EDWARD LEAR IN BANGALORE

 

Telicherry (Kerala) sketched by Edward Lear in 1874

On September, the 24^th 1874, Mr Edward Lear (1812-1888), who was staying in Bangalore (now ‘Bengaluru’), wrote in his diary:

“Walked to Orr and Barton’s and got my photographs…”

Lear is best known for his nonsense verse, lesser known as an artist. Although never as successful as his contemporaries (e.g Holman Hunt, Lord Leighton, Alma-Tadema, Turner, Millais, and Rossetti,) in the 19th century UK art world, he was a wonderful landscape artist. In addition, he was highly skilled at depicting flora and fauna (especially birds: he was said to rival Audubon). Oddly, his talents did not extend to great representations of the human form except in comical cartoons, at which he excelled.

Restless, Lear travelled the world in search of the ‘picturesque’. He visited many places, including Albania, which is what got me interested in him in the first place. He recorded his travels in sketchbooks, and later transformed some of these into oil paintings - the medium which he hoped to master - but never really managed. Lear described his trips in diaries that he later published as travel journals, his pen producing portraits of the places almost as eloquently as his fine sketches and watercolours.

Recently, I discovered that Lear visited India (including Ceylon). He did so at the invitation of an old friend, Thomas Baring - Lord Northbrook, who had become the Viceroy of India in 1872. I bought a reasonably priced second-hand copy of Lear's "Indian Journal", introduced and edited by Ray Murphy (published in 1953). Unlike his other travel journals (e.g. for Albania, Greece, Corsica, and Southern Italy), this book contains Lear's actual diary entries rather than a later polished-up literary version of them.

Lear describes almost every day of his trip to India, which lasted from November 1873 until January 1875, when sickness and bad back pain forced him and his Albanian servant Giorgio to end their rambles, which had taken them from the heights of the Himalayas to the deep south of India and through Ceylon.

The trip was dogged with problems: logistic, illness, food, and so on. Yet, even on the worst of days, Lear found something redeeming to write about. Lear enjoyed Indian 'local colour', but was often less than lukewarm about British colonial social life. He preferred the ‘really Indian' places to those places favoured by the British. Many a place where the British liked to spend time relaxing were loved because, to use Lear's words, because of their: 

“un-Indian qualities."

Lear visited Bangalore twice. His first sojourn was between the 13^th of August 1874 and the 21^st of that month. He arrived there on a train that passed through:

“Arkonam … at the junction of the Bombay-Madras and Madras-Malabar lines.”

At this his junction in Tamil Nadu, now known as ‘Arakkonam’, he had to spend a night in a waiting room. In Bangalore, he took rooms for himself and his servant in the Cubbon Hotel, which he did not rate highly on arrival. However, a few days later, he noted:

“The food at this hotel is good, and the service quiet and unobtrusive…”

Kora Chandy wrote in “The City Beautiful” by TP Issar (published1988):

“…let me turn to Infantry Road and the present office of the Commissioner of Police. Some 100 years ago, it was the leading hotel in Bangalore, called the Cubbon Hotel. The facilities it advertised included a ball room, ‘complete suites of the bachelor’s apartments’ and ‘carriages on the premises. In the early years of the century the British Resident purchased this property and his office was located there until 1928…” 

In 1911, the Cubbon Hotel still existed, when it was leased by Spencer’s, which was then in the hands of the Oakshott family.  The Cubbon Hotel was rated along with the (still extant) West End Hotel as being above average in Murray’s “Handbook for Travellers in India, Burma, and Ceylon” (10^th edition, published 1920). Therefore, the Resident must have purchased it sometime after 1920. Maya Jayapal writes in her “Bangalore: roots and beyond” (published in 2014):

“… the Cubbon Hotel… was constructed in the prevailing style of colonial architecture, sometimes called Greco-Roman. It is now the police commissioner’s office…”

A photograph (see below) in TP Issar’s book confirms Jayapal’s description of the architecture. 

