18th April is celebrated across the world as World Heritage Day. To mark the occasion, INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) had organised a series of activities in Bangalore. It was a pleasant surprise to see a sizeable crowd assemble at 8:30 AM on a Saturday morning in the spacious lawns of Tipu Sultan’s palace (near present day KR Market), curiously looking around and shooting photographs.

The INTACH-sponsored walk through the Fort (now KR Market) area was conducted by Dr S K Aruni, Assistant Director of the Southern Regional Centre of the Indian Council of Historical Research. Bangalore had two forts. The first one was an oval shaped civilian fort built by Kempegowda that surrounded the present day Majestic area. The second fort was a much smaller military garrison that existed near the present day KR Market area. This was linked to the bigger fort via the Delhi gate (near the Avenue Road entrance). The walk started at Tipu Sultan’s palace and weaved through the bustling KR Market and ended at the Delhi Gate, the only surviving portion of the Bangalore Fort.

Tipu's Palace (Pic: Poornima Dasharathi)

At the gates of Tipu’s palace, one learnt about the origins of Bangalore, its early inhabitants, and the rulers who ruled the city. Dr. Aruni busted many myths, provided lots of unknown facts and shed light on the fascinating history of the city during his 3 hour long walk. The story about Bangalore getting its name from “bendakaluru” – boiled beans – was dismissed by Dr. Aruni as an unsubstantiated myth. Dr. Aruni mentioned that it was very likely that Bangalore as a city was formed only in the 15th century. Since this was an interland route for traders, the city was historically always strategically important.

A commonly held view is that Kempegowda built a mud fort around Bangalore city which was later rebuilt as a stone fort by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. Dr Aruni explained that during Kempegowda’s time the technology and know-how to build stone forts already existed, it is highly improbable that Kempegowda built a mud fort. Dr. Aruni reasoned that Kempegowda would have built a stone fort, which was improved upon by Hyder Ali and his son, Tipu. Dr. Aruni showcased his collection of rare photographs and sketches dating back to the British rule to explain his point of view.

BWS Photo exhibition (Pic: Poornima Dasharathi)

Another interesting fact was that the palace was situated next to the Kote Venkataramana temple, not solely because of Tipu’s religious tolerance but also the tradition of those times. In the early days, the King was the representative of God (Raja Pratyaksha Devatha) and hence his palace was built in the same courtyard as the main deity. Tipu merely followed the customs of his times!

Apart from the royal history, we also learnt that the palace was used as a community hall. One of its residents was the famous Kannada playwright, T P Kailasam, who lived in a small room in the palace. This was during the period when the city’s administration had not yet realised that these monuments were part of our heritage and had to be maintained.

Poornima Dasharathi is a freelance writer and a travel enthusiast.

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