Mysore/Mysuru: Demanding the restoration of heritage Lansdowne building and Devaraja Market in the city, members of Mysore Grahakara Parishat (MGP) along with like-minded individuals staged a silent protest at the park opposite Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) Office here this morning.
The protesters, wearing green arm bands, held various placards in Kannada, exhorting the authorities to save Lansdowne and Devaraja Market buildings by taking up conservation works as these landmark structures represent the tradition of heritage in the city.
According to the protesters, parts of Devaraja Market building collapsed in the year 2015. Most of the traders are dependent on the market for their livelihood. Even though HH Sri Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Foundation, headed by Mysore royal family member Pramoda Devi Wadiyar and Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar have evinced keen interest to take up the restoration works, the Government is yet to take a call. The legal hurdles related to Devaraja Market that exist must be cleared to facilitate the works, the protesters demanded.
MGP Working President S. Shobana, President of MGP Heritage Committee Prof. N.S. Rangaraju (Retd), Member Sriram, Advisor Arun Menon, President of Devaraja Market Tenants Association Pailwan Mahadev, MGP’s Sridhar, Venkateshwar Rao, Premkumar, S. Amarnath and others took part in the protest.
After Barmy Shenoy’s sSatyagraha stunt, in Mysore parks, which was a failure as it attracted very few supporters, the outfit GRAHACHARA Parishad, so it has been ridiculed has put up this stunt. I bet these demonstrators are not born and brought up in Mysore-Not the real Mysoreans.
Barmy Shenoy’s Satyagraha was ignored by Bommai, as he has allocated crores for the development of the Chamundi Hill for tourism.
Why did Devaraja Mrket and Lansdowne buildings crumble and left to disuse?
When a large influx of non-Mysoreans like Barmy Shenoy, Maj Gen Vombatkere and the SOM Ganapathy arrived to settle in Mysore, during late 1970s and early 1980s,Mysore expanded rapidly creating many housing extensions, in the place of forest, Devaraja Market was no longer the central vegetable and fruit market for Mysore , as it had been for decades. Similarly, Lansdowne shops were too small in floor space, for the expanding businesses-they were enough size for Royal Mysore until then, and hence the Lansdowne Building became deserted. In other words, the members of this MGP,, who are sitting in front and protesting, the old men, the non-Mysoreans, were the reason for the disuse and neglect of these 2 buildings, as they with thousands like them, arrived to settle in late 170s and early 1980s, massively expanding Mysore, destroying its compact nature. Other non-Myoreans followed, and Mysore’s vacant lands were occupied by businesses like the Infosys training centre for IT Techie coolies, who do the outsourced cheap IT labour.
Hypocrisy here from this GRAHACHARA outfit.
Devaraja Market shopping was expensive, and will be expensive again, compared to the street markets where fresh fruis and vegetables are sold every day, and the Lansdowne Building even when restored will be of no use with its match box size shop areas.
Lansdowne Building, Dufferin Clock Tower, Ekgin Fountain etc,..are really the heritage symbols for the powerful British Rule, and were created to commemorate the visits of British Viceroys visited Mysore, by grateful Wadiyars, as the Viceroys were their masters. THEY ARE NOT THE WADIYARS HERITAGE.
On the one hand, Indians blame the British Rule for their inability to rule the country without corruption, and on the other hand, they want to preserve the very symbols of British Rule!