Category Archives: Historical Links, Pre-Independence

Marking Time

Grey clouds hover over Russell Square. They growl menacingly and then spit out fat raindrops. I take cover at the newspaper stall next to Luna Sweets.
 A group of men sit on wooden benches outside a chai shop, sipping hot tea.Theycomplain that Shivajinagar is definitely dirtier and more crowded than before. Prasad, the news stall owner tells me that it affects business.”It was not like this in earlier times”recollects a grey haired Syed Anwar.
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“The Shivajinagar Bus Terminus used to be a football field called the ChotaMaidan in the late 40’s. At the corner of the Square opposite St.Mary’s Basilica was a petrol bunk and in the middle was a large public toilet and well.” They begin to swap stories and I am included in the reminiscences.
“When my father moved his business here in 1957, military officers and Europeans from the Cantonment came to get watches fixed.” says a bespectacled Syed Mahmood. I peek into his shop; the Paris Watch Company.
 It is filled with timepieces; grandfather clocks hang on the wall and squat little brass vintage alarm clocks tick merrily inside a tiny work cabin. “Our earlier shop, the Pearl Watch Company (present Mota Chambers) was on Brigade Road. Business was good there.” The shop shifted to Shivajinagar in 1957.
“My family was originally from Chikmagalur where my grandfather had a circus. He was good with animals but it ran at a loss so he shifted to fixing watches.” My eyes widen. I have unexpectedly come across astory on this rainy evening in Bangalore. Perhaps the city speaks only when we stop to listen.
Syed Mahmood’s father, Syed Jaffer,was a respected horologist,well known amongst vintage watch collectors in the city.”One day in the late 70’s, Dr.Ajaz Ahmad, a Unani specialist from Mysore called him about a very important job.
Watchmakers across the country and beyond had failed at it since the three missing parts were irreplaceable. My father manufactured the parts,re-assembled the clock in 30 days and took it to Delhi where he presented the working Mantel Clock to its owner, the Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. He charged only `3000 for the job” says Syed Mahmood “but Mrs.Gandhi gave him `10,000.”
Syed Jaffer refused to teach his son the craft through books. “I learnt how to repair and assemble watches standing beside him all day.” His eyes grow moist. “He was a very fine man.”
Syed Jaffer was returning from weekly prayers at a mosque in Kumbarpet when he was unknowingly caught in police firing on MG Road in December 1986, duringa protest over a fictional story in a local newspaper. The stray bullet damaged his voice and his vocation. His shaking hands never fixed a watch again till his demise two years later
The shop fills with sadness. Syed Mahmood wipes his eyes.
The clouds pass and thestories end. The men discuss world events. Paris Watch Company goes back to work. Syed Mahmood hunches over a dial and scrutinises it carefully.He fixes all kinds of clocks and watches including new ones, but the vintage French mantel clocks are a personal favourite. “Like the English clocks, they are almost impossible to replicate.”
Customers arrive to pick up their resurrected Omega or Rolex watches. They tell me that his skill and dedication too, are equally irreplaceable.The shop’s reputation remains unaltered by time.
The writer is a cultural documentarian and blogs at aturquoisecloud.wordpress.com

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Columns> Others / by Bangalore Mirror Bureau /July 14th, 2014

Boot camp biryani

Once grimy haunts of roving soldiers, Bangalore’s military hotels have smartened up

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Mention Kannadiga food and most people think of Udupi hotels: dosa, idli, bisi bele bhaat and a general air of puritan vegetarianism. But there is a long tradition of Bangalorean food that is all about meat: the Hindu military hotel.

How did the military hotel get its curious name? “Most hotels were run by the Maratha descendants of Shahaji Bhonsle who conquered Bangalore in 1638. They added the prefix Hindu to make it clear that they did not serve beef or pork,” says artist and art historian Suresh Jayaram. Others believe the hotels served Bangalore’s many roving soldiers, both British and Indian. “People believed that soldiers needed meat every day to fight. They used military hotels to meet and plan their campaigns,” says Rajiv L who runs the Shivaji Military Hotel in South Bangalore.

In those days, most hotels were tiny, grimy dives, with an all-male clientele and service so curt it verged on the insulting. The food was served on banana leaves laid on the floor and cooked on a wood fire. They stuck to what they were good at: biryani , mutton chaap (or chops), kaima (keema by another name), local chicken, and ragi mudde (ragi balls), washed down with country liquor.

These days, most military hotels have smartened up with laminated tables and proper seating. Customers now range from office goers and students to politicians and film stars — and the Hindu prefix has been dropped. Nearly every military hotel claims to have Kannada film star Ambarish as a customer; perhaps his macho image makes for the perfect poster boy. Like the Udupi hotels, the emphasis is on fast turnover; this is not a place to linger on. Somewhere along the way, they also stopped serving liquor. Prices have risen from a reputed eight annas for a plate of food (at the beginning of the previous century) to around Rs 140 for a biryani in the smarter hotels.

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The granddaddy of most military hotels is undoubtedly the Shivaji hotel in Jayanagar, started in 1924. At peak lunch hour, the queues stretch out to the pavement. When I visit, my choice of dish is a no-brainer: the famous donne biryani in chicken or mutton, named after the leaf bowl in which it is served. I get a generous, overflowing portion, enough for two, plus a fiery gravy, pachdi (a South Indian version of raita) and a rasam, all for Rs 140. The biryani is piping hot and delicious, that perfect balance between greasy and dry, the rice fluffy, but not chewy, and generously peppered with chunks of chicken.

So busy are Rajiv and his brother Lokesh, the third generation of hotel owners, that it takes me three days to pin them down for an interview. When I finally speak to them, I do it in the kitchen, where a row of massive cauldrons bubble and boil over charcoal fires. Lokesh stirs a soupy concoction of rice, mutton and spices in the biggest one, at least five feet wide.  Shivaji’s has a staff of 15, but only Rajiv, Lokesh and two other close family members do the cooking, using carefully guarded family recipes. “The staff don’t have our kaiguna (loosely translated as haath ka jadu),” says Rajeev. “And you must have that goodwill, that passion, to make it right for the customer.”

