Not too many are aware that Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan worked and lived in Mysore as a professor at the Maharaja’s College before he became the President of the country.
Radhakrishnan’s residence was a magnificent bungalow, with a sprawling garden, on the road linking Kukkarahalli Lake to K.G. Koppal—behind the University quarters, bang opposite what is now the Government Textbook Press.
This YouTube video you see is of a construction that is coming up next to—yes, next to—Radhakrishnan’s house.
Maybe, it is an authorised construction. Maybe all the right permissions and clearances have been taken. Maybe, the new structure will accommodate hundreds more, and be of greater use, than the desolate bungalow.
Maybe, Radhakrishnan’s house and the building housing the NCC headquarters are not strictly “heritage structures” as decided by some adipose-laden bureaucrat sitting in some pokey corner of the Vidhana Soudha.
And maybe the new structure is only the latest violation on a road which is being raped and sullied by the second.
But the question we need to ask is, should wonderful structures like these be brought down with such disdain? Will Mysore’s march as a “Tier-II” city be greatly hampered if we cannot get a few developers to kill a few hundred trees, pull down a few hundred-year-old buildings?
Towards the end of the S.M. Krishna regime, there was talk of declaring Mysore a “Heritage City” with clearly laid out laws and by-laws on what could or could not be done in its precincts. Whatever happened to that? And to the Heritage Task Force?
Will we wake up to save Mysore’s heritage after the marauders have totally plundered and pillaged our past—like they have done Bangalore?
churumuri 
So… Dr. S. Radhakrishnan’s bungalow is all set to go the way of Sir C.V. Raman’s in Trichy.
Will such a fate befall a stalwart in, say, a European country? Where’s our respect for the giants of our times? What a way to honour their memory, by erasing a piece of history.
Bet this wouldn’t be the case if it were a Gandhi-family residence!
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On the name of of progress and IT, Mysore is quickly and surely being destroyed. Soon it will be as polluted as Bangalore. Mysoreans do not protest when Mysore’s heritage is destroyed. It is not enough declring Mysore as a heritage city like Bath in Britain, but enforcing the heritage status. When its landmarks are destroyed in the name of progress, what will be left for future generation would be concrete corbuncles, rubble and pollution.
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SwamygaLe .
Let me share something more serious information .
Recently I happen to meet a known friend here who is from Andhra .He said he and his group of friends have started buying huge tracts of Land in and around Mysore as future investment . Also happen to meet another Northie whose relative works in a central govt office in Mysore .This guy has bought a house in Mysore and says he has never seen mysore even once .
There is no issue with people buying properties in Mysore as investment .My only concern is if this madness continues with ‘FUTURE’ investments where should the Mysoreans go. Already the land price has jumped 200% in the last year and a half . Where will all this end?
Can Government do something so that there is a real estate slump.
Only those people who genuinly need housing are allowed to settle in mysore . What would happen to the cultural fabric of the city .
Can you still ride a bycycle and go around ?
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DG Avare, There is truth in what you are saying. What happened in Bengaluru is already happening in Mysuru.
Don’t expect any help from the govt. To see what kind of people are running our system, check out this statement by the former IT secretary M.K.Shankaralinge Gowda.
http://www.hindu.com/2006/03/19/stories/2006031902010500.htm
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/Mar192006/district1634542006318.asp
This is how he interprets progress.
He emphasised the need for a change in the mindset of some sections
of society in Mysore in favour of IT industries. “Along with heritage, we
need more glass-and-chrome buildings that signify progress and
development,” he said in a reference to reservations among certain
sections against the entry of IT companies into the city.
You are not progressing if you don’t have glass-and-chrome!! Simple as that.
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KP,
Check pages 20-31 of the Mysore CDP submitted to JNNURM.
http://jnnurm.nic.in/toolkit/mysore.htm
What this amounts to in practice I don’t know.
If you read such mudane documents like tenders you’ll see they talk about limitations on architecture styles, but then they follow that up with a mall right in front of palace. (That too in what appears to be a sell out to the bussiness group with a bad reputation- they have run in to trouble often in BLR)
Maybe, you can get Lakshmana and other hiriyaru who deal with these issues to write? Lakshmana gave a digital presentation(PPT) recently could churumuri post them here?
