Commandant Bhujangarao Jagadale’s statue shifted today

Mysore: Shifting process of the life-size statues of a Postman (Anche) Basappa and Commandant Bhujangarao Jagadale on Lalitha Mahal Road in front of KARP Mounted Police Headquarters has begun under the supervision of Heritage Experts.

While the statue of Anche Basappa has been successfully shifted last evening, the Commandant’s statue was shifted today. The work on removing the iron railings were taken up this morning.

The statues are being shifted to the premises of Mounted Police Headquarters as recommended by the Committee of Heritage Experts. The Committee had recommended the Mounted Police to shift the statues from the gate entrance to five feet inside the premises to avoid further damage to the heritage structures arising out of road widening and other works.

Both the statues are over 5 ft tall and new pedestals to install them have been constructed at Mounted Police premises. While the Postman’s statue has been placed on the right side of the Mounted Police Headquarters, the Commandant’s statue will be placed on the left.

The shifting of Basappa’s statue was set in motion under the leadership of Prof. N.S. Rangaraju of the Heritage Committee yesterday and it took over 4-and-a-half hours for the statue to be moved to the new location.

Erected in 1907, the statues are of great heritage value and they recall the contribution of Postman Basappa and Commandant Bhujangarao Jagadale. Postman Basappa or Anche (Post) Basappa was a Postman during the reign of Maharaja Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar while Bhujangarao Jagadale served as a Mounted Guard or Commandant of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar in 1907 and later became the head of a small group of Mounted Police Force.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Prof. Rangaraju said that before shifting, the statue was neatly packed without causing any damage to the structure. “The statues have been built using limestone, water, sand and lime plaster. We have preserved the originality of the statue and successfully shifted Basappa’s statue. We wanted to complete the process of shifting Bhujangarao Jagadale’s statue yesterday itself but had to drop the plans as it was about to rain,” he said.

Explaining the shifting process, he said that first the statue was wrapped in paper sheets and dry grass and later was wrapped using thermocol. “In the last process, jute gunny bags were used and wooden logs were inserted on all the four sides to move the statue manually. On each side, five persons carried the statue,” he said.

Before shifting the statue, the base of the statue was separated from the foundation where the statue stood on iron railings that were “L” shaped. In the new location too, the statue has been placed to retain the originality, he described. Even Bhujangarao Jagadale’s statue was shifted in a similar process.

Over 20 workers and volunteers from Namma Mysuru Foundation were involved in the shifting process and today, Bhujangarao Jagadale’s statue too was shifted in the similar fashion, said K.M. Kuberappa of Department of Archaeology and Museums.

When the dilapidated statues were restored in 2006

Much before the Heritage Committee recommended the shifting of life-size statues of Postman Basappa and Commandant Bhujangarao Jagadale, a concerned citizen of Mysuru had got the statues restored spending money from his own pocket.

In 2006, seeing the dilapidated condition of the statues on Lalitha Mahal Road, M. Lakshman of Association of Concerned and Informed Citizens of Mysore (ACICM) had spent Rs. 26,000 to get the statues restored with iron railings around them.

Speaking to SOM this morning, Lakshman said that in 2006, he had got the work done in consultation with heritage and technical experts without causing any damage to the structures. “That time, the statues were in a pathetic condition. Then, Maribashetty was the Mounted Police Commandant and Bipin Gopalakrishna (late) was the City Police Commissioner. Both of them and SOM Editor-in-Chief K.B. Ganapathy were present during the inauguration,” he said.

On the present shifting process of the statues, Lakshman said that since the statues are being shifted inside the Mounted Police campus, he does not see any issue in that. “The new location of the statues must be developed as a tourist attraction,” he added.