At 28, Manoj Kumar is one of the younger customers, but he has been coming nearly every single day since he was ten. “This is the best biryani I have ever had, across India. The charcoal fire gives it that special taste,” he says. Other regular customers agree, “This is the only place where the biryani still tastes the same as it used to a decade ago.”

While Shivaji may be the most popular, its competitors have their fans too. The Ranganna Military Hotel, not far away, began as a roadside shack. Now, it’s a spotlessly clean Udupi-style joint. But a bit of its past history still survives on the walls, which are covered with black-and-white photos of the owner, Munirangappa, a wrestler in his heyday. His sons, Sunil Kumar and Sendil Kumar, walk me through the long menu.

I am told to try the leg soup — known up north as paya — as an appetiser. The soup arrives in a steel tumbler, the trotters neatly laid on a plate. It’s like a very meaty rasam, fiery, peppery and a kick in the palate. This is the Kannadiga version of chicken soup, a cure-all for every ailment. “Very good for women who have given birth,” assures Sunil. “It’s full of calcium.” The waiter tries to persuade me to eat the trotters too, but I can’t manage that, or the thale mamsa (literally head meat, from a goat) that he assures me is the house speciality. Instead, I go for the safer option:  flaky Kerala parathas crisp as paper, and kaima redolent of garlic and coriander.

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The ragi mudde, a palm-sized ball of ragi with the consistency of Play-doh, is a quintessential Kannadiga dish. If properly made, it can be delicious. If not, it can be like eating a cannonball. Luckily, the ragi mudde at Ranganna’s is soft as a cloud, perfect for soaking up the chicken gravy that goes with it.

If the slightly gentrified environs of these hotels don’t do it for you, try S G Rao Military Mess, which, at over a hundred years, is probably the oldest military hotel in Bangalore. This is a true dive, tucked away in a tiny street in Akkipet in the heart of old Bangalore pete (town). Most dishes here are priced below Rs 80 and everything seemingly unchanged from how it used to be a century ago. The mutton korma here is particularly good, rich and creamy.

Nati (local or country) chicken is best had at Maratha Darshan, run by Naveen Lad and his mother. Right behind local Congress headquarters, this hotel is crammed with party members and politicians. One bite of the peppery, spicy chicken may bring tears to your eyes, even so you may find yourself ordering seconds.

Despite their general air of living contentedly in the past, change is catching up with military hotels. Most now have a separate family room. At Shivaji’s, young Jayanagar moms in jeans jostle for a table with elderly gentlemen in snowy white veshtis. The waiters now wear plastic hair nets and gloves, and the brusqueness of old has given way to a disconcerting politeness. Ranganna’s has switched to cooking on gas stoves because getting wood for a proper fire is difficult. They also serve fried fish. But most customers refuse to wallow in nostalgia. “Change is good,” says one of the fiercely loyal customers at Shivaji’s. “It’s clean now. No liquor-shiquour. Earlier, I could not bring my wife here. Now I even bring my daughter.”

As prices rise and competition gets fiercer, owners hope their children will carry on the family tradition. “When I was young, I worked all morning in the hotel, then studied the rest of the day for my bachelor’s degree,” says Rajiv, the emotion apparent in his voice. “Three generations of us have slaved for this hotel. I hope we can keep the Shivaji name going.”


Where to go

It’s best to get to your hotel early if you want to avoid waiting in a queue. Carry cash; they won’t accept credit cards.  All the hotels here are open Tuesday–Sunday.

Shivaji Military Hotel

780 1st C Main, 45th cross, 8th block, Jayanagar
8 am to 3 pm
Ph: 91 9845149217

Ranganna Military Hotel

KR Road, Banashankari, Bangalore
7.30 am to 4 pm, 7 pm to 10 pm
Phone: 080 6452 8777

SG Rao Military Mess

OTC Road, Akkipet, Chickpet, Bangalore
6.30 am to 3 pm
Ph: 91 98459 58799

Maratha Darshan

4, Miller Tank Road, Queens Road Cross, Cunningham Road, Bangalore
12.30 to 4 pm, lunch only
Ph: 91 9880551328

source: http://www.business-standard.com / Business Standard / Home> Beyond Business> News / by Kavitha Rao / July 12th, 2014

Remembering Sir Mirza Ismail

Mysore city is blessed in more ways than many other cities of South India. Its location is ideal. An imposing hill with a temple of Goddess Chamundeshwari. River Cauvery flows just 12 kms away. River Kabini is just 35 kms away. A green cover all around with a salubrious climate. Even summer is forgotten as fast as one started complaining of the heat with the monsoon setting in by May end.

If these are nature’s bounty bestowed on our city, providence too has been kind with the Wadiyar dynasty ruling the Kingdom of Mysore with this city as its capital. And blessed are the people because the Kings who ruled after 1800 AD have all been good kings with most of them being patrons of art, literature and music. And during the long reign of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV the Kingdom became a Rama Rajya as Gandhiji called it and the King himself was a Rajarishi. Philosopher-king. It was this king who ruled the kingdom with the help of renowned Dewans [Prime Ministers]. One among them was Sir Mirza Ismail.

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For some years I was a member of ‘Freemasons,’ sort of secret club known as The Grand Lodge of India, Lodge Mysore. Recently I was going through its publication known as ‘The Square and Compasses’ and was intrigued to find the name of Sir Mirza Ismail being mentioned in it in glowing terms just as his work in Mysore was much appreciated.

