"Plague-proof rules"
Photographer: Bharatesh GD,
Kadu Malleshwara Temple, Malleshwaram
Narada had actually wanted to see who among Ganesha and Kartikeya was wiser. So he gave the fruit to Lord Shiva and Parvati, asking either of them to consume it. But the two refused to eat it as Narada had asked them not to cut it as it would lose its vitality. So the divine couple decided to give the mango to one of their children. But being parents to both their children, choosing one among the two proved difficult. And hence Narada stepped in with a solution.Narada asked the two children to travel around the world three times and said that the one who wins the race would be rewarded with the mango. Kartikeya instantly mounted on his peacock to literally go around the world. But Ganesha chose to walk around his parents with them seated in the center. Shiva gave the Golden Mango to clever Ganesha.
Relief Sculpture from Kadu Malleshwara Temple, Malleshwaram
The early planned towns of Bangalore:
Frazer town | Malleswaram | Basavanagudi | Shivajinagar | ChamrajpetThese suburbs were well-planned as a grid that focused on hygiene and sanitation was emphasized. S. K. Venkatranga Iyengar and Madhava Rao proposed the development of two new hygienic extensions of the city as 'modern suburbs'. Most of the city was under the authority of the British Cantonment in the 19th century. Malleswaram and Basavanagudi were planned as early as 1892, they could be executed only in 1898 during the Great plague, in a hurry to create better infrastructure to contain the disease, the British administrators decided to develop better sanitation in the new areas of Basavanagudi, Malleshwaram and Frazer Town.
Interestingly Basavanagudi lies on the foothills of the Bull Temple, Bugle Rock and Lal Bagh. Malleswaram is on the foothills of the Kempegowda watchtower and Palace Guttahalli. Malleswaram’s advantage lay in its access to a water source — a big stream (now the Rajakaluve).
Designed by: A Shree Tej, Malleswaram in 1889
Malleshwaram
Once upon a time, S. K. Venkatranga Iyengar, an advocate from Madras came riding to Bangalore during the British time, on a horse back. He visited the Kadu Malleswaram temple, he liked the surroundings and imagined a locality where the rich and noble could settle. Venkatranga Iyengar reported this to Seshadri Iyer, the Dewan of Mysore and suggested that the city be extended there. After approval and several discussions it was named after the temple. Thus was born Malleswaram in 1889.
There are multiple stories about the origin of this locality. One legend being about S. K. Venkatranga Iyengar and Madhava Rao and their plan to extend to make a hygienic suburban. Another legend says a temple lent its name to the locality, The Kadu Malleshwara temple. Here the credit of building goes to the Marathas in the 17th century. Venkoji, a half-brother of Chhatrapati Shivaji . Third story says the place where Malleswaram stands today was once a village called Mallapuram so the name comes from. It is very difficult to pinpoint and prove any of them, but all of them can make sense.
Malleshwaram has a mix of Kannada, Telugu and Tamil speaking inhabitants. It was originally planned to accommodate all communities. The then planning authorities paid attention to social hierarchies and so Malleshwaram had eight blocks, one for each particular section of the people. Separate wards for Muslims, native Christians and various Hindu castes, including Brahmins, Lingayats, Vaishyas and others were built. It also had a “Mohammedan block”. What is interesting, though, is that even Jayanagar, which was planned post-independence, when secularism was in vogue, has its pockets of Muslim Ghettos. Yet, the design was so planned to let the residents engage symbiotically with each other. It was conceived as a place for everyone and where everything was in its place.
Designed by: A Shree Tej, Conservancy lane, 1990
No More Kakka Lane, Cycle Lane coming soon
Conservancy Lanes
These lanes were historically used for manual scavenging. They ran behind the bungalows, a distinguishing feature of the drainage system. Sewers used to run outside people's houses, so there was plenty of filth. Servants called the 'thottikars' (meaning dustbin in kannada) used to clear the night soil from a toilet located in a small shed outside the house by entering the house using conservancy lanes. In the Local Language it is called the “Kakka Lane.” When the practice of manual scavenging was stopped, these were repurposed as shopping streets or as parking, or even as illegal storage spaces for small vendors. Sex workers also began soliciting there and garbage too was being dumped.
A group of architects who have conducted a study on conservancy lanes, especially in Malleswaram, have highlighted how these spaces can be repurposed to provide the much-needed open spaces for kids and elders. These lanes can also be developed as dedicated bicycle lanes to connect different parts of the localities.
Similar to the manual scavenging act done by the lower caste groups in India, Pakistan municipalities also still rely on their minority communities for scavenging. In Karachi, Christian and lower caste hindu sweepers keep the sewer system flowing, using their bare hands to unclog crumbling drainpipes of feces. When Karachi's municipality tried to recruit Muslims to unclog gutters, they refused to get down into the sewers, instead sweeping the streets. The job was left to Christians and lower-caste Hindus. In London too, cesspits containing human waste were called 'gongs' or 'jakes' and men employed to clean them 'Gongfermours' or 'Gongfarmers'.They emptied such pits only in the night and dumped it outside the city. They had designated areas to live and were allowed to use only certain roads and by lanes to carry the waste.
