The Eastern Frontiers - Kempegowda Towers

Having started off with the Kempegowda Tower that was closest to home (see earlier blog titled The North Western Frontier), I then had the occasion to be in the vicinity of the two towers that marked the eastern extremities of Bangalore as envisioned by its founder, Chieftain Kempegowda. I was carrying my DSLR in the first instance and had only my phone camera in the second.

TOWER # 2 :

First, the one that marked the North Eastern end - which is now on the banks of the Ulsoor Lake (in Central Bangalore !). This tower is not normally accessible as it is within Army territory (Madras Sappers). The best view of the tower, given the circumstances, is from the other side of the Ulsoor lake, close to the Tamil Sangam building on Annaswamy Mudaliar Road. Enter the Ulsoor Lake garden area through the gate diagonally opposite the Tamil Sangam building and you will catch  glimpse of the Kempegowda tower on U rock, through the bushes, behind the quirkily named Buffalo Ganj island.

 

 

The tower presents a very scenic sight, amongst flaming gulmohur trees, with the cool waters of the Ulsoor lake in the foreground. The tower, structurally, appears similar to the ones found at Sadashivnagar and Lalbagh, but seems to have lesser number of carvings on the gopura as compared to the one in Sadashivnagar.

Robert Hyde Colebrooke, a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Bengal Infantry, later to become Surveyor-General of Bengal (1794-1808), who was also a talented artist, apparently depicted one of the four Towers in a lithograph. I found this work of his on the web, depicting East Bangalore. Is it the original Kempegowda Tower or some other shrine ?

TOWER # 3 :

The South Eastern frontier was marked by the best known of the 4 Towers, on the granite rock in the 200+ acre Lalbagh. The rock itself is geologically significant as it is peninsular gneiss (amongst the oldest rocks on earth, about 3000 million years). This is what the Geological Survey of India site has to say about this rock formation : "The Lalbagh hill is composed of dark biolite gneiss of granitic to granodioritic composition containing streaks of biolite. Vestiges of older rocks are seen in the form of enclaves within the gneiss. Peninsular Gneiss of the region is dated 2500 to 3400 million years that accreted in three major episodes, i.e. 3.4 Ga, 3.3-3.2 Ga and 3.0-2.9 Ga. The quarries of Lalbagh are of great importance for researches on earth sciences towards evolution of the terrain"

The tower is fenced off to prevent vandalism and the images of the gods on the gopura have been painted in bright colours, unlike in the case of the Sadashivnagar and Ulsoor Lake towers.

There is a stone etching inside the enclosure, explaining the significance of the tower, but the board is not easily readable.

The view from the top of the rock formation is a spectacular view of KH road and tall buildings like UB City beyond.

This tower is built at an altitude like the two others already described in this blog, and would have served its purpose as a watchtower as well. At one point in time, it should have been quite possible to see the three other towers from any of the 4 towers.

This leaves the tower near Kempambudhi lake as the fourth and last one to explore. That is an adventure for another day.

Tickling the funny bone - The Indian Cartoon Gallery

Did you know Bangalore had a lighter side to it ? We - my daughter Dhrithi and I, set out to discover this side of Bangalore today. And it was right in the heart of the city !

The place I am referring to is the "Indian Cartoon Gallery". And we couldn't have timed it better - because the place is currently holding an exhibition of the works of Paul Fernandes titled "Bangalore : Swinging in the 70s" - exhibiting 65 watercolour works of art until the 8th of April.

Paul Fernandes is Bangalore's own Mario Miranda. Enough said.

He has illustrated a number of books including Peter Colaco’s "Bangalore" and "On A High Note" (the blurb reads 'A Slightly Inebriated Introduction to Western Classical Music') as well as his own "Shine Board Arts" - an authentic collection of signs of the times in India. You may have also seen his work in the famous poster depicting the chaos of MG Road and the other one featuring the Ambassador Car.

Now, back to the Indian Cartoon Gallery : This is located in the basement of Midford House, in the area called Midford Garden (the road beside Big Kids Kemp, opp. Vijaya Bank HO), off MG Road and a couple of minutes walk from the Trinity end of M G Road. Four wheeler parking may be a problem on this road and it is advisable to park in one of the parallel roads and walk down to Midford House.

A first-of-its-kind initiative of the Indian Institute of Cartoonists (IIC), the gallery has been promoted with the sole aim of promoting and encouraging the art of cartooning. The Bangalore Gallery is the first of several planned across the country and is open to all.

With an overall area of 2000 sq ft, the gallery exhibition hall is quite roomy and well lit.

