Did you know that Palace Road houses many mansions and buildings that are labelled heritage structures with intrinsic social and historical value?
Architect Naresh V. Narasimhan of Venkataramanan Associates was looking at the stretch on Google Maps, while working on the restoration of NGMA building, and was surprised to see the road extending from Tipu Sultan’s Palace to the Bangalore Palace.
He undertook a survey of the buildings on that road and presented the ‘Palace to Palace’ study for the government to consider declaring the stretch a heritage zone calling it the ‘Swarnavalaya’.
This study prompted photograher PeeVee (Perumal Venkatesan) to photograph some of the structures on the road for documentation.
He focused on nearly 60 to 70 buildings on the stretch for about a month and the result is an INTACH exhibition to mark World Heritage Day, which will showcase nearly 40 photographs.
The exhibition is themed ‘Palace to Palace’, and is showcased along the walls of the State Bank of Mysore on Avenue Road for two weeks.
“The exhibition will highlight some of the buildings along the heritage-dense road. We selected the public road for the showcase as it attracts a large footfall and wanted the show to be accessible to public,” said Meera Iyer, co-convenor, INTACH, Bengaluru.
“Having been through Balabrooie and Carlton House controversies, Mr. Naresh agreed that we should augment the heritage photo library of Bengaluru for a complete photographic documentation of the structures for posterity. That’s the reason when I approached INTACH with my work, they readily agreed for the exhibition,” says PeeVee.
Enjoyed photographing Chetty Hostel: PeeVee
Bengaluru: “I simply enjoyed taking photos of the Chetty Hostel on Avenue Road,” says PeeVee, explaining his observations during his shoot.
The Mohan Building that had housed the Chickpet Police station is now being used for sorting dry waste collected in the area.
The State Bank of Mysore’s old building at KG Road-Avenue Road junction was one of NIMHANS’ work places in the 1960s.
The stately Clock Tower at the Central College installed during British times demanded a stately heritage value.
The nearby Freedom Park that once housed the central jail, the UVCE building and JC Polytechnic also deserve heritage status.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bengaluru / by Ranjani Govind / Bengaluru – April 18th, 2016