Lear considered Bangalore:

“… an odd place, not over beautiful, but contains three picturesque bits and, I think, one general view. The tall coco-palms are a chief characteristic, but the queer houses are odd indeed…”

On the 15^th of August, he visited the Lal Bagh gardens, concluding that:

“… he had never seen a more beautiful place, terraces, trellises, etc., not to speak of some wild beasts. Flowers exquisite… There is something very rural quiet about this place… walked with Giorgio to some granite rocks, and a little tank, where I drew till it began to rain, ven I cum back…”

This little excerpt exposes Lear’s liberated approach to spelling. I have visited Lal Bagh often, and have seen its large tank, which contains an island. The large tank is separated from a smaller one, often filled with waterlilies, by a causeway. I am not sure about which water feature Lear was writing. Next day, he visited Ulsoor Tank, but arrived too late to sketch it. The Tank, which is still in existence, is a veritable lake with several islands in it. Zafar Futehally and Kora Chandy writing in Issar’s book, noted:

“It extended over an area of 125 acres and was constructed by Kempegowda II during the second half of the 16^th century.”

It supplied drinking water to the civilian and military population of Bangalore until the 20^th century.

That day he praised Bangalore in his diary:

“This station is very extensive and populous, and seems in some ways the pleasantest I have known in India. A sort of homely quiet pervades everything, and the air is delightful, ditto flowers. Birds are numerous but make absurd noises.”

All over India, Lear remarked on the peculiar birdsong he heard. He left Bangalore on the 21^st of August, heading for Madras.

Lear returned to Bangalore on the 23^rd of September 1874, arriving by train from Salem. His journey had not been uneventful.  Near ‘Cajdoody’ (this is probably modern day Kadugodi, which is on a railway close to Whitefields, and, relevantly, a couple of still-extant large bodies of water), a bridge was down. Lear wrote:

“Descending from the carriage, we had to walk along a narrow edge of clay by the steep side of the embankment; this was … difficult. … Next, a descent, with a crowd of natives, and still more awkward pass over loose planks to a boat … ferried across deep and rapid water, the result of a broken tank which had so swollen the stream as to carry away the bridge. Then came a hoisting up slippery wooden steps … to the level of the other train…”

Lear and Giorgio arrived exhausted in Bangalore on the 23^rd of September 1874 after a thirty-minute train journey from the flooded area. It was the following day that he visited Orr and Barton’s to collect some photographs – of what he does not say. Throughout his visit to India, Lear bought photographs, which he might have used to remind him of places that he had seen.

On my last visit to Bangalore in 2016, I bought some jewellery from Barton’s, whose extensive shop is within Barton Tower on MG Road. From its earliest days, it had been a jeweller but it came as news to me that it was also known for its photography. The 1920 Murray’s guide to India (see above) lists “Barton & Sons” both as a jeweller and a photographer.  One of the Mr Bartons must have been an exceptional photographer. M Fazlul Hasan writes in his “Bangalore Through the Centuries” (published 1970) that when an equestrian statue of Sir Mark Cubbon was unveiled in March 1866, many photographers rushed forward to ‘snap’ it, but:

“Owing, however, to the fading light and other difficulties, only two, Major Dixon and Mr Barton, succeeded.”

Bangalore was not Lear’s last port of call in India. He went on to visit several other places including Sri Lanka before returning via Kerala to Bombay, and thence back to Europe. It was noticing that he had visited Barton’s, a shop I know well, that prompted me to write this piece based on the lesser-known travels of a well-known cultural figure of the nineteenth century. 

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DISCOVERING JEWS IN BANGALORE

About ten years ago, an American Jewish acquaintance, who had just completed a tour of southern India, complained that he had seen no end of Hindu temples and Christian churches, but only one synagogue. Well, I was not surprised. Once in Venice (Italy), a religious Jew on learning that I am Jewish asked whether my wife (a gentile), an Indian, is Jewish. That got me thinking. I calculated that randomly meeting a Jew born in India was extremely improbable – it is less than 0.0005%.  So, to write about the Jews of India is to describe a minute proportion of the country’s vast population. And as I write, that proportion is only likely to diminish.

While idly flicking through the Eicher street atlas for Bangalore, I noticed, quite by chance, that the city has a “Jewish Grave Yard”. I have visited this cemetery several times. It contains less than sixty graves, but together they open a window that provides a good overview of the Jewish people who have lived in India. The story of India’s Jewry has been described in detail elsewhere (for example: “India’s Jewish Heritage” edited by Shalva Weil and “Shalom India” by Monique Zetlaoui). I will present their tales as viewed through a south Indian lens.