His name was mentioned in connection with the problems the ruler and administrators faced in the Kingdom of Jaipur, Rajasthan, from vested groups. The situation was similar to what happened during the building of the Great Temple in Jerusalem after Jews were freed from their Babylonian captivity after 70 years of exile.

It appears during the year of exile of Jews, there was no government of any kind in the country and many outlaws, murderers, debtors and others with dubious characters from neighbouring countries came and settled in the Jewish country, specially in the city of Jerusalem. These people resented the arrival of Jews, from their Babylonian exile, trying to restore law and order. There was daily strife between the two warring sides which compelled the labourers at the temple area literally to work with the ‘trowel in hand and sword by the side.’ This, of course, has become part of the traditional ritual in the Freemason ceremony.

Recalling this historic ancient incident, the report in the magazine connects it to an incident in modern times. It says, “In our own times, we have heard of Sir Mirza Ismail — Special Officer entrusted with the task of beautification of the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan. With undaunted courage and determination, he went on with pulling down dozens of houses as per his masterplan without fear or favour, even those of big and influential citizens who naturally tried to oppose his doings.”

No wonder the grateful citizens of Jaipur named a major road after Sir Mirza Ismail. Now compare this with ourselves. Is there a road named after this great Dewan of Mysore Sir Mirza Ismail? I don’t know. Is there a road named after Sir M. Visveswaraya? I do not know. Yes, someone told me there indeed is a Mirza Road but it does not run even a km length in Nazarbad. In Jaipur, I have seen Sir Mirza Ismail Road, a double road, running to a few km length in keeping with his stature. Yes, there is also one inconspicuous Circle named after Sir MV ! Could they not have a statue of Sir MV there just like the other two statues of Maharajas?

Incidentally, the message from the Grand Master Most Worshipful Brother Vasudev J. Masurekar, OSM, has the opening paragraph that takes you to 2nd century BC and then brings you to 2014 AD. It speaks of Delphic Oracle in Greece where I had been about five years back, hence my interest. The Grand Master says:

The temple of Apollo at Delphi, built in the 2nd century BC, has three phrases carved into the stone. First is, “Know thyself,” second “Nothing in excess” and the third is “Make a pledge and mischief is nigh.”

These three statements have made the Oracle of Delphi famous universally.

All the three statements are profound and impacts on every individual’s life. Because we do not try to know ourselves, we delude ourselves as someone that we are not. Buddha has taught us to follow the golden path, the middle path. Nothing in excess. Neither more nor less. The third statement is rather complex. No wonder over the centuries there have been many interpretations of these words and debates by philosophers and scholars.

However, let me venture to interpret the third statement in the light, nay in the dim light, of my own wisdom. It says, “Make a Pledge and Mischief is Nigh.” These are the days where politicians in our democratic country keep making pledges, from swearing on our Constitution, to protect and preserve it, to provide a good administration and infrastructure. But, our experience has been that they seldom keep their pledge. That is why I interpret this statement to mean, ‘when you make a pledge, you are near a mischief.’ You are upto some mischief! Read politician in the place of you. Howzzat?

e-mail: kbg@starofmysore.com

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Abracadabra….Abracadabra / by K.B. Ganapathy  / July 02nd, 2014

A Book Chronicling 2,000 Years of Mangalore’s History, Plurality

Chief Editor B A Viveka Rai, flanked by associate editors Muddu Moodbelle (right) and Vaman Nandavar at the Mangalore Darshana project office in Mangalore | RAJESH SHETTY BALLALBAGH
Chief Editor B A Viveka Rai, flanked by associate editors Muddu Moodbelle (right) and Vaman Nandavar at the Mangalore Darshana project office in Mangalore | RAJESH SHETTY BALLALBAGH

Mangalore :

A team of erudite scholars, at the behest of Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim, began work on a gigantic project chronicling 2,000 years of Mangalore’s history.

The 1,000-page ‘Mangalore Darshana,’ to be published in two volumes, will highlight plurality of Mangalore, Chief Editor of Mangalore Darshana, Prof B A Viveka Rai said.

The book begins from Christian era where Roman geographer Claudius Ptolemy mentions the Netravathy river. Govinda Pai in one of his works also quotes Ptolemy, said Rai.

From Alupa dynasty, the first kings who ruled Mangalore from sixth century to 14th century, the narration will cover arrival of Portuguese in 1526, rise of Hyder Ali and beginning of British rule in Mangalore from 1799 onwards.

Information available in travelogues of Abdul Razak (a Persian ambassador who visited Mangalore in 1132 AD), Scottish doctor Francis Buccaneer (who visited Mangalore in 1801), is being utilised to liven up the account.

Rai said a sea trader Abraham Ben Yaju’s account of his stay in Mangalore, including being married to a local woman Ashur, his metal industry, lifestyle from 1132 to 1149 which was in old Arabic was translated to English two years ago.

People from different parts of world, including Jews, came and settled in Mangalore. Before Islam became an institution country wide, many in Mangalore were converted to Islam, he said.

Archives on Mangalore

Besides history, geography, geology, epigraphy, socio-cultural development in the region, the unique influence of natha cult, transport, media, industries, administration, heritage buildings, sports, visit of Gandhiji, Tagore, hotels and more will be included in Darshana, associate editors Vaman Nandavar and Muddu Moodbelle said.

On their approach, Rai said discussions were still in formative stages. “The framework, strategies keep changing, but we have a vision and know what needs to be done,” he said.

Chronicling history is nothing new to Prof Rai. While serving as the Vice-Chancellor of Kannada University, he chronicled 50 years of the state’s history.

As the V-C of Karnataka State Open University (KSOU), he initiated work on chronicling history of Mysore and his successor published Mysore Darshana in four volumes.

It was his work in Mysore Darshana that was noticed by Ibrahim.

“The DC asked us to complete Mangalore Darshana within a year and most importantly spared us a headache of maintaining accounts,” he said.

