiva) and Kartikeya (the fierce, fearless young commander of the divine armies and the elder son of Lord Shiva). Presently, the tower is closely fenced in with iron grilles and a small carved stone plaque, miserably drenched with betel stains and spit, informs visitors of the tower's antiquity. Formed at high temperature-pressure conditions and composed of a complex mixture of granite rocks whose light and dark mineral constituents appear stratified into visible bands, the huge fragment of Gneiss rock projecting in the garden has been declared a National Geological Monument by the Geological Survey of India, though smaller deposits are found extensively all over southern India.

Unbelievably simplistic, given south Indian sculptural standards

Over two centuries later, after the rich territories had passed into the hands of the renowned administrator Hyder Ali, he commissioned Lal Bagh to be built as a massive private pleasure garden complex based on the Mughal "Charbagh" garden design that encompassed huge tracts of square/rectangular plots, subdivided by walkways and water channels, to be developed as verdant gardens enshrouded by lush grass and lined with rows upon rows of huge flowering, fruit-bearing and shade-imparting trees. Following Hyder's demise, Tipu Sultan carried the legacy forward and ensured that the aesthetically-designed gardens blossomed and were developed according to the original plans envisaged by Hyder. Given Hyder and Tipu's infinite interest in horticulture and natural landscaping. towering trees and flowering shrubbery was imported from different corners of the country to carpet the huge garden's numerous lawns. Presently though, the centerpiece is the majestic cross-shaped glass house that was commissioned in 1898, almost a century after Tipu Sultan's death in the Battle of Seringapatnam (1799) at the hands of wrathful British armies whom he had harassed numerous times in the past, and was built by John Cameron, the then Superintendent of Lal Bagh. Modelled after London's Crystal Palace, it is, for the past over 100 years, the site for mesmerizingly unrivaled bi-annual flower show held on Republic Day (January 26) and Independence Day (August 15) when the entire garden complex comes alive with the chatter and laughter of hundreds of thousands of visitors and the colors and texture of several hundred kinds of brilliantly multi-hued flowers dexterously arranged at the extravagant cost of several lakh rupees into the resemblance of a national monument or epic scene (more on that later).

Ornate fountains and a majestic glass house

There are two huge lakes too within the complex, one slightly but perceptibly smaller than the other, separated from each other by a narrow walkway. The wide walkways are intermittently punctuated by medieval circular towers, ornate fountains, English band stands and unusually interesting garden furniture such as petrified fossils of coniferous tree trunks over 20 million years old. While the immaculate walkways are lined with makeshift shops peddling roast corn, diced pineapples and watermelons, icecreams and cold drinks, Indian street-side snacks and colorful sweet candy, the gardens are ocassionally interspersed with large ancient looking circular edifices that might have once served as offices for the British Superintendents and gardeners who made several noteworthy contributions to the gardens' existence, beautification and horticultural collection. Another corner is dominated by a huge pedestal surmounted by an exquisite bronze sculpture of H.H. Maharaja Sri Chamarajendra Wadiyar X (reign AD 1868-94) who was a generous patron of horticulture, music and arts and under whose reign the 240-acre large gardens developed into the gigantic complex that they are today. Of course, this irregularly-shaped complex is exceedingly different from the original garden envisaged by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan which survives only as a small corner of the present complex with the rest largely been lost due to the careless interventions of the British horticulturists and agriculturists who overtook political and territorial control of the area after Tipu's death. Nearby is an enticing electric lawn-clock managed by HMT Watches where an upraised grassy circle embedded with floral divisions and surrounded by jovial statues of dwarves, deer and rabbits functions in the capacity of an interesting clock. Apart from these landmarks, its fascinating history and a charming green corner shaded from the brilliant blue sky by the foliage of majestic trees to relax at, the fine gardens have only a few cordoned-off aquariums, glass houses and rare plant collections to offer. Not a lot I admit, especially if one is not interested in the same, but an ideal spot to spend a lazy evening with friends or a loved one or kids. For me, the ancient rock face and Kempegowda's inimitable tower held the attraction.