Jews have lived in what is now Kerala since time immemorial. They lived on the Malabar Coast in, for example, Kranganore and Cochin. It is said that St Thomas came to India to convert them into Christians. He failed miserably, converting, instead, the other people who he found living there.  A grave in the cemetery commemorates Elias Isaac, who came from Cochin to Bangalore to act as the schochet (ritual slaughterer) to the Moses family.  Today, there are one or two elderly Jews still living in Kerala.

The oldest graves in the cemetery mark the resting places of Subedar Samuel Nagavkar (1816-1904) and Benjamin Nagavkar (1877-1910). Samuel might have served the Maharaja of Mysore, Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who donated the land for the cemetery in 1904. The Nagavkars were members of the Beni Israel community, whose origins are obscure. According to the historian HS Kehimkar, they claimed to have come from “the North” to India in about 175 BC (BCE). Many of their community still live in and around Maharastra State.

There are several other graves bearing names of Beni Israel Jews. Tor example: the horse trainer Sion E Nissim (1900-58), one of whose horses, Commoner, won the Indian Derby; Mrs Abigail Jhirad, daughter of the Subedar; and Joshua Moses Benjamin  Bhonkar (1920-2005). The latter (aka ‘Joshua Benjamin’) was both a writer (“The Mystery of Israel's Ten Lost Tribes and the Legend of Jesus in India”) and a Chief Minister in the Government of India.

Whereas the origins of the Malabar and Beni Israel Jews are obscure, this is not the case with the Iraqi Jews, who came to India from the Middle East beginning in the 18^th century. Many of them settled in Bombay and Calcutta. The most famous of them being the Sassoon family.

The Bangalore cemetery contains graves for the following families from Calcutta: Ezra, Elias, Earl, and Moses. Edward Earl (1910-1953) was the proprietor of the once well-known Earl’s Pickles company.  Calcutta used to have a large Jewish community, including the Moses family, who are buried in Bangalore and originated in Iraq.

Ruben Moses (1871-1936) left Iraq to join the California gold rush. He left California for India in 1906, following the disastrous San Francisco earthquake. He headed for the Kolar gold fields, but ended up in Bangalore, where he founded a shoe store in the city’s Commercial Street. The store, which is now occupied by Woody’s veg fast-food outlet, was once the largest shoe retailer in southern Asia. His home, now long since demolished, contained a prayer hall where the city’s few local Jews and Jewish visitors from all over the world came to wordship along with the Moses family.

What did the Jews do in Bangalore apart from what I have mentioned above? Poor Moses Ashkenazy(1957-1982) was a student, who died of an overdose of drugs.  Sassoon Saul Moses (d. 1975) was a ‘hawker’, as were many of my Lithuanian Jewish ancestors who arrived in South Africa in the 1890s. The widow Rebecca Elias (1927-1992) lost her husband early, and then worked in a needle factory in Bangalore. GE Moses and Isaac Cohen, neither of whom are buried in the cemetery, were, respectively, a clothes retailer and an auctioneer. The grave of RE Reuben (1877-1939) records that he was “Malarial Supervisor of the C&M Station Municipality”. I wonder whether he ever met the Nobel laureate Sir Ronald Ross (1857-1932), the pioneer of the fight against malaria. Reuben’s place of work is mentioned in Ross’s papers.

Troubles with anti-Semitism in Europe and, later, the outbreak of the Second World War (‘WW2’) led to other Jews entering the Indian Judaic scene – refugees and soldiers. They are well represented in the Bangalore cemetery. But, before describing some of them, let me not forget the Russian-born Saida Abramovka Isako, who died in 1932. She was the wife of FY Isako, who was proprietor of the ‘Russian Circus’. Her coffin was carried on a bier drawn by white circus horses. I imagine that the burials of the German refugees Siegfried Appel (1906-1939) from Bonn, Gunther and his mother Mrs Rahmer from Gleiwitz, and Dr Weinzweig, were less memorable. Carl Weinzweig (1890-1966) was a dentist (his surgery was in MG Road), as was Gunther Rahmer.