Unlike anything before they had done, Mangalore Darshana project is challenging, admits Rai.

Unlike Mysore Palace, Mangalore has had no culture of maintaining archives.

A previous compilation of Mangalore’s history, ‘Sturrock Manual,’ borrowed for a doctoral thesis was never returned. “We will have to tap information outside Mangalore and India. For instance we will be at Asiatic Society of India in Kolkata to know about plants,” Rai said.

“I am lucky for the fact that I have good network of scholars who will not turn down my request,” he said.

The work will begin with interview of elderly residents to shed light on life in bygone era. Next experts will contribute 100 articles of 10 pages each about Mangalore.

“We hope that an archive of Mangalore will be a byproduct of this initiative,” Rai said.

It is Payback Time

Mangalore: Prof Viveka Rai, who returned from Germany in October 2013, where he serves as guest professor, Chair of Indology, University of Wurzburg, is presently translating Basava’s vachanas to Tulu. He is bringing out a volume (300 pages) on classical Kannada in English translations with Prof C N Ramachandra. He is also working on another book, translating English grammar to Kannada which will be completed within a week. Despite being pre-occupied with close-academic work, he was still drawn to Mangalore Darshana because he loved the subject. “I have lived in Mangalore since 1968 and the city has given me everything,” he said.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Harsha / June 30th, 2014

UK Marks Centenary of Indian-Origin WW II Spy Noor Inayat Khan

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London: 

The birth centenary year of Noor Inayat Khan, the famous Indian-origin World War II spy, was observed in the UK this week.

Popular English novelist and political commentator Frederick Forsyth was among the key guests at a special memorial event in London to celebrate the life of Noor, the great-great-great-grand-daughter of Tipu Sultan, who became the first female radio operator to be sent from Britain into occupied France.

“What is so remarkable about Noor Inayat Khan is that she owed us nothing; she didn’t have to go,” said Forsyth, the well-known thriller writer behind books such as ‘The Day of the Jackal’ and ‘The Odessa File’ who compared her to the 18th century ruler, Tipu Sultan, known as the ‘Tiger of Mysore’.

“When it came to being recruited for the SOE (Special Operations Executive), she could have said ‘thank you but no’…but she volunteered. There must be something of the old tiger in her genes. It is recorded that she fought like a tigress…Noor absolutely did not die for nothing.

“She is an amazement, a remarkable and extraordinarily brave woman who did what she did for a country to which she owed nothing,” Forsyth said.

The memorial event was organised by the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial Trust set up by Shrabani Basu – author of the World War II heroine’s biography ‘Spy Princess’.

It coincided with the dates of June 16-17, 1943, when Noor – under her codename Madeleine – was flown to the landing ground in Northern France.

“She combined the rational side of her personality with her hatred of injustice and became one of our greatest heroines. My hope is that she would have gone back to that inner life that sustained her,” said Christine Crawley, a Labour party politician who has campaigned for the contribution of women agents in the war to be commemorated.

The SOE was an underground force established in Britain in 1940 by war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill to “set Europe ablaze”.

It recruited men and women to launch a guerilla war against Hitler’s forces.

Noor, born in September 1914 to an Indian Muslim father and an American mother, grew up in Britain and France.

Despite her pacifist views, she decided to join the war effort to defeat the Nazis and was eventually captured.

In spite of being repeatedly tortured and interrogated, she revealed nothing and was executed by an SS officer on September 13, 1944, at Dachau concentration camp at the age of 30.

She was later awarded the George Cross, the highest civilian decoration in the UK, in recognition of her bravery.

A bust in Noor’s memory now stands at Gordon Square in central London, a stone’s throw from the home she briefly lived in.

source: http://www.ndtv.com / NDTV / Home> Diaspora / Press Trust of India / June 19th, 2014

Pages from history : Kanakagiri hill and its Saints

by  Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Mysore

Two years ago, I was introduced to the respected Swamiji of famous Kanakagiri (Hill of Gold) Mutt by Dr. Gopal, Director of Archaeology and Museums in Karnataka. The Swamiji invited me to visit the holy Kanakagiri and write a book if possible. I could not take up the assignment but suggested Swamiji to write a book himself. In the meantime a small informative brochure has been published giving the salient features of Kanakagiri.

Kanakagiri is situated in Chamarajanagar district near Maleyur, in a thick forest area, famous for sandalwood. Thus it is not only a picturesque place but also an important place for forest products. Ancient saints and sages of different religious denominations deliberately selected such forests for their dwelling and built mutts or Ashramas or monasteries, so that the disturbance of urban life would not detract them and provide serene atmosphere suited for religious penance. From this point of view, Kanakagiri is an ideal place.

Kanakagiri has a hoary antiquity going back to the early centuries of the Christian era. That Jainism entered into Karnataka quite early is attested to by records. According to legends Maurya King, Chandragupta, came to Karnataka, accompanied by his teacher Bhadrabahu who established Jaina Centre of which Shravanabelagola was the most important one. Perhaps Kanakagiri also had its origin as a Jaina Centre during that period. Anyway it has a great antiquity. It is mentioned in ancient literary works and also in epigraphs. It also has the stone footprints of Jaina saints, mandapas for penance and memorial stones called ‘Nisidi stones.’ All these are built on a huge but broad rocky boulder giving the impression of an ancient township.

Though hundreds of Jaina saints lived and preached here, the records mention the names of Supratishta of Suryapura and Jnanachandradeva. They preached hundreds of students at this place the principles of Jainism. An interesting anecdotes is narrated in this connection. The Jaina teacher, addressing his students, told, when all of us are engaged in the discussion on non-violence (ahimsa) here, a robber arrives on the scene. What will you do? Most of the students said that they will run away without harming the robber because they have been taught ahimsa. Immediately the teacher said non-violence is not cowardice; it is to make all efforts to convince the robber of non-violence and make him act accordingly. In course of time, Jnanachandradeva died and became a great saint in hierarchy. The latter is said to have travelled throughout the country preaching Jainism and attained knowledge at the confluence of Gandhakuti.