Dominating - H.H. Maharaja Chamarajendra Wadiyar X

January 26, 2015: We revisited the gardens for the Republic Day floral show where the highlight was a large flower-encased replica of Red Fort, Delhi (refer Pixelated Memories - Red Fort, Delhi). Not unbelievably, the crowds were indescribably massive and there were scores of police men and women attempting to ensure order and coordination. Parts of the garden were cordoned off or converted into one-way walkways in order to control the crowds and direct them to and away from the Glass Palace where the spellbinding "Red Fort" had been constructed. Pathways within the Glass Palace were flanked with gleaming multi-colored flowers and foliage and interrupting the overall monotony of this kaleidoscopic colorful composition were smaller, glimmering white plasterwork statues conceived as replicas of the Statue of Liberty in United States and the blindfolded Lady with the scales representing justice. Not sure what these tried to portray, but also in attendance was a small, thin enough to be rendered nearly two-dimensional, flower-composed depiction of India Gate, Delhi (refer Pixelated Memories - India Gate, Delhi). To the chagrin of the its architect were he alive and the principles of scale and historic veracity notwithstanding, the war memorial appeared like a minor doorway leading to the Red Fort! The unbearable crowds, the continuous pushing and shoving while in slithering serpentine queues for over an hour and the overall lack of any other point of interest apart from the scene within the Glass House forced us to leave quickly afterwards. I had actually hoped for more displays, especially of potted plants and floral specimens, like we have back in Delhi, sprinkled throughout the garden complex, but alas, there were none. As far as the eye could see, there were just hundreds of people. Thankfully, at least the Red Fort was spectacularly memorable.

Flowers and a monument

Open: All days, 6 am – 7 pm.
How to reach: Lal Bagh is connected to different parts of the city via an efficient bus network. One can also avail autos and taxis.
Entrance fees: Adults: Rs 10. Free entry from 6 – 9 am and 6 – 7 pm. Free entry for school children and differently-able throughout the day.
Entrance fees for flower shows (Jan 26 and Aug 15): Adults: Rs 40 on weekdays and Rs 50 on weekends and public holidays; Children below the age of 12 years: Rs 10
Photography/Video charges: Rs 50
Time required for sightseeing: 2 hours
Other places of interest in Bangalore -

Suggested reading -

January 24, 2015

Bangalore Fort, Bangalore

"Bangalore, like Madras, had a fort, with a pettah, or fortified town, outside it. This lay-out was a feature of almost all the cities or settlements in India, the fort providing a place of refuge for most of the inhabitants if the pettah was in danger of capture. The fort at Bangalore had a perimeter of about one mile; it was of solid masonry, surrounded by a wide ditch which was commanded from 26 towers placed at intervals along the ramparts. To its north lay the pettah, several miles in circumference and protected by an indifferent rampart, a deep belt of thorn and cactus, and a small ditch. Altogether Bangalore was not a place which invited attack."

— Lt. Col. E.W.C. Sandes, "The Military Engineer In India, Vol 1", AD 1791

Glory forgotten - Bangalore Fort - Delhi Gate

The unheralded advent of the year 2015 witnessed me relocating to Bangalore as an Associate System Engineer at IBM Global Business Services (IBM GBS) and almost a month later, am still glued to the city’s effortlessly diverse but surprisingly overlooked cultural scene – even the most commonplace roadside temples are fascinatingly detailed with unparalleled and vibrantly colored sculptures of Hindu deities and mythological creatures while the “rangoli” (imaginative, intricate patterns inscribed on the ground with colored flour/powders) drawn every morning outside the houses' threshold can bewitch anyone who isn’t aware of the local religio-cultural practices; the final touch is added by the hundreds of mosques, big and small, that dot the landscape and endeavor to begin the day with heartwarming “azaan” (call to the faithful for prayers, issued via loudspeakers by the preachers) and continue to send out impossibly uplifting baritones throughout the day. I met some really warm people at office and made some genuinely kind friends too and some of us have taken to exploring the city little by little as and when we can steal some time from the unimaginably hectic office hours that leave little time for getaways and travel, but it is fun to be in the office too – the 300-acre Manyata Embassy Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Tech Park sited at Rachenhalli/Nagawara leaves one breathless with its enormity as well as the headquarters/offices of numerous technological and consulting firms it boasts of – probably the only wish we have is that it wasn’t located in Nagawara, which is literally at the outskirts of the city, but somewhere near the center so we could have easily hopped off over the weekends to other locations too. Of course I do desperately miss Delhi but it is now time to visit and explore other parts of the country. And the first place we visited in this part of the country the very next day after starting office happened to be Bangalore Fort, or at least whatever little remains of it.

