The wreckage that has happened to namma Bengaluru’s green
cover is a misadventure. The media swapping the city’s tag to “Garbage city” is
heartbreaking. Today, it is hard for my friends to believe when I say that just
a decade ago summer in Bangalore used to be a warm 30 degree Celsius. It was
not out of blues that Bangalore once was called as “garden City”; there were a
thousand reasons for it. But the primary reason could be absolutely nothing
other than this two century old abode of flora called Lal bagh.
It was after a decade that I walked inside Lalbagh with a
camera in hand, clicked pictures and came back home. But I had no idea of its
exuberance, its history, its chronicles and great human beings who made Lalbagh
happen, until I started exploring its past. I’m sure most of us, just like I
did, think of Lalbagh as just a century old huge green park. Here’s my attempt
to get to the roots and provide substantiation, which I feel, every true
Bangalorean definitely deserve to know.
Origin
Lalbagh is of royal origin. Hyder Ali, having the Moghul
taste for gardens, is acknowledged to be the founder of Lalbagh. But very few
know that Hyder Ali planned Lalbagh at Bangalore principally on the model of “Khan Bagh”, an impressive garden in Sira
(near Tumkur), developed by Dilawar Khan,
the Moghul emperor’s south representative. Dr. Francis Buchanan, in his book *1
has written that the taste of Hyder Ali accorded more with English. His
evening walks alongside the Cypress trees were wider and he enjoyed it. It is
also said that before it was named as Lalbagh, it was called as the “Cypress
Garden” *2
 |
| *2 View of LalBagh, painted by Robert
Home |
Development
Somewhere in 1760s, Hyder Ali chose 34 acres of land on the
east of the Kempegowda tower. He procured seeds and plants from varied places
like Kabul, Persia, Turkey, Lahore and Multan. Tamil speaking gardeners from
the community of “Thigalars” were brought from the neighborhood to look after
the gardens. This explains why we find the “Thigalar” community people in
abundance in Bangalore today.
After Hyder Ali, Tippu Sultan extended the garden by
acquiring more land. Tippu imported Pine and oak plants from Cape of Good Hope*3
and other exotic plants and seeds from Mauritius and Africa. Two old mango
tress said to have been planted during his time is still seen in Lal Bagh. He
also appointed Mohammed Ali and Abdul Khader as Daroga (Chief Gardner). Tippu improved
the gardens to a greater extent even as late as in 1798; he obtained plants and
seeds from the Isle of France. Thus Lal Bagh grew to be a house of rare
tropical and sub-tropical plants.
After British invasion, Lal Bagh became a property of East
India Company. On 27th February 1836, Sir. Mark Cubbon transferred
its ownership to the Agri horticultural society, Mysore. By August 1856, Lal
Bagh became a government botanical garden and in 1881, it was passed into the
hands of Maharaja of Mysore. Under the state government, the garden area was
more than doubled. 22 acres in 1888, 8 acres in 1890 and again in 1889-90, 30
acres of land were purchased. By the end of the century, Lal Bagh was a
whopping 120 acres of mesmerizing Fauna!
Zoo at Lal Bagh
There were also proposals to make Lal Bagh, a combination of
Zoo and Garden to increase the number of visitors. In 1862, it had a Black
Panther, a couple of bird species, a few tigers and Kangaroos. Few hundreds of
deers were also brought into the zoo. It is also said that an Orangutan was quite
popular @ the Lal Bagh’s Zoo. A pigeon
house with 100 pair of pigeons was built. The plague of 1899 had a very bad
effect on the Menagerie and the aviary. By 1900, the number of animals and
birds was reduced to 60 and all these were later transferred to the Mysore Zoo.
The Glass-House
Flower shows were conducted by the Agri-Horticultural
society right from the beginning. Flower shows at Lal Bagh dates back to 1867.
In 1888, John Cameron, the then superintendent of Government gardens, proposed
for the construction of Glass House for the purpose of holding horticultural
shows. Designed originally on the lines of Crystal palace in England, it was
completed in 1890 at a cost of 75000 Rs. Crystal palace was burnt to ashes in a
fire accident, but the “Glass House” has remained a marvelous structure,
symbolizing the development of Horticulture and reminding the Englishmen of
their lost monumental glory.
 |
| Glass House @ Dusk |
Lal Bagh rock and
Lake
The great plate of south India is called as “Gondwana land”,
which is one of the oldest formations on earth. Dating back to about 3000
million years! A rare exposure of this antiquity can be seen at the Lal Bagh,
in the form of a rock hill. The geologists term this rock as peninsular gneiss.
Perched on top of this rock is one of the four cardinal towers, as border of
namma Bengaluru city built by Kempegowda in 1537.
 |
| Tower of Bangalore on top of The LalBagh rock |
People who made “Garden
City”
Today, Bangalore and it’s amazing green cover is what it is
because of a numerous gentlemen who nurtured it with love, passion and care. I’ve
tried really hard to collect the details of some of the key men who are
remembered for their below mentioned deeds, without which this post would’ve
been incomplete.
John Cameron – enriched
the plant wealth of Lal Bagh by giving it a numerous exotic plant species, many
of which later assumed the status of commercial crops. The famous Bangalore
Blue Grapes, Gauva, Mulberry are just a few. Glass house is his brain child
G H Krumbiegal – was
requested by Krishnaraja Wodeyar, as a successor to John Cameron, to raise the
reputation of Lal Bagh, by introducing economic farming, methodic development
of horticulture on commercial scale from Lal bagh. It is also noteworthy that Brindavan
garden at KRS was established during his time.
H C Javaraya – Rao
Bahaddur HC JAvaraya, an able successor to Krumbigal, is credited with the development of Bangalore city
as “Garden city”. The full credit of starting a fruit orchard @ Lal Bagh, erecting the eastern wing of the Glass
house, Lotus pond, Government Fruit research station at Hessarghatta are some
of his achievements
Dr. M H Marigowda – A
key man in the horticulture department of Karnataka. A Ph. D in Botany from
Harvard, started as many as 380 farms and nurseries in Bangalore. He also set
up soil testing and seed testing labs @ Lal Bagh, also introduced exotic
species of Flora to Lal Bagh and elevated Karnataka to a “Horticultural” rich
state.
 |
| Flower show inside the Glass house |
For over a century, this elegant garden is standing as a
symbol and testimony of floral richness. From 34 acres to a present 240 acres
of roaring green cover, every acre has its own story to tell. To me, the fact
that it is in the very heart of namma Bengaluru makes it even merrier. I wish
that the long cherished legacy of Lal Bagh will continue forever and bring
further prosperity and happiness to namma Bengaluru’s feat!
*1 – Book “A Journey from Madras: Through the Countries of
Mysore, Canara, and Malabar by Dr. Francis Buchanan
*2 – Painted by Robert Home, British oil portrait painter.
Found in British Library website
*3 – The early long history of Lal Bagh – By Dr. Suryanath U
Kamath – Former Chief Editor: Karnataka Gazetteer
Above all, special thanks to some of colleagues of Horticultural
department, for understanding my inevitabilities and catering to thousands of
my inquiries wholeheartedly.
Photo credits: Thamizh Ezhil Murali, Wiki and of course
myself J