Finally at his ripe old age, he returned to Kanakagiri and took up serious penance and cast off his body here and Kanakagiri became famous as Siddhakshetra or a pilgrimage centre.

Another great Jaina saint who lived here was Pujyapada. Fortunately inscriptions refer to him while describing his exalted place in Jainism, from which we can understand his life and achievements. Historians have considered him to be a Kannadiga as he was in the court of Ganga King Durvinita (529-79 BC). Actually Pujyapada was Durvinita’s Guru. Pujyapada was named so because his feet were worshipped by the Gods; and his original name Devanandi faded into background. He was a great scholar. An inscription gives the following details of Pujyapada. “Then came Pujyapada, so called because his feet were worshipped by Gods;who had originally the name Devanandi and because of his towering intellect got the name Jinendrabuddhi. His unequalled knowledge in grammar is proclaimed by his Jinendra Vyakarana; his proficiency in philosophy is attested by his great work Sarvarthasiddhi; his poetical talent and knowledge of prosody is attested by his work Samadhi Shataka. Such is the greatness of Pujyamuni who is worthy of being honoured by groups of saints and sages.” Another record refers to his achievement as the conqueror of heretic faiths and states that he had the power of healing and people used to flock to him for getting cured from the diseases. In an exaggerated way the record states that his body was purified by a visit to the respected Jina at Videha country and the water used to wash his feet had the power of converting iron into gold. Finally, it states that his feet are worthy of being washed by Sri (Lakshmi) and he is Sripujyapada and not simply Pujyapada. Though he flourished in the early centuries of Christian era, he had attained eminence as a great saint by sixth century AD. Kanakagiri became important because Pujyapada lived here. Thus Kanakagiri gave the great saint Pujyapada to South Indian in general and Karnataka Jainism in particular. This is another contribution of Kanakagiri.

Another equally great and distinguished Jaina saint of the ancient period was Umasvati. He was also a highly respected Jaina saint of South India. Whether he visited Kanakagiri or not is a point of difference among scholars. However some historians have argued that Umasvati visited Kanakagiri because of its sacred nature and stayed there for sometime. Umasvati is respected next only to the highly distinguished Kunda Kundacharya, the most venerated Jaina saint in South India. Fortunately there are many records which throw historical light on saint Umasvati. The latter belonged to the lineage of Kunda Kundacharya but flourished some time later. Umasvati is described as the one who wrote the work (sutras) on the Jaina texts and helped the devotees to undertake the path of salvation. Though early records of Umasvati have not been discovered, he is considered to have lived during the early centuries of Christian era but later than the date of Kundakunda. Thus South Indian Jainism had three great saints — Kunda Kundacharya, Pujyapada and Umasvati.

The name and fame of Kanakagiri as a great Jaina Centre in South India spread easily. Many Jaina saints who had distinguished themselves, thought that Kanakagiri is worthy of being chosen as the last abode of their life to cast off their body. In fact the Jainas believed that casting off this body as per the rules enunciated in Jaina texts would bring in religious merit by which one can merge with Jina, the conqueror. Hence many Jaina saints visited Kanakagiri to cast off their body, as per the Jaina rites. Some of the saints are Ajayamuni, Chandrasenacharya, Chandrakeerti, Siddhanthadeva, Vidyananwwda, etc.

Kanakagiri and its saints were patronised by successive ruling dynasties of Karnataka starting from the Gangas of Talkad, Hoysalas, Vijayanagara kings and Wadiyars of Mysore. Thus it has a continuous history till today.

In recent times it became famous by the presence of Sri Chandrasagaramuni who attained Samadhi in 1986. He took great interest in developing this place and built 24 Jinakutas and constructed steps to the hill. Because of him, many philanthropists gave donations for creating modern amenities for the devotees. In 1997, Swasthi Sri Bhuvanaika Bhattaraka Swamiji was consecrated as the head of this Mutt and he has been taking great interest in improving this Jaina Centre. Even for non-Jainas, a visit to Kanakagiri hill will be a highly rewarding experience.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General  News / June 14th, 2014

Bangalore’s own Tudor Taj Mahal

For those who regularly cross the Queens Road-Cunningham Road junction in the heart of the city, this stone building, halfheartedly bordering the road leading towards Shivaji Nagar, is not a rare sight. A few may even know that it’s called the Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall, but what marks it out as special is the fact that it is dedicated to a Pakistani woman who died in 1923 in Bangalore.

Goolbai, better known as Lady Jehangir, was the wife of Sir Jehangir Hormasji Kothari, a rich merchant of the Parsi community, who was born in Karachi. Sir Jehangir was famous for his philanthropic ways and was the first Indian from the provinces of the Punjab or Sindh to be knighted. A globetrotter, Sir Jehangir visited Bangalore with his wife as part of their south India tour in 1923. The journey ended on a tragic note with his beloved wife taking ill in Bangalore, where she breathed her last. She was interred at the Parsee Aramgah or burial ground in the city.

At that time, Bangalore only had a handful of Parsis. The Iranian Zoroastrians started migrating to Gujarat from their homeland Persia (now Iran) following the Arab invasion in the 8th century AD, says Yezdi N Unvalla, a member of the Bangalore Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman, tracing the earliest days of the community in the country. “After his wife’s death, Sir Jehangir visited Bangalore again and decided to build a memorial in her name. He felt Bangalore’s Parsis need a place to get together and celebrate community functions,” adds Unvalla. The hall today belongs to the Bangalore Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman.

