When I was in London to study the history of London City in comparison with Bangalore, I stayed at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan in West Kensington. Close to this building was Barons Court Road with a big row of traditional styled houses. On the front wall of House No 20, was a circular blue plaque with this writing: MAHATMA GANDHI,1869-1948 lived here as a law student. A little later I came to now that at the age of 19 , M.K. Gandhi came to England in 1888 and lived here as a law student. Though he was well received by the inmates, he could not stand his land lady’s use of mutton and cabbage. This led him, through Annie Besant and Theosophical Society, to life-long vegetarianism thereafter.
Another such plaque of M.K. Gandhi is erected in Kingsley Hall, Powis Road. It says that Gandhi stayed here when he came to attend the Round Table Conference in 1931. The entire building is dedicated to Gandhi with a prayer hall and his statue. He lived in a small room on the terrace and the materials he used during his stay are all well kept.
A plaque in 63, George’s Drive in South West London refers to a fact that Swami Vivekananda stayed here in 1896 when he was on world tour. Similar plaques are erected for some great Indian leaders like Lokamanya Tilak, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Rabindranath Tagore, Sardar Vallabhai Patel. Though I referred here only to plaques of Indian personalities, throughout London there are more than 2000 such plaques. Many are blue in colour, affixed to buildings in the city. A few books are also published on these unique pages of London history.
Each of these structures commemorate either a famous person who was born, lived or stayed in that building or a significant event that took place there, or an earlier range of organizations and individuals.
The scheme of erecting plaques of London history was founded by Royal Society of Arts in 1866. Then it was carried on by London County Council and then by Greater London Council. Later taken over in 1986 by English Heritage.
In Bangalore, public documentation of historical events in open air is in vogue since several centuries. The fact that the name Bangalore is more than nine centuries old, is revealed in a stone inscription found in Beguru on the outskirts of the city. A group of enthusiasts and scholars have brought to light more than 25 such inscription stones connected with the history of our city. They have also adopted modern technology to identify the inscriptions and common man too can read what is being written on these slabs with the assistance of this aid. It is really a very significant move in bringing back the forgotten pages of our city.
However, one of the few oldest plaques of our city is a white marble plate found on the wall of the Fort, right opposite to Kote Anjaneya Temple near Krishna Rajendra Market. The content of the plate is:
THROUGH THIS BREACH THE BRITISH ASSAULT WAS DELIVERED, MARCH 21 1791
Today, many major streets of Bangalore, are being converted to white topped roads. But an old plaque on a compound wall at the end of TCM Royan Road (Goods Shed Yard Road) gives this information: This cement concrete road was opened by Diwan Bahadur Dr. T.C.M Royan, MD, Minister for Public Health and Education on August 30, 1946. Perhaps this was the first concrete road of the city and has withstood the traffic for several decades.
In Kumarpark West, a small stone plaque affixed to the ground level of the compound wall of small garden indicated that Diwan Sheshadri Iyer was cremeated at that place. Now a memorial is erected at the same place with a bust of the Diwan, giving a glimpse of his life and works done during his tenure as chief administrator of the state
Mahatma Gandhi visited Bangalore five times. During his visit in 1927, he stayed for about three months in Kumara Park guest house. Every evening he used to hold prayer meetings which were attended by large number of people coming from different parts of the city. Even today, within the premises of neighbouring big hotel, the place where Gandhi used to sit for the public gatherings is preserved and plaque is erected to give the historical importance to the spot.
Gavi Gangadhareshvara Cave Temple in Gavipuram near Kempegowda Nagar is a very rare and unique cave temple found in Bangalore. The mythological, historical and scientific importance of the cave temple has been provided both in Kannada and English language on a green board placed on the outer face of the compound wall of the Temple.
There are a number of such information plates, boards, or plaques all over Bangalore. But, compared to the vast and interesting history of nooks and corners of the city, these structures are insufficient. Some of them have already been the victims of urbanization.
‘A man who has no knowledge of his past history, origin and culture, is like a tree without its roots,’ says well known author R.K. Narayan. Erecting green plaques all-round Bangalore would definitely go a long way in bringing back the past Bangalore to the present and the subsequent generations.
Like London Heritage Council, our city too needs immediate formation of a Bangalore Heritage Council to collect data, scrutinize, prepare green plaques of uniform shapes and sizes, and erect at respective historically important spots.
