- Sri Chandramouleshwara Swamy Temple near Palace
- Old City Police Commissioner’s Office at Nazarbad
Mysore/Mysuru: There is a desperate need to save historical, cultural and heritage-value structures in Mysuru city that are in dilapidated condition as there is a danger of them meeting the fate of structures like Lansdowne Building, Devaraja Market, V.V. Market and the Fire Brigade Office where neither the Mysuru City Corporation nor the State Government has been able to take a decision on conservation and restoration.
Instead, the authorities are in favour of demolishing the structures and rebuilding them in a ‘heritage-like’ manner, much to the chagrin of heritage experts, stakeholders, the public and the Mysore royal family.
In such a scenario, the repair and restoration work that has been taken up at the 102-year-old City Police Commissioner’s Office at Nazarbad at a cost of Rs. 64 lakh without disturbing its heritage and architectural aspects comes as a ray of hope to heritage structures.
The restoration of the old City Police Commissioner’s Office is being done by the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage which has simultaneously taken up the restoration of the Sri Chandramouleshwara Swamy Temple building located near the North Gate (Balarama-Jayarama Gate) of the Mysore Palace.
The temple comes under the administration of the Muzarai Department and is in a dilapidated state. The ceiling has given away in many places and the plastering of the parapet wall surrounding the temple too has chipped away at many places, exposing the inner brickworks. Due to incessant rains, the structure was continuously leaking, loosening it further.
Realising that the building would collapse if urgent repairs are not done, the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage has taken up the restoration works. As it is a heritage structure, the repair and restoration works are being carried out after seeking suggestions from heritage experts and even the works are being carried out by workers who have experience in doing such skilled work.
The Muzarai Department has released Rs. 16 lakh for the restoration works and an estimate has been prepared for Rs. 13,29,397 and accordingly, the tenders have been called. Conservation engineers from the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage have begun the works on June 24.
The first instalment of Rs. 4 lakh has been released and with this, the Madras roof of the temple is being levelled with weather-proof concrete and a facility is being created for rainwater to flow smoothly. Yelahanka tiles will be fixed later.
Paving, pointing and the works of the parapet wall and gopura will be taken up, walls will be strengthened and plastered new. Officials said that the renovation works are being taken up with the materials used in the earlier years and there will be no change in their composition. The renovation works are undertaken under the supervision of the In-Charge Commissioner of the Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage B.R. Poornima and will be completed in four months. The works are being executed by Conservation Section Assistant Executive Engineers C.T. Mahesh and Pramod, Junior Engineers Satish and FDA Anil Kumar.
ng saga of renovation versus reconstruction raises its head again! Interesting that a dimwit Indian IT techie on a work visa in London was comparing aTudor architecture with the mundane crumbling Devaraja market building, for his argument for renovation. That shows that IT techie’s brain power!
Now, about Devaraja Market and Lansdowne buildings. They were abandoned decades ago, for very good reasons: Devaraja Market fruit and vegetable stalls had complex ownership/lessee/rental practices that meant the produce they sold became very expensive, compared to the cheaper fresh vegetables and fruits that farmers from the nearby villages sold in the fast emerging Mysore street markets. With the city expanding fast with dozens of extensions, the Old Devaraja market was no longer at the centre of the city, convenient for shopping after office hours. The case of \Lansdowne building is different but not dissimilar in economic terms. This building had shops the size of match box, and during 1960s, were inadequate in terms of space for shop owners interested in expanding their businesses. A case-in -point was the Geetha Bookhouse, when moved to a new building flourished with its new large space of multiple floors.
There was a time in late 1950s, when I was studying engineering in Mysore, when I shopped in these 2 buildings. Even then, I could see the shop owners struggling with overheads.
These 2 buildings have no architectural value-I am a civil engineer, and not worthy like the Indo-Saracenic architecture buildings worthy of saving and restoration ( like the example of Tudor building that IT techie mentioned). Their historical value is tenuous, as their links to Wadiyars of yore are weak at best. Lansdowne building was building to commemorate the visit of an representative of the British Monarchy. If you want to extend your reasoning, the renaming of the South Parade oin Bangalore ( which was a very historical boulevard associated with the British and many Dewans of Wadiyars who used it) as MG Road itself was questionable, as there were many MG Roads in all parts of India named after Mahatma Gandhi!
The way Mysore city is expanding, faster than Bangalore of the past, with 10-lane highway to Bangalore, Airport expansion to receive A320/Boeing 737 jetliners connecting to Doha on non-stop flight for example with MP Simha’s favourite Hassan-Kodogu-Kerala highway in planning stage, You will see Malayalees from my home state Kerala will flood in large numbers; the Doha-based Malayalee criminal kingpins wanting to expand their gold smuggling and Hawala money channel business to Mysore, these 2 buildings will be purchased by them for their lands, to expand their money laundering enterprise in Mysore, employing the above Malayalees! Mysore then belongs to Kerala. The heritage issue of these above 2 buildings will be solved after their demolition.
That poster @Singhaal should be fast learning Malayalam!! Tough luck!!
Correction: The long running saga…