The distinctive feature of the building is its archaic Tudor architecture. Even the ceiling is made of granite slabs. Sir Jehangir, who was an unofficial world ambassador for the British Empire, had good contacts with the officials who were in charge of the Bangalore Cantonment. The construction of the hall started in 1931 and it was declared open in 1932. Today, the community pays tribute to the Kothari couple by celebrating Annual Club Day with a prayer ceremony.

“The building is now used for community functions and recreational purposes and is given on rent for conducting exhibitions and annual fairs,” the Parsi association’s president Dinshaw Cawasji says.

Though the once tranquil place has now been engulfed by the expanding city, the community’s timely repairs have ensured that the decades-old building has withstood the vicissitudes of time.

Parsis arrived in Bangalore in view of increasing business prospects and settled in the Cantonment area by the end of 18th century. They maintained good relationship with the Europeans and the hall might have been built in old English Tudor style to suit their cultural taste. Bangalore Palace built by the Mysore royal family is another fine example of this style.

Dr. SK Aruni, Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), Bangalore

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatoday.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Bangalore / by M. Ashtitha, TNN / April 07th, 2014

The Mysore that was … Part 21

 

 Sri Suvidhinath Rajendrasuri Jain Temple in Halladakeri.
Sri Suvidhinath Rajendrasuri Jain Temple in Halladakeri.

by M.L. Krishnaswami

The old Halladakeri is now renamed Mahaveernagar and all the broken tiled roof houses have been demolished and in their place, modern constructions of two or more storeys have come up. The whole area is inhabited by Rajasthani and Sindhi Merchants and gives an entirely new look. A Jain temple has also come up in the area and during early mornings, one can see worshippers — both men and women in their traditional religious dresses — making a beeline to the temple.

A month or so back, in the early morning hours, a having dropped my wife in the suburban bus stand, I decided to park my car on the eastern wing of Irwin Road, opposite the Wellington Lodge and then proceeded to take a stroll along the stretch of road in between the Suburban Bus Stand on the East and Ashoka Road on the Western side. It is about a kilometre or a little more long and was way back called by a peculiar name “Halladakeri” or a street with lot of pits, I do not know why and how?

This Halladakeri, about 60 years or so ago, was dotted on both sides by old tiled roof houses and some of them nearing dilapidation with broken walls, ramshackled in nature, and with low doorways of wood with very small openings in the walls — an apology for windows also of wood. Most of these houses were inhabited by Brahmins and some of them were occupied by a few other people who sold butter, oil etc.

Towards the Circle near the Mysore Bank and Central Police Station — now called Nehru Circle — there was a Choultry by name ‘Jaggulal Chathra,’ a very big building (single storey) built of thick mud brick walls and with tiled roof, I do not remember exactly. If I am not mistaken, this Choultry belonged to members of the Sindhi Community who were a small minority in Mysore in those days. This Choultry building is still there — unused and unkempt — like an ageing elephant in distress. Let it be. If my memory is correct, the small by-lane housing the Jaggulal Dharmashala — that was its real name — was called ‘Hamsarajagalli’, whatever it means or refers to I do not know.

Apart from the above, the old Halladakeri is a remnant of the past. It was early morning when I strolled through — about 7.30 am — and not many people were on the move. There used to be a Ganeshothsav celebrated in a grand scale for about a fortnight or so and, if I remember correctly, one gentleman by name Murthy was in charge of the arrangements for the festival which included very good music programmes in the evenings by well-known musicians of the day who were specially called from Madras, Andhra and, of course, a few local luminaries. Orchestral music was not much in vogue those days and it was perhaps due to the patrons who lent their ears to classical variety and encouraged it.

The Brahmin houses were mostly occupied by Palace Priests who were held in high esteem by the community. Along the road was living one family which was related to our family by four generations backwards. I remember visiting this family for taking part in some ceremonies in those houses. I also remember one old lady by name Kuppa Chikkamma living there and who happens to be the grandmother of the famous Kannada poet K.S. Narasimhaswamy of Mysore Mallige-fame.

The above are only memorabilia now:

The old Halladakeri is now renamed Mahaveernagar and all the broken tiled roof houses have been demolished and in their place, modern constructions of two or more storeys have come up. The whole area — or practically the whole — is inhabited by Rajasthani and Sindhi Merchants and gives an entirely new look. A Jain temple has also come up and early mornings, one can see worshippers — both men and women in their traditional religious dresses — making a beeline to the temple. The road, small in width — hardly 20 to 25 feet or so — reminds me of the Girgaum Road or Kalbadevi Road, both very busy commercial centres of Bombay, with the only difference, this is more a residential area, with only a few business outlets here and there. Strangely and to my utter surprise, in the midst of all the above developments on either side of the road, I saw the old business establishment of Someshwara Steel Traders run jointly by M/s Somanna and Brother. This is like an oasis in a vast desert. May I say, ‘Hold on, Mr. Somanna’ who is a good friend of mine?

On another day, I took a stroll in a locality enclosed in a quadrilateral shape made up of Hundred Feet Road in the North, Thyagaraja Road on the East, Vanivilasa Road in the South and lastly D. Subbaiah Road on the West. This area is intersected into two parts as Chamundeshwari Road and Narayana Shastri Road. Incidentally, Narayana Shastri Road is named after the grandfather of the famous T.P. Kailasam and a fairly big building belonging to the above Narayana Shastri has since been demolished and a multistorey structure is in place now.

The area between Thyagaraja Road and Soppinakolada Beedhi (the road that runs North at right angles to the K.R. Police Station on V.V. Road) is dotted in the north by two or three Agrahara’s which are endless housing schemes built and gifted by the late Maharaja to needy citizens and these are intact even now with more or less the successors of the original owners in occupation.

Beyond this is the Sunnadakeri which has also maintained its original shape with small houses and shops with independent water and electricity connections. Only Soppinakolada Beedhi (now called Renuka Temple Street) is slowly undergoing change with neat housing complexes coming up in place of old houses.