Bangalore Diary: Chapter I

The Lord of Yelahanka principality, Hiriya Kempe Gowda I (ruled AD 1513-69), a vassal of the renowned Vijayanagar Empire and a legendary warlord-chieftain endowed with abundant leadership and administrative qualities, established in AD 1537 Bengaluru Pete, a well-planned and executed capital boasting of wide streets laid in grids, majestic gateways established in cardinal directions and several well-maintained marketplaces, possessing as its nucleus a mud fortress presently referred to as Bangalore Fort. Legend goes that while ruminating upon the fortress’ construction and strategic positioning, he chose this particular location after witnessing the unique event of a hare chasing a hunter dog. Another legend states that while the fortress was under construction, no sooner would its massive gateways and towers be raised during the day that they would collapse at night and the same was attributed to evil spirits demanding human sacrifice as appeasement – noticing her father-in-law’s utter predicament, one night, Lakshmamma, Kempe Gowda’s daughter-in-law beheaded herself with a sword outside one of the gateways. Kempe Gowda also had another fortress, oval in shape, built adjacent and connected to the first, to house his palace, arsenal, treasury and important state buildings. He embarked on a policy of unabated territorial expansion but continued to administer his kingdom very judiciously and humanely and consequentially the Vijayanagar Emperors conferred upon him several more principalities and townships. But shortly before his death, on charges of issuing his own coins and thereby defying territorial and sovereign authority of the Vijaynagar Emperor Sadasiva Raya (ruled AD 1542-69), his liege lord, Kempe Gowda was imprisoned and all his domains confiscated. He was freed from captivity five years later, regained the Emperor's confidence and his own titles and lands and continued to display unparalleled benevolence, jurisprudence and policies of social and moral upliftment towards his subjects.

A fortress adorned

In AD 1638, Bangalore was invaded and assimilated into his own kingdom by Mohammed Adil Shah (ruled AD 1627-56), the Adilshahi Sultan of Bijapur, whose forces were commanded by General Shahaji Bhonsle, father of the mighty Maratha warlord Shivaji. The mud fortress withstood numerous battles and sieges and was further enlarged by the Wodeyar king Chikka Devaraja (ruled AD 1673-1704), who purchased it from the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir (ruled India AD 1656-1707) who had captured the entire territory as a punitive measure against the Hindu Maratha confederacy, before being converted from a mud fort into a stone stronghold and established as a formidable military outpost respectively by Nawab Haider Ali (ruled AD 1761-82) and his son Tipu Sultan (ruled AD 1782-99). Some historians argue that it was Chikka Devaraya who constructed the oval fort garrison adjacent the gigantic fortress housing the entire city settlement. Tipu even deposed the Wodeyar lineage of their titular reign through which they had so far continued to nominally govern their territories even though the de-facto ruler was the Chief Minister and Commander-in-Chief Haider Ali. Details about some of Tipu's exploits against the rapacious British East India “trading” Company have been documented on this blog here – Pixelated Memories - Tipu Sultan Shahi Mosque, Calcutta. He is also said to have built unimaginably abominable dungeons within the fort and meted out most horrifying tortures on captured British soldiers here. His massive armies and superior technological and martial prowess brought him in territorial conflict with the British who besieged and captured the Bangalore Fort, a prominently tactical military installation for the former, during the Third Anglo-Mysore War of March 1791, besides also massacring at least 3,000 of his soldiers and subsequently, over a period of more than 120 years, demolishing and dismantling most of the fort’s protective installations, colossal bastions and frighteningly massive curtain walls.

Formidable - The second gateway and the bastion adjacent

What remains today, preserved for posterity, is only the fortress’ Delhi/Dehli Gate, which is actually a complex of three successive gateways, and some associated bastions. The first view of the structure is hardly awe-inspiring – hemmed in on all sides by iron grilles and surrounded by numerous haberdasher shops and small roadside temples, the gateway (“bagilu” – originally there were six – Ulsur bagilu in the east, Yelahanka and Delhi bagilu in the north, Kanakanahalli and Mysore bagilu in the south and Kengeri bagilu in the west) exists as a sole remnant of the erstwhile grandeur in a corner of Old Bangalore’s K.R. Market. The base of its roof and the edges of its semi-circular arched entrance are flanked by intricate bands of stucco artwork – flowers, curving and writhing flourishes terminating in blossoming buds, rosettes, bird figures, and huge pendants exquisitely carved in several floral and geometrical patterns; on either side of the entrance are two wider indentations complementing it and adorned with exactly similar ornamentation and one very thickly but dwarfishly constructed bastion exists on either side of the gateway structure. A staircase leading upstairs to the top of the bastion can be observed besides the gateway but remains grilled and locked firmly and perennially.

Unimaginably simplistic - The Ganesha temple

Stepping through the colossal gateway that in retrospection proves to be a fairly intimidating barbican through which even elephants might have passed once, one steps into a small open square in the center of which, flanked towards its back by another of the fort's bastions, sits a small rectangular temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha (the elephant-headed, pot-bellied Hindu God of auspiciousness and learning) and surmounted by a triangular roof further topped by a square pediment very exquisitely embossed with numerous flourishes and patterns etched in plasterwork, the most bewitching of which was the Gandaberunda, a mythological two-headed fearsome bird incarnation of Lord Vishnu (the Hindu God of life and nourishment) possessing immense physical strength and the ability to overcome destructive forces, that originally featured in the insignia of the erstwhile Wodeyar Dynasty of Mysore/Bangalore (ruled AD 1399-1947) and has since been adopted as the emblem of Karnataka state. On a granite platform in front of the temple and facing it sits a small sculpted idol of the rat "Mushika", the steed of Lord Ganesha. The temple, however, remained closed the entire time we were there and appears to exist in an ignored and very sorry state, but it is interesting to note how it reflects on the policies and image of Tipu, who allowed a temple to stand within his fortress and yet is often, especially in religious debates and discourses, considered to be a vitriolically religiously intolerant and cruel sovereign.