Amongst the military personnel that passed through Bangalore during WW2, was the future President of Israel, Ezer Weizman, who was stationed at an RAF base in the city. His name appears in the Moses family guestbook. Sadly, the cemetery records the casualties of war, who died in the city. These include Yusuf Guetta (1921-1943), who was evacuated from Ben-Ghazi in Libya by the British in 1941, and Private Morris Minster (1918-1942). Minster served in the South Wales Borderers Regiment and was initially buried in the grave yard. His stone remains, but he has been moved to a large Commonwealth war cemetery in Madras.

The “Jewish Grave Yard” in Bangalore encapsulates the story of the larger of the Jewish ‘groupings’ that have lived in India. The cemetery is so unknown that even a few of the Jews who have lived in the city have been unaware of it. I have met the heirs of the Jewish refugee from Germany, Mr Jacoby, who introduced popcorn and machines for making it to India and settled in Bangalore. Their nearest and dearest are resting in peace in Christian cemeteries, of which there is no shortage in Bangalore.

At the beginning, I mentioned that India’s Jewish population is diminishing. Over the years many Jews left India. My wife, who went to school in Calcutta, remembers that the city had many thriving synagogues and that there were several Jewish girls in her class. When we visited Calcutta four or five years ago, we saw three synagogues. Two of them were well-maintained, by Moslem caretakers, as is Bangalore’s Jewish cemetery. The third that we saw appeared to be about to crumble.

India can be proud to remember that, unlike so many other countries, it was not anti-Semitism that caused Jews to migrate. Just as so many other Indians have left the country to better their economic prospects, so did the Jews.

An album containing annotated photographs of all of the graves in Bangalore's 'Jewish Grave Yard' may be purchased as an e-book (or a paperback) by clicking HERE

BANGALORE UBER OLA

 

I first visited the south Indian city of Bangalore, now called ‘Bengaluru’, in January 1994. About 30 years before that, one of London’s first ‘minicab’ companies, Meadway Cars, began carrying customers all over London. The minicabs were the first new addition to the existing modes of public carriage in London for many years. Prior to their introduction, the public could travel by bus, tube train, or in black taxis (‘Hackney Cabs’) – trams and trolleybuses had been phased out by 1964.

The options for public carriage in Bangalore in 1994 were: busses (often looking very battered), auto-rickshaws (three-wheeler ‘autos’), and private hire cars. The latter were operated by smallish private firms, and could be hired in advance for varying lengths of time and distance: for example for 4 hours and 60 Km; they were not metered. These cars were in general unmarked.

Gradually taxi companies such as ‘Easy Cabs’ hit the city’s crowded thoroughfares. Generally, they were uncomfortable Maruti vans, but they were metered. Unlike autos, they could not be hailed from the street; they had to be ordered by telephone.

The 21^st century has seen not only the construction - albeit exceedingly slowly - of a metro system in Bangalore, but also the introduction of two new kinds of four-wheeler taxi. One of these is the so-called ‘Airport Taxis’ operated by companies such as Meru and KSTDC, and the other is the ‘computerised’ taxis such as are operated by the international company Uber, and the Indian company Ola. All of these new cabs may be ordered using ‘applications’ downloaded onto ‘smartphones’, and there the problems begin.

Before going any further, I must emphasise that I have not encountered any problems ordering Meru Taxis (by telephone.) However, this cannot be said of Ola and Uber, which I have attempted to order using their slick ‘apps’. On opening the Ola or Uber ‘app’, a GPS mechanism attempts to locate the potential passenger, and then displays a map showing where the nearest Uber or Ola vehicles are located, and also how long it is likely for each cab to reach the customer. Sadly, this is where things begin to go wrong. A cab which might be stated as being 5 minutes away might take as long as 30 minutes to reach you, or may not reach you at all! This is either because the GPS has not located the passenger accurately enough or because - and this is most likely - the driver is unable to comprehend the workings of the GPS system, or both. Whilst driver and passenger are attempting to meet, the former makes innumerable ‘phone calls to the latter, often adding to the confusion and frustration of the passenger.