The policeman of the 1970's with his khaki shorts and tall hat caught our eye as soon as we entered the hall. All around the room were watercolours depicting famous landmarks of Central Bangalore and Cantonment areas in the 70's. Here are some of the works from a nostalgic perspective :

1. The Pensioner Paradise : Colonial Bungalows with huge garden space are a rarity now.

2. Places that have since disappeared

 And some I am including for Family Members and Friends to enjoy :

 Followed by a sketch on the current state of Bengaluru...

I look forward to visiting the Gallery again after April 8th to see what it is that they have on display when there is no special feature on. At that point in time, I also intend to visit the library attached to the gallery. But I had to break the news on this particular exhibition, so that all interested can catch it before April 8th. The timings are 10 am to 6 pm.

If you miss the exhibition, Paul's work can be seen in his own gallery called Apaulogy, located at 15, Clarke Road (Opp. Au Bon Pain), Richards Park Entrance, Richards Town. I intend to visit and write about the gallery soon - and hope to meet the man himself. And the above paintings form part of a book which has been released recently, titled, unsurprisingly : 'Bangalore - Swinging in the 70s'.

So like me, if you want to see the lighter side of Bangalore, visit the unique Indian Cartoon Gallery. And have a hearty laugh.

Chokkanatha Swamy Temple : Where the deity is Vishnu and Not Shiva !

Having visited the Anandalingeshwara Temple in Hebbal and having my curiosity aroused about Chola temples in Bangalore, I came across a couple of Internet articles regarding an ancient Chola temple in the heart of the city - Domlur, no less. When the opportunity arose to visit that part of town, I resolved to pay a visit to the temple as well. Inspite of the many precautions I had taken to refer to directions listed on the Net, I still had to ask my way around the area before I got to my destination. Chokkanatha is a name that is used in reference to Shiva, not Vishnu. Very few people, even those from that area, knew about an ancient Vishnu temple there. And the area abounds in temples - I counted 6 in my wanderings through two roads.

So, how do you get there ? The simplest way is to turn into a narrow lane called 5th Cross from the Old Airport Road. This would be opposite the Modern World Showroom. There is a small signboard pointing to the temple at the beginning of 5th Cross, that should indicate you are on the right path.

The signboard says "Ancient 12th Century Chola Temple" making this probably the oldest temple in Bangalore. It also mentions "Sreedevi Bhoodevi Sametha Sri Chokkanatha Swamy Temple" which means the main deity is accompanied by his consorts - Sreedevi and Bhoodevi.

The temple has a tall stone flagstaff in front. The temple itself is elevated from the road level and there are steps leading up to the first level, where there are two smaller modern shrines dedicated to Ganesha and Anjaneya, on either side. The steps are flanked by two stone pillars with interesting carvings (scenes from the Dasavataram) and carrying inscriptions in Tamil.

Inscriptions (in ancient Tamil script) on the stone walls of the temple indicate that the main deity is "Chokkaperumal". They also indicate that the idols are made of saligrama stone, which is obtained from Nepal. The location has been identified as Tommalur. According to one of the earliest inscriptions, Irvi Tripuranthaka Chettiar and his wife donated the lands for the temple and its maintenance. There are also inscriptions referring to Hoysala King Ramanandadeva of 1300 AD and his sanctioning of money for temple festivals. The sanctum sanctorum or garbhagriha and the ardha mantapa seem to be from the Chola period. The front portion or navaranga mantapa seems to be typical of the later Vijayanagar style.

A renovation of this temple was carried out during 1975-1983, and care was taken to preserve the older structures. I was able to glean all this information from a painted board inside the temple premises.

The temple is constructed such that in certain months, the early rays of the rising sun directly illuminate the deities in the sanctum sanctorum. This is something I want to see but it would mean another trip in the wee morning hours. The idols looked resplendent in the light of incandescent lamps, and should be quite a spectacle in golden sunlight.

Zoom into the pictures below to see some of the Tamil inscriptions on the stone walls. 

Another interesting feature is the decade-old discovery by a retired chief executive engineer of the presence of eight pranic points in the temple. The points in the prakaram area are marked with white squares.

The temple premises are clean and well maintained. The customary Garuda idol facing the main deity, has a little mantap of its own.

Yet another interesting tale that I came across and wanted to check for myself is this : There is an Anjaneya temple just a few metres away, where the head of the Anjaneya idol is supposedly at the same level as the feet of Chokkanatha Swamy. The elevation of the Chokkanatha Swamy temple and the construction of the Anjaneya Swamy temple below road level seems to make this a distinct possibility.

It was late evening by the time I got to the Anjaneya Swamy temple. The temple was bustling with activity and hence I could not get to talk to the priest. I decided that I would be back for a more detailed exploration and left, feeling quite contented that I had visited possibly the oldest temple in Bangalore.