Designed by: A Shree Tej, Basavangudi Grid-Man, 1980
Basavanagudi
Pages of history tell us that the area now called Basavanagudi was an agricultural village called Sunkenahalli, consisting of groundnut fields. A very angry bull would run all over the field and ruin the crop every year. Legend says that a farmer, frustrated with the rampaging bull, hit it with a club. The stunned bull sat still, became motionless and then just miraculously transformed to stone.
Photographer: Clare Arni,
Groundnut festival (Kadlekai Parishat), Near Bull Temple, Basavanagudi
In repentance, the farmers built a temple for the bull - the bull temple. Every year still the Groundnut festival (Kadlekai Parishat) happens during the groundnut harvest around the temple. The extension of Basavanagudi happened around the Bull temple. The central location was dominated by the Brahmin class and vegetarians. There was a dominance of Carnatic music and literature discourse by the upper-class brahmanical Kannadigas in this area. So, people called it the cultural hub of the city. The lower caste began to settle in the outskirts of the Basavanagudi extension due to the planning of the settlement based on caste and class.
Artist: Pradeep Kambatali, Masti Club
Masti Club
The large archaic clock ticked 6. As usual, with his stick in hand, shawl over shoulder and tidy coat, entered Mr. Masti Venkatesha Iyer, sat on his fixed table ready and was to play another game of 28 for half a paisa at stake with such seriousness as though he were playing for thousands of rupees. “I will not enter this club ever, if alcohol gets served here” he said often. So when a bar was opened in the club finally, there were no traces of Mr. Masti ever again.
The Basavanagudi or Masti Club, came to be known informally as the art capital of the city. Bhairavi Kempegowda, a gifted classical singer, used to visit Basavanagudi often from Ramanagara. He loved to sing, but was always a little too drunk. He worshipped his guru who lived in Basavanagudi. Whenever he met the guru, the guru would hit him, by hand or with sticks, and Kempegowda would take it with folded hands. Neighbours around would gather and appreciate the guru’s efforts and so one day, likewise, they all witnessed and experienced the thrill of listening to Bhairavi.
Apparently, in the initial years, the club was called “Brahmanara koota”, because of its location in a predominantly Brahmin locality and the fact that a good number of men in service during the Raj days were Brahmins.
Broadway In Bangalore,1915
https://www.past-india.com/photos-items/broadway-in-bangalore-old-postcard-1915/
Image is for representation purposes only. Courtesy: internet
Bangalore Cantonment Market, 1914
https://www.past-india.com/photos-items/broadway-in-bangalore-old-postcard-1915/
Image is for representation purposes only. Courtesy: internet
Bangalore Cantonment Market, 1900
https://www.past-india.com/photos-items/broadway-in-bangalore-old-postcard-1915/
Image is for representation purposes only. Courtesy: internet
Image is for representation purposes only. Courtesy: internet
Frazer TownThis new extension was home to a mix of the christian and muslim communities. It was developed in 1906 on 50 acres of agricultural land about two miles north-east of the city. Residents here were bound by strict "plague-proof rules"
JH Stephens, Municipal engineer, drew up the plans for the new extension.
His plans led to Fraser Town being called “the only plague-proof town in India”.
Image credit: Plague-Proof Town Planning in Bangalore, South India
https://www.indianculture.gov.in/rarebooks/plague-proof-town-planning-bangalore-south-india
Annasawmy Mudaliar, a philanthropist, realised people needed certain basic amenities before they could move in. Accordingly, he built a dispensary and a market and handed them over to the Municipality. He also built a school for children of all castes and creeds. JH Stephens, Municipal engineer, drew up the plans for the new extension. His plans led to Fraser Town being called “the only plague-proof town in India”.
Rules
Designed by: Anchita Kaul
The new extension was a combination of small houses and large plots. The Municipality built several small houses for people to rent at nominal rates (Re 1 per month in 1909). To keep the plague away, Stephens’ formulated some anti-rat rules:
Only one-third of the plot could be built upon; No large trees could be planted
next to the house;Roads and drains were 1.5 feet below ground level and so on.Basements must be stone and at least 1.5 feet high.Floors must be of close-fitting hard tiles or stone like Cuddapah (not mud).Roofs must be of Mangalore tiles (not country tile, not mud and certainly not thatch)The bungalow was also seen as an anti-plague measure and they used flint bases as the plague was thought to be ground-borne--------------------------------- --------- ------- ------- ------- ------ -------- ------- -------- -------- -----
Photographer: Archana Hande, 2020
Shivajinagar and around.
Shivaji Nagar
The area most severely hit by the plague was Blackpully, now known as Shivajinagar. To prevent the spread of the epidemic, several unsanitary houses were demolished, and with a lack of manpower to accomplish the demolitions, convicts from the Central Jail were ordered to help.
Since the tank system was widely spread in this area, the British believed that a part of the plague was spreading due to the abundant unfiltered water in these areas. So, they began draining the tank systems.
The Hindus took the affliction with wails of sorrow but were content with making special sacrifices to the gods and showing more devotion by offerings in the water to wave out the spirits of evil. Many mohamaddens were victims to this disease in Shivajinagar, whereas the English people were almost entirely exempt though they too lived in the cantonment area. The local people did not understand this and what made it even worse, were the arbitrary plague rules introduced by the English. The more ignorant locals considered that this new disease had been specially manufactured by the English to kill off the muhamaddens and the hindus and that was the reason why the English did not suffer from it.
Artist: Archana Hande, Stop Dividing India
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