If and when the cab (Ola or Uber) eventually arrives, the passenger should not begin to relax. Despite the fact that the cabs are fitted with devices to enable the driver to navigate from A to B, some drivers seem unable to benefit from them. And, as many of the drivers we encountered seemed to be ignorant of Bangalore’s geography, what should have been a relaxing trip becomes stressful because the passenger needs to navigate and issue instructions to the driver. So far, I have yet to be impressed by Ola and Uber. For long distances, I would recommend the slightly more expensive Meru cabs. For journeys within Bangalore, there is no substitute for the somewhat uncomfortable, yet remarkably nippy autos. On the whole, the auto drivers know their way around Bangalore, and if they don’t they sidle up to another auto and make enquiries.

It might be early days for Ola and Uber in Bangalore and that with the passage of time, they will live up to the optimistic expectations of so many Bangaloreans and others who have begun to make use of them and are currently putting up with their defects. 

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BEEF IN BENGALURU (Bangalore)

BEEF IN BANGALORE (BENGALURU)

When I tell my friends and others in the UK that one of the very best places to eat beef is in the  land of the 'Sacred Cow' - India - they raise their eyebrows in surprise. I assure them that I am not pulling their legs.

Just before ending my very first visit to Bangalore in early 1994, my wife suggested that we ate a good biryani at a place which she considered to be good at making this kind of dish. We headed for Shezan's, which was located in an old-fashioned bungalow in Lavelle Road. The bungalow no longer exists, but the restaurant does, having relocated to another place in the same road. I looked at the menu and noticed that a large chateaubriand steak with trimmings was available for about 2 pounds (GB). I said that I would have that as the same thing would cost many times that in the UK, and that getting good biryanis was not difficult in London. The steak was outstandingly good. This was my introduction to eating beef in Bangalore.

We have visited Shezan's may times since, and always enjoy eating there. Some years after my 'discovery' of Shezan's, which also calls itseft 'The Other Place', I was taken to Only Place ('OP'). This restaurant was originally started by Haroon in a location on Brigade Road. Later, it shifted to Museum Road. Haroon and his son Shoaib served some of the best beef steaks that I have ever eaten.

The late Haroon of OP

Haroon died about 2 years ago. Shoaib and one of his relatives inherited the restaurant in Museum Road, and ran it as a partnership. About a year ago, Shoaib and his partner chose to split up. Shoaib left Museum Road, and his former partner continued to run it. We visited the restaurant once or twice after Shoiab had left it, but were not nearly as satisfied with it as when Shoaib had been involved.

After some time, Shoaib opened his OP at a new location: 311, 6th Main, 2nd Stage, Off 80 Feet Road, Indiranagar . This place in Indiranagar is in no way related to, or connected with, the OP in Museum Road. Shoaib's OP in Indiranagar is yet another reincarnation of the place that Haroon first created many decades ago in Brigade Road. The quality of the food and service at the 'true' OP in Indiranagar has not suffered in the slightest from the shift from Museum Road to Indiranagar. Shoaib's OP still serves some of the world's best beefsteak. You will spurn Aberdeen Angus, Charolais or Wagyu beef after eating what Shoaib and his team prepare with beef bred in Karnataka!  Shoaib's beef is so good that major embassies in New Delhi order it from him.

The Indiranagar OP, which should really be regarded as the ONE and  ONLY 'Only Place' is located in a tree-lined street opposite an open space belonging to Defence Colony Cricket Ground. Some of its tables are outside in the shade of the leafy branches of huge trees. Other tables are indoors in a simply decorated dining room. Apart from being a place to enjoy superb beef as well as seafood (try the king fish [seer fish] steaks and the jumbo prawns), this is a pleasant place to linger and to escape from the hustle and bustle of Bangalore. Whatever you choose from Shoaib's extensive menu that  contains mostly European (rather than Indian) dishes, you should leave space for a portion of  Shoaib's deliciously fruity apple pie. Shoaib's OP is not only renowned for its deservedly highly praised beef, but also for the aforementioned apple pie. So, even if you are a vegetarian, there is at least one reason for you to visit Shoaib's OP in Indiranagar. I have never tried the vegetarian dishes at OP as I am a true carnivore!

Finally, please do not confuse Shoaib's 'original' OP in Indiranagar with that establishment that is now running in Museum Road. The latter will disappoint you; the former - in Indiranagar - will delight you.

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HITLER WITHOUT THE HOLOCAUST?