The mythological Gandaberunda - One of the most recurring symbols in Karnataka's landscape

Towards the left of the first enormous gateway and at a ninety degree angle to it is the second gateway, comparatively smaller but considerably large nonetheless, and the rough granite stone wall between the two is dedicated to floral sculptures, mythological figurines and small ornamental doors adorned with extremely beautiful decorative pillars (“pilasters”) surmounted by mythical bird figures. On its exterior face, the second gateway bears very minimal ornamentation in the form of especially intricate floral medallions tinged with slight indentations and pilasters fringed by slender stalks culminating into life-like buds; one can even notice the thick stone pivoting columns in which the massive wooden doors of the gateway would have fitted once, but the real eye opener is the other face of the gateway which, besides ornamental flourishes and embedded medallions, also displays remains of embossed etchings of a mortal battle scene between a human and a big feline – considered symbolic of uninhibited courage and masculinity in South India, especially by the medieval Hoysala Dynasty (ruled Karnataka AD 1026-1343) that featured the symbolism as its insignia and had it installed in their temples and fortresses. Here one steps into another courtyard hemmed in by the bastions of the gate on one side and the periphery walls of the fortress on the other side culminating into one final gateway again perpendicular to the one you just entered from and on the right of it.

Rock ornamentation - Sala battling the lion, from the mythological lore regarding the establishment of Hoysala Dynasty

The hard granite walls surrounding this small grassy patch of lawn and the bastions projecting to it again feature very interesting patterns roughly etched on stone – there are embossed elephants blissfully showering water and milk on a four-armed Hindu Goddess, lion faces and seated lions that appear so simplistic that one would expect them to be sketched by a child on his notebook, auspicious “Kirtimukha” (“Face of Glory”) which is the severed head of a monstrous self-consuming mythological feline demon created by Lord Shiva, the Hindu God of death and destruction, to destroy other demons but was eventually ordered by the Lord to consume himself till only his face remained and thus achieved an exalted position in the God’s companions and features especially, though not exclusively, on the pinnacle of the spires of south Indian temples as a protective deity. There is also a very exquisite "Shiva linga" (Shiva’s phallic symbol) embedded within a small rectangular frame surmounted by a rounded arch in the center of which exists another smaller Kirtimukha – again conforming to the same legend where Shiva accorded the demon his dignified station atop the temple’s spire and proclaimed that one has to honor the demon to honor the Lord.

Demon honored - Shivalinga framed by an arch surmounted by a Kirtimukha

Surprisingly, the clamor of vehicles and the noise of pedestrians, hawkers and shopkeepers suddenly dies as soon as one crosses within to the lawn – the unbelievably thick walls seem to cut off all noise and commotion amazingly well! The final gateway, not unlike the rest, exclusively features fascinatingly detailed and elaborate floral patterns and peacock figures bordering the arches and sides. It fills one with wonder about the rest of the fortress and also the oval fortress adjacent which have both sadly ceased to exist thanks to the rapacious and revenge-fueled destruction wreaked by the British till as late as 1930s when parts of it were dismantled to make way for roads and railway lines – old photos do exist but then they don’t throw much light on the defensive fortifications and glorious existence of the majestic citadel. The first monument in Bangalore and again the same lesson observed also in Delhi and Calcutta – the need to preserve past heritage for future generations to explore and learn from. Hope we do understand someday!

Standing outside the fortress and sipping wonderfully concocted filter coffee at the Tamil restaurant across the road, we spotted the small plaque embedded within the road-facing bastion and mentioning the frightful but strategically unsurpassable battle of March 1791 in just a single line –

“Through this breach the British assault was delivered. March 21, 1791.”

Location: K.R. Market
Nearest Bus stop: K.R. Market
How to reach: Buses are available from different parts of the city for K.R. Market. Alternately, one can reach Majestic bus stop and take a connecting bus from there.
Open: All days, sunrise to sunset
Entrance fees: Nil
Photography/Video charges: Nil
Time required for sightseeing: 30 min
Relevant Link - Pixelated Memories - Tipu Sultan Shahi Mosque, Calcutta
Suggested reading -

February 11, 2015

Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens, Bangalore

January 24, 2015

Bangalore Fort, Bangalore

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