The stretches between N.S.Road as above and Diwan’s Road from double tank side to Chamaraja Double Road has a cluster of housing appendages, very small in size and with poor ventilation and with a majority of housing units depending on street water taps for their water needs. Just behind the now closed (perhaps) Kiran’s Nursing Home, I saw a group of houses where the womenfolk have to make do with street water taps for washing utensils and clothing, as also bathing their small kids in the open. This is really a miserable sight and reflects poorly on our civic responsibilities. The population in this section is composed of backward class Hindus and Muslims living side by side since generations. The situation above needs redressal urgently.

Muharram is a great festival of the Muslims and a number of pendals used to come up in the area where the deities were kept and worshipped. Even Hindus would participate in this festival and the last day function saw the bon-homie of the two major communities in a large measure.

In the above quadrilateral area the redeeming feature is that Hindus and Muslims are living together for generations and I know this as I was a resident of V.V. Road for a long time. It is heartening to know that there is a small unit manufacturing sandal sticks or agarbathies in this locality and founded by the late M.R. Jattappa, a pioneer in this line and his brand name was ‘Premaleela Agarbatti’, emanating a romantic fragrance to the passers-by all around. This is like a rose flower in the midst of a thorn.

There was also a hair-cutting saloon jointly owned by two brothers by name Shivaram and Govindaraju and this used to be visited by the big-wigs of those days like Professors, Doctors, Lawyers, etc. The major attraction was Shivaram who happened to be the hair dresser of the Palace and who used to talk about his experiences there. This saloon is still there and must have passed on to the third generation now. Half a rupee was the charges for a hair cut and affluent people could shell out a rupee for the same.

Note: My humble suggestion in this connection is that educated and enlightened citizens should abandon the use of their vehicles once in a while and take a walk in the lanes and bylanes of the city, to get a real feel of the development that has taken place over a period of time. This will certainly go a long way in improving the lot of the poor and underprivileged citizens by addressing their problems before the powers that be.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / June 17th, 2014

Pages from history : Memorials to household animals

by Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Mysore

Setting up memorials has been an ancient practice in India including Karnataka. Of the large number of memorial stones found in Karnataka which are generally referred to as hero-stones (Viragallu), the more interesting and rare ones are those dedicated to pet and household animals. Of all the household animals, dog occupies a prominent place because of its faithfulness in serving the man in addition to its use in a variety of ways. In fact, often dogs are treated as a part of the family, with the exception of cows which attained an eminent position because of its sacred character. Naturally, memorials to dogs are available in greater number as compared to other animals. Some instances may be referred to here.

The most interesting memorial to a dog is from Atkur in Mandya district dated 950 AD, belonging to the Rastrakuta period. A battle was fought between the Cholas and the Rashtrakutas in which Ganga King Butuga’s general Manalera took part. The King was pleased by the valour of Manalera and the latter requested the dog Kali as a present. He was given the dog Kali. It was taken to his native place and it became his pet dog.

One day Manalera went for hunting along with his dog. Boars came to attack Manalera and on seeing this, the dog attacked the boars and saved his master’s life. But in the process the dog died of injuries sustained. Manalera was overcome with grief over the death of his pet dog Kali. He erected a huge memorial stone with a long inscription which narrated the entire incident and the heroic part played by his dog Kali. He also carved the scene of Kali fighting with the boar. Not satisfied by this, he appointed a Gorava priest to worship this memorial stone daily before taking food and made provisions for all these things. Thus Manalera elevated the dog to the level of a divinity and that is why this is considered as a rare memorial to a pet dog.

The story of other two dogs by name Dhalaga and Loga is recorded in an inscription of 971 AD from village Melagani in Kolar district. The two dogs were taken by their master for hunting in the local forest. Dhalaga killed 26 boars and Loga killed 75 boars and saved their master. Unfortunately both the dogs succumbed to the injuries. The grief-stricken master decided to erect a suitable memorial to both the dogs. He carved the entire hunting scene on a stone slab which has two friezes. The first frieze depicts the dog Loga killing 75 boars while the second frieze shows Dhalaga killing 26 boars. Thus this is a fitting sculptural memorial to the heroism of two dogs by a grateful master. Incidentally the above two instances show that naming dogs was an ancient practice and at least as old as one thousand years.

Another memorial stone from village Nelavagilu (Bangalore district) depicts vividly a hunting scene in which a hero is assisted by two dogs. One of the dogs is charging against the boar almost tearing its front portion while the other dog is shown as attacking from the top. The hero is shown as piercing the boar from his long and sharp weapon.

Yet another inscription of the eleventh century refers to Pallavagauda who took his dog named Madakesari on a hunting expedition to a forest in which the dog killed many boars but it was also killed in the encounter.

One more memorial may be referred to here: A fine memorial stone has been found in Balligave in Shimoga district. It is dated 1183 AD. It has three friezes. The bottom most frieze depicts a fight against a boar by three dogs. The dogs are shown as attacking the boar. The second panel depicts the celestial nymphs carrying the hero. The third shows the hero enjoying heavenly pleasures.

Memorial stones of other types may also be referred to now. A tiger entered into a village called Tavarekere. The people were scared of this. A hero by name Kambaladana immediately took action. He asked his pet dog to fight against the tiger. It fought bravely but was killed by the tiger. But the tiger ran away to the forest. Immediately Kambaladana erected a memorial stone in which is shown a fight between the dog and the tiger. The inscription records the heroism shown by the dog.

A dog attacking an elephant is carved on a memorial stone found in Yelahanka, Bangalore. On the upper frieze is shown the fight between the dog and the elephant and the second panel shows the death of the dog. It is interesting that the dog chose to attack a huge elephant.