I found this book about Hitler, which was published in 2007 (ISBN: 9788131002520) and is part of a series called “Biographies of Great Personalities” aimed at younger Indian readers, in Gangaram’s Bookshop in Bangalore (India). The garishly covered book caught my eye in that large bookshop in Bangalore. When I flicked through it, I noticed that it was illustrated with line drawings, many of which showed Adolf Hitler in Indian settings with palm trees. At 40 Rupees (less than half a Pound Sterling), I could not resist buying the 93 page book.

Young Adolf with his mother

The author, Igen B, is a prolific writer. He has published well over 70 short books including biographies of personalities as diverse as Jesus Christ, Bhagat Singh, Mother Teresa, Ashoka the Great, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Shakuntala, and Netaji Chandra Bose. As well as these he has written versions of great Indian classics such as the Vedas, the incarnations of Lord Vishnu, and the Mahabharata. That these books are probably aimed at children is evident from the format and appearance of the books and also the fact that one of his titles is “Illustrated Model Book of School Essay etc.” Therefore, his potential audience is the innocent and impressionable younger mind. This should be remembered whilst paging through his children’s biography of Adolf Hitler.

Hitler at his mother's death-bed

More than half of the text is dedicated to Hitler’s childhood, about which not much is known in detail, his career as an artist, and his rise to power. The author of this book, Igen B, blames a disturbed childhood in a dysfunctional family for much of what Hitler was to become.  The future dictator’s disillusionment with the lack of German national pride and his disappointment with the country’s leadership during WW1 were according to this book, also important formative factors. As, are also the Jews: unquestioningly, Igen B repeats the kind of dangerous nonsense about the Jews that Hitler and many Germans believed. 

Hitler discusses world problems and anti-Semitism at a café in Vienna

Having gained power, we learn of Hitler’s campaign to relieve the Jews of any role in public life, and his hatred of the communists. We also learn of his desire to tear up the Treaty of Versailles, and how he went about doing so. So far, the reader is presented with something that faintly resembles what is now common knowledge about the history of Germany just before and during the brief, but long enough, era of Nazi rule. The penultimate 4 pages of the book describe some aspects of WW2. The last page of text is dedicated the last days of Hitler and his new bride Eva Braun.

Hitler, the artist, at work on a painting

Nowhere in the book are the mass murders perpetrated by the Nazis even hinted at, let alone mentioned. This worries me greatly considering that the book is sold in bookshops in India, and most of these also sell often more than one edition of Hitler’s pernicious ‘autobiography’ “Mein Kampf”.

Adolf Hitler meets the common people  (of Germany).

Igen B’s book is aimed at an Indian audience. It is appropriate in a way that the illustrations are drawn with an Indian flavour, as many readers are unlikely to have visited Europe or are ever likely to do so. The spelling of many German words and names is peculiar. For example we read of ‘Hebzburg’ (Habsburg), ‘Strum Abtiling’ (Sturmabteilung), ‘fonn’ (von), ‘Versai’ (Versailles), and ‘Hoffbraha’ (Hofbrauhaus). Whilst these original spellings are used more than once and are thus unlikely to be typographic errors, they may also be purposeful. It is possible that the author, realising that most of his readers are likely to be unfamiliar with German pronunciation, has transliterated them so as to make them pronounceable by readers of English.

Eva Braun comforts Hiler after he has learnt of the defeat 

of his armies by the Soviet Russians.

I picked up this book as a curio, and read it. The author appears to have done some research, but his or her interpretation and presentation of the facts is somewhat unusual. His lack of emphasis of Hitler’s evil influences and deeds in a book aimed at impressionable youngsters is worrying to say the least.  The impression I had after reading it was that Hitler was portrayed as an unfortunate child, who grew up with the aim of making Germany a great nation. I was not given the impression that he was even a fraction of the monster that he was in reality. I had rather the same impression after watching the end of the film Downfall made in 2004. Hitler’s final moments during that film were almost heart-rending; the power of film and literature cannot be underrated. This is why Igen B’s book on Hitler might well be considered malevolent, even if the author’s intention was otherwise, to be purely informative.

Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun on their wedding day.

