In the colonial past when the influx of more British moved into Bangaluru city in the then princely state of Mysore that had a congenial climate, over period of time to serve in the English company and later in the Raj, countless European style bungalows sprang up. These bungalows played a unique role in defining the the socio-cultural and psychological fabric of the society and created a divide between the British and the Indians. All the bungalows had high compound wall, tall imposing gates, fine well-moved lawn, and long driveway right to the porch, and they subtly marked out their space of residence, segregating them from the natives whose cultural moorings were different. Historians point out the size of such bungalows was dependent on the position being held by the British officer. They were aloof from active urban areas set in a quiet place and those buildings showcased the socio-cultural superiority of the ruling British elite and the status of their job. It also adequately implied the hierarchy among the British officers in terms of job and power..
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| Villa Pottipati bungalow, Bangaluu, KA thenewsminute.com |
Since India independence in 1947, countless such vintage colonial buildings, monuments, etc have been lost primarily due to lack of funds and ignorance of heritage value of these structures. In Bangaluru, two years ago, a fine example of colonial British bungalow was turned into a mound of rubble to build a modern building.
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| Demolition of monuments. edition.cnn.com |
Almost a century old Villa Pottipati bungalow in Mallewaram, Bangalore is gone for ever Yet another tomb stone was added to the grave yard of Bangaluru's heritage buildings way back in August 2018. Razed to the ground by private real estate developers was a fine-looking British building along with its history and cultural ethos. Till that point of time, it was occupied by a heritage hotel run by Neemrana Group that was active purchasing, restoring heritage structures like historic buildings, forts, etc to operate hotels on the premises. Once owned by a British family somebody named Rama Reddy bought it from them to use it as a residence. The heart-broken heritage lovers and monuments lovers in Bangaluru widely protested against the demolition and a decision was taken by them to safeguard the remaining heritage sites from demolition in the future.They blamed the BBMP for the demolition of what was once a colonial residence in the heart of the city.
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), further earned the ire of heritage activists for their proposal to pull down heritage structures on safety grounds. According to Leo Saldanha, an active member of the Environment Support Group, the BBMP should allocate 5% of its annual budget that could be used to maintain and safeguard the heritage buildings that were crumbling as the years passing by. Further, such funds could be used to buy the damaged heritage structures and carry out the needed basic repairs to keep them from further decay. She further pointed out that this ''Heritage Fund can also solicit CSR grants to bolster its kitty''. Lack of funds and enthusiasm on the part of the state govt may be the main reasons for the dilapidated conditions of many such vintage buildings in the city.
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| Fort High school, Pete, Bangaluru, KA thenewsminute.com |
A 110-year-old building of the Fort High School (1908), the first Anglo-vernacular school in the old Chamrajpet area of Bangaluru faced near demolition in December 2016. It was established during the reign of Maharajah Krishna Raja Wadiyar, when education was given adequate priority. The school is just across the Bangalore Medical College and adjacent to Kote Venkataramana temple in Makkala Koota Circle. It is in this school built for the poor people, the great Dewan of Mysore and popular engineer-statesman Sir M Visvesvaraya taught Maths. The second popular CM of Karnataka and the one who was instrumental in the construction of Vidhana Soudha (1956) - legislative state assembly building, late Kengal Hanumanthaiah (1908-1980) studied here. So was the well-known batsman and former test cricketer G. Viswanath. One of the few reputed schools situated outside the British-controlled Cantonment area, the school taught several languages - English, Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Sanskrit, Persian, and Arabic.Glad, the school building survives now and INTACH had plan to restore it soon.
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/we-are-gutted-bengalurus-heritage-enthusiasts-upset-colonial-era-house-razed-86557
https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/after-decades-neglect-bengaluru-s-110-year-fort-high-school-be-restored-79880