Horses are generally used in battles and also as a means of transportation in the ancient period. We have a large number of memorial stones depicting soldiers sitting on horses and fighting the enemies. Even some of the hero-stones depict such scenes in sculpture. Such panels have to be carefully examined if they were really meant to be memorials to horses or soldiers sitting astride them. There are some which are really meant for horses. Kumararama of Kammatadurga was a great hero. He had a horse name Bolla to which he was greatly attached as it carried him in all types of battle-fields successfully. Naturally he developed great love and affection for this horse. There is a sculptural panel in the vicinity of Kumararama temple in which a horse is shown and this has been identified as Bolla. Thus it is a fine memorial erected by Kumararama himself to his pet horse.

There is a bronze sculpture of a horse in the temple at Bilikere in Challakere taluk of Chirtradurga. It is a representation of a horse used by the soldier Vira Chikkanna. There is another temple at Nagavageri in Kolar district. It has a bronze horse which is being worshipped by the people. A sculptural representation of a horse is seen on a boulder in the village Talaganavara in Kolar district. Obviously this is a memorial by a couple whose sculptures are seen in the same place. There are many horses carved on the boulders of Chitradurga fort and they are taken to be memorials.

Erecting memorials to cows was a common practice in ancient Karnataka. Stealing of cows became a practice of political significance. They are referred to as Gograhana. There are hundreds of such cow memorial stones in ancient and medieval Karnataka. At such times local heroes fought against the thieves and protected the cows and perhaps some of them died. In such cases memorial stones were erected with the pictures of heroes accompanied by cows. For example an inscription of 1140 AD from Shimoga states that the hero fought against the robbers, rescued the cows but he himself died. Another hero-stone from Soraba informs the sacrifice made by Kamagauda while saving the cows. Even a woman taking part in such fights is seen from a hero-stone from the village Sarakanur in 1041 AD. Lakshamma killed the miscreants who stole the cows but she died in the process.

Rarely do we find memorials to elephants also. The best example is a small silver sculpture of an elephant now kept in the Igguthappa temple at Padi in Kodagu. It has an inscription which refers to the hunting by King Lingaraja II who is described as having caught 34 elephants and 8 young ones alive. To commemorate this event, he gifted a silver image of an elephant to the temple. Thus people showed their love, affection and respect for household animals and erected memorials. This shows how they cared for the pet animals in the ancient times.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles  / by  Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy / June 07th, 2014

MELANGE: HIDDEN HISTORIES – The original take one

BRV Theatre has donned many roles from armoury to theatre to defence services canteen. /  Photo: K. Murali Kumar / The Hindu
BRV Theatre has donned many roles from armoury to theatre to defence services canteen. / Photo: K. Murali Kumar / The Hindu

The vintage cinema haunt of Bangalore’s movie buffs, B.R.V. Theatre nurtures memories of a bygone era

You may have passed by this building almost every day if you have to go through Shivajinagar and yet, the quaint B.R.V. Theatre may have easily slipped your attention. Located at the entrance of Central Street, the present Golden Palm Army Canteen has a legacy that goes back to over a century. While many may know it now as a canteen and Bangalore’s older residents remember it fondly as a theatre, B.R.V. was initially started as canteen/store and armoury of the Bangalore Rifle Volunteers denoting the abbreviation.

The B.R.V was part of the Madras Army and formed on November 21, 1884 and stationed in KGF, Mysore and Whitefield. The unit was later merged Coorg and Mysore Rifles on April 1, 1917 to become the sixth Bangalore, Coorg and Mysore Batallion.

The original building demolished in 1905 and rebuilt to the present tiled-roof stone-covered structure in 1912. Housing a billiards room, reading room, ladies room and a bar on the ground floor and the regimental offices, stores and other rooms on the first floor, the B.R.V. was famous for its main gallery which is 120 feet long and 60 feet wide and easily accommodates 1,000 people.

It’s all in memory The place has donned many roles from armoury to theatre to defence services canteen / Photo: Bhagya Prakash K. / The Hindu
It’s all in memory The place has donned many roles from armoury to theatre to defence services canteen / Photo: Bhagya Prakash K. / The Hindu

The place has donned many roles from armoury to theatre to defence services canteen. But one of the fondest memories people had of the building before its theatre avatar was the grand balls organised by the YWCA in its initial days on its grooved teakwood floored gallery.

Later, B.R.V. was the place Bangaloreans hung out if they wanted to see the latest English movies in town. A. Premchand, whose father V. Anand was the manager of the theatre from 1960, says the silver screen came to B.R.V. as part of the defence services cinema. “B.R.V. was one of 22 such entertainment hotspots open across India at that time. The first film to be screened here was Ujala in 1959 starring Shammi Kapoor. Opened for public viewing, the city theatre was soon converted into an English movie joint and in 1960, The Captain’s Table, a British comedy film, was the first English movie to be screened here. This was followed up by a David Niven starrer Happy Anniversary, Marilyn Monroe’sThe Apartment and Some Like It HotThe Good, The Bad And The Ugly, the Beatles movies A Hard Day’s Night and Help, the Pink Panther series and The Great Escape were some of the most memorable movies that ran for many months here.”

Prem adds that B.R.V. was the only theatre in those days that was strict about not letting anyone below 18 for adult films. “After dad’s transfer to Madras, the management started to struggle with the film joint and movies were doing well in other theatres like Lido. The theatre eventually shut down and the last movie to be screened was Sean Connery’s James Bond thriller You Only Live Twice.”

Built in the Tudor style of architecture, the building’s gabled entrance-porch and conspicuous battlements is also synonymous with the designs of the Bible Society group of buildings (at the junction of St. Mark’s and Kasturba Roads) and gives Bangalore a very medieval look even today. While the building may have lost their prime status and importance, the legacy and fond memories attached to it will endure in the hearts of the city’s residents.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Melange – Hidden Stories / by Allan Moses Rodricks / Bangalore – June 06th, 2014