(Note the somewhat oriental background)

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RUSSIAN IN BANGALORE

Luminous streaks of clouds traverse the eerily lit, crisp outlines of the Himalayan Mountains. I have never seen these lofty peaks at the roof of the world in real life. So, these images that I have are only second-hand. They derive from seeing the magnificent series of paintings by the Russian-born artist Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947). These hang in the art gallery of the Karnataka Chitrakala Parisath ('CP'), a prestigious art college in Bangalore.

The CP is  located near the end  of Kumara Krupa Road furthest away from the Windsor Manor Hotel. It is set amongst extensive grounds. A large vestibule, open to the elements, gives access to a number of rooms on the ground floor. These include a ticket office, which doubles up as a bookshop, and some larger rooms that are used to house occasional exhibitions of hanficrafts. When I visited recently, one room contained a display of flower arrangements and another a sale of handicrafts made in Rajasthan.

The permanent exhibition of artworks is housed in rooms on the labyrinthine first floor. The first of these rooms that one reaches after ascending the staircase contains the series of pictures of the Himalayas to which I have already referred. Nicholas Roerich, who was already an accomplished painter in Russia, his native land, had already left Russia when he began traveling in Asia in the mid 1920s. By 1928, he and his family had settled in India where he lived out the rest of his life. His son Svetoslav (1904-1993) was also a prolfic painter. A couple of galleries in the CP are dedicated to displaying his highly colourful works, which in my opinion are not as fine as his father's but good nevertheless. He married the Indian film star Devika Rani, and painted her portrait frequently. He died in Bangalore.

Although I consider the collection of Himalayan pictures painted by Nicholas Roerich to be the highlight of the CP, there are many other delights to be discovered in its ill-lit, dingy rooms. One of these contains paintings mainly by Bengali artists. The earliest of these is a collection of paintings by artists of the Kalighat school who worked in 19th century Calcutta. Paintings by members of the Tagore family including Rabindranath and Abinandranath can be seen in this room as well as some political cartoons by another relative Gaganendranath. These reminded me of the somewhat grotesquely sinister works of the German artist Georg Grosz. The works of other artists hanging in this room show the influence of European artists who were breaking the mould in the 1920s, 30s, and 40s.

Moving on, we reached some rooms containing a wide selection of paintings and sculptures from artists who were/are working in more recent times. Although many of these works were created during the last 20 years or so, they are so badly conserved that they seem as if they were made many years earlier. The lighting in these galleries was poor even after it had been switched on. This is a great shame as many of the works on display are of the highest quality.

As one moves deeper into the building, one enters rooms containing everything from the sublime to the ridiculous. I will not dwell on the latter too long, but it includes sculptures that are, in my humble opinion,  unworthy of public display. Two of the many rooms are worthy of a visit. Although difficult to find, the search is worth the effort.

One room contains a collection of beautiful Karnatakan leather puppets. They resemble other oriental marionettes such as those used in the Javanese shadow plays. However, they look fragile and are badly displayed, often being attached to their backing displays by ageing pieces of adhesive tape.

Another room, deep inside the gallery contains a collection of Mysore paintings that date back to the 14th century. Many of the paintings on display at the CP were painted far more recently than this. One of them, which particularly intrigued me, was a genealogy of the Mysore Royal family (see above). Another picture in the collection showed the influence of the Company Style of painting, popular with British patrons stationed in India during the 18th and 19th centuries (see below).

The grounds of the CP contain a newly opened café, a branch of the Kamat chain; the college's library and sculpture studios; various other out-houses; a Hindu shrine; and a multi-leveled garden studded with sculptures. Occasionally, these grounds host 'Dastakar', a fair filled with stalls selling folkloric crafts from all over India.

Until a few years ago, the CP became the nucleus of one of the most wonderful art events in Bangalore, Chitra Santhe.  This event used to be held on the last Sunday of each year. The whole of Kumara Krupa Road was closed off to vehicular traffic. Artists lined the road with stalls from which they sold their works of art. Some were professional, many were students. We bought many beautifully painted watercolours from them over the years. Sadly, this event is no longer held. I do hope that it will be re-instated as soon as possible! The picture below was taken at one of these events.

