Bengaluru :

Is it enough to preserve the past or do we also need to maintain its particularities with informed respect?

Architect and restoration expert H C Thimmaiah, who is part of The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in Bengaluru says, “It is heartening that we are at least talking about Bengaluru’s heritage but we must be careful with how we maintain it. The Government Museum is a beautiful building. The brick red colour of such classical buildings must not be tampered with. The museum has very specific features right from the details on its pillars to its windows that have been maintained well but all old structures require an understanding of historical and architectural context. And sensitivity towards just how they must be painted, how the flooring, ceilings, the facade must be treated.”

Restore with sensitivity

As the debate about the need to retain and maintain heritage structures in Bengaluru warms up, we are told by a source that The Bowring Institute was considering a facelift sometime back. Thankfully, the plan to replace the original flooring with marble was met with some resistance within the circle of influential members who asked for Attangudi tiles or something more contextual considering it is hard today to reproduce the classic mosaic from the past.

Thimmaiah, who built a house in Kodagu with upcycled elements taken from destroyed old homes, is passionate about authenticity and recalls, “A few years ago when Bangalore Club was being repainted, a paint manufacturer scratched the walls to take a sample of the signature greyish blue paint and recreated it for a fresh coat. He later told me that the paint colour would be called Bangalore Club Blue from now on.”

Prominent buildings like the Bangalore Club and the Government Museum may be better off but the architect wishes that INTACH was more active in the city for the sake of other structures. After the death of convener H R Pratibha, INTACH has been keeping a low profile. He says, “Today, bodies like INTACH and The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) must come together to guard even the lesser known aspects of our heritage and not just the showpieces. In Bengaluru, you won’t find even a single space like Mumbai’s Dadabhai Naoroji Road.”

Are private spaces not our heritage?

Architect and urban planner Dyan Belliappa is happy that the city is looking with fresh appreciation at buildings like the Government Museum and says, “The interest in Bengaluru’s public buildings post the Balabrooie Guest House debate is welcome but the city also has a built heritage of private structures some of which were a lot older than the Guest House and have been demolished with nobody even coming to know about them. While we will probably continue to revere a Vidhan Soudha, there are private structures in the Ulsoor area, around Majestic which are going with not one voice raised in protest.”

To the right of the new Airport Road, he shares, there was a fantastic old structure built with stone masonry. He says, “That kind of stone masonry will be hard to find or duplicate and yet it was destroyed. In Begur, there is a temple linked to a lake. The temple may outlast change but will the lake be treated as part of our heritage too? Even the Malleswaram Market is a heritage sprawl but will BBMP treat it as such? One building or two or just a few are not our heritage. Our lakes were our heritage too but they were just treated as water bodies and so many are gone, as are our trees.”

He adds, “Mumbai has a structured approach towards the preservation of spaces. Some private buildings cannot be touched. Others can be modified but with sensitivity. The fact that an independent body like the Bangalore Urban Art Commission was dissolved in 2001 says a lot. Today the BMMP reflects what we value in our city but our heritage was our way of life. How does one codify that or our memories? How does one resist the haste to acquire and sell land and knock off structures because they get in the way of ‘urban development’? Our priorities are misplaced and we need to rethink the meaning of heritage.”

Contextualise the past

Organic architect professor A R Jaisim has the last word, “The Bengaluru Museum is a beautiful building. Attara Kacheri has been beautifully preserved too. Our city’s present must make space for its past because if the past is erased, we will have no memories. Heritage must be contexualised and included in the present because without it, we have no stories to pass on to the next generation.”

Trivia

The Government Museum on Kasturba Road is a reminder of Bengaluru’s colonial heritage. In 1851, after the Madras Government Museum was established, Bengaluru got its own museum in 1865 and is today, the second oldest in South India. E G Balfour, a medical officer of the Madras Army, came to Bengaluru in the 1860s and with his support, the Chief Commissioner of Mysore State, L B Bowring established the Government Museum or the Mysore Government Museum on August 18, 1865. The museum was originally housed at the Cantonment’s jail building but then a site in Cubbon Park was selected. Col R S Sankey, the Chief Engineer of Mysore planned and built the museum in 1878.

Fun facts: The museum was once known as ‘Thamashe Bungalow’. On Mondays, women in purdah visited the museum and men were not allowed.

Collections: The museum has two exhibition floors which are divided into 18 galleries covering sculpture, natural history, geology, art, music and numismatics. It has a collection of archaeological, geological artefacts and artefacts belonging to the Neolithic period.

Timings: 10 am to 5 pm (except on Wednesday when it is closed)

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Bengaluru / by Reema Moudgil / November 03rd, 2014