The collection of art exhibited at the CP is of a far greater quality than that at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Bangalore ('NGMA'), which I wrote about earlier (see: http://yameyamey.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/best-in-bangalore.html ). However, the care given to displaying the works at CP is far inferior to that at the NGMA. Also, the latter is very fortunate in that it is housed in a heritage building of great beauty. This said, any art lover visiting Bangalore would be well-advised not to miss devoting some time to exploring the superb collection housed in the CP.

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BEST IN BANGALORE

Rome has its St Peters Basilica and Colisseum, Paris its Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, and London its Trafalgar Square and British Museum. One could go on endlessly about the tourist attractions of these three cities and those of  of many others, but I wish to concentrate on Bangalore, the capital of the State of Karnataka in Southern India.

Until recently, the tourist sites of Bangalore were few and far between, and none of them are as memorable as those which I have listed above. Given the extremely unlikely chance of the city's roads being clear of the normally highly congested traffic, it would not take long to 'do' all of the tourist sites of Bangalore. Traffic permitting, a few hours would suffice to visit and enjoy Tipu's Palace, Lalbagh Gardens, Cubbon Park, Vidhana Soudha, the Iskon Temple, The Bull Temple, and Bangalore Palace. Of course, there is much more to see than these commonly listed 'attractions'. I would add to these, amongst other places, the colourful City Market, The Chowdeiah Memorial Hall, Malleswaram, and the crowded streets of the old City Area. However, none of these undoubtedly fascinating places could honestly be described as being 'world class' tourist attractions. Recently, in February 2009, the situation changed: the National Gallery of Modern Art Bengaluru ('NGMA') opened its doors. Bangalore now possesses a site worthy of a great detour.

The NGMA stands near a petrol station on Palace Road between the Bangalore Golf Club and Mount Carmel College. Its collections are housed in a beautifully restored old palace, which used to be a government office for the so-called 'Backwards Castes', and also in a tastefully designed modern annex attached to it. An expanse of water separates the old building from another new building that houses the Gallery's shop, ticket hall, offices, and cafeteria. 

A shady garden filled with modern sculptures, all properly labelled, separates the NGMA from the hooting of the autorickshaws and other vehicles speeding along the  busy Palace Road. I always enjoy looking at sculptures in the open air.

Usually, the old building houses the NGMA's permanent collection. This consists mainly of paintings, mostly of Indian subjects, dating from the late 18th century up to modern times. The works of a wide range of artists are displayed including many by Bengali artists including members of the illustrious Tagore family from Calcutta. The presence of one particular painting always surprises me. It is by the British Pre-Raphaelite Alma-Tadema, and appears to have little to do with India. Why it's hanging in Bangalore, no one has been able to tell me.

The recently built annex contains contemporary works and is often used to house temporary exhibitions. A year or so ago, we saw an exhibition of the paintings of Rumale Chennabasavia (1910-1988). His vividly coloured paintings of Bangalore and other places in Karnataka certainly make his reputation as the "Van Gogh of Bangalore" well-deserved.

While I am writing these words, both parts of the NGMA, the old palace and its annex, are housing temporary exhibitions.  The permanent collection of art in the old part has been displaced to make room for a travelling exhibition called 'Homelands'. Organised by the British Council, this showcases some pieces by contemporary British artists. The name of the exhibition alludes to its theme of multi-culturalism in the UK. It is a sort of immigrants' home thoughts from abroad. It is a tribute to the ever present theme of 'political correctness' that pervades life in contemporary Britain.

The new annex houses another exhibition. It is a collection of paintings by Bengal's cultural genius Rabindranath Tagore. This splendid display of paintings shows how Tagore's painting developed from decorative doodles on his literary manuscripts to sophisticated artworks that could be hung without hesitation next to works of his better known contemporaries, such as Picasso and Matisse.

Whether you see these two exhibitions, or others, or even just the permanent collection, the NGMA will not disappoint.  Its architectural excellence - both historical and modern - and the superb skill with which the artworks are displayed makes the NGMA a tourist atrraction that can be truly described as being 'world class'. 

Sadly, the NGMA is poorly publicised. Many Bangaloreans do not know of its existence. This is also the case for the city's numerous foreign visitors and its huge ex-pat community. It is a great shame that the NGMA cannot find the funds to give it the publicity that it truly deserves. In any case, I hope that this short article will help to put the NGMA onto every tourist's itinerary in southern India. 

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