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It is not just the Professor’s Quarters next to Radhakrishnan’s residence that has disappeared. A number of heritage bldgs in Mysore have been razed to the ground during the last few years. The Tipu’s Palace on Chamaraja Double Road (100 Ft.Road), Dewan Purnaiah Choultry, a number of old bungalows known as Mysore’s “Thotti Mane”, West End Lodge and now the old building where Venkatakrishnayya (Thattiah) started his famous ‘Anathalaya’ and
where Swami Vivekananda stayed when he visited Mysore, before leaving on his historical US visit, is going to be removed for building a modern memorial for the Swami. People like our V-C and other officials say, “We don’t want public opinion; we don’t care for it!”.
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A heritage building on JLB Road (opposite Hardwicke) was razed and Big Bazaar is making its way. On the narrow Narayana Shastri Road near KR Hosp, a hyper mall has come into existence. On the peaceful JL Puram Road besides BM Hosp, another mall is being built. The infamous ‘Garuda’ mall is all set to create chaos near KR Circle. Krishna Raja Boulevard, where we could have walked, jogged or relaxed on those benches is halved and asphalted. The old Chamundipuram Bus Stand is long gone. Now the ‘Culture’ Minister talks of a Library in People’s Park. These politicians are an endless menace.
Having said this, let there be malls, multiplexes, theme parks, et al. Let they be located outside the city. Atleast outside the old Mysore city. The MCC can never improve. They have no consideration for the culture of the city. The previous Mayor, lauded herself for having approved the mall at Makkaji Chowk. With Corporators like her, we can never expect MCC to care for us.
The ‘investement’ by outsiders started couple of years back. An acre some 20kms away in any direction today cost close to a crore.
Lakshmana, MGP and others have done a wonderful job. We need to support them, else Mys will be worse than Blr in a very short time.
TS avare, nimage ACICM and MGP contact idhyaa. Interact maadtheera ?
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Greater Mysore cannot stay as it was 50 years ago. IT and other industries should come, but under strict government environmental control, and located appropriately. Mysore needs these industries as its population increases at geometric progression rate. But demolishing such landmarks as Purnaiya Choultry which stood as a beacon of Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s munificence is indeed an act of vandalism. The decline started when the then ‘elephant karoti’ ( ane karoti -gaja shala) was razed to pave the way for the JSS college complex. This karoti was visited by hundreds and they enjoyed seeing elephants fed, wild ones tamed and important ones decorated for palace festivities. The college could have built in other vacant lands. In any western country this would have been declared as grade I heritage so that bulldozers and earth movers do not come near it. ,
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Uttama
Please advise your patta shishya NRN to build his IT Temple complex in some bengaadu!
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Arun Saheb, I can feel your angst.
You are right in that development does not have to be anti-heritage. In the Mysore region it is easy for it to be so, for there is so much heritage to stomp on.
We need educated politicians who recognize the value of heritage and history, in addition to the value of the market. I have found a certain frustration in Sunaad Saheb’s posts, especially in his cries for pragmatic, in addition to intellectual, honesty. You and he seem to be on the same page.
I don’t like to sound elitist, but I’d really like our leaders to all have earned a college degree and thus be solidly grounded in the liberal arts, including logic and history (not just in rhetoric!). We need tasteful leaders, and if we accept that education breeds taste we must demand better cultural pedigree in our corporators and MLAs.
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city is growing in high speed. New buildings should be designed so that the heritage look of the city do not disturbed. Hight and architecture design of the new constructions sd take care of city looks.
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It was such a pleasure to come in to Mysore and unwind for a couple of
days, it was a welcome change from Bangalore. I guess in the so called
guise of development Mysore will not remain the same in times to come.
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Doddi,
Your jealousy is very revealing. Never mind, Doddis of the world are dime a dozen anyway.
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Uttama
If it makes you happy…Sure! For my part, I am glad we only have a few ‘Uttamas’ and his shishyas.
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Doddi Buddi,
Why do you attack Uttama? After all, he defended his student ( and all students) who came up in life purely on merit. If you are in America, how did you go there? If you did go to study, surely grades did have a part to play. If you are working after studies, surely your professor did give a reference? Are we sure that you not a bit “green” with envy?
If you are living in America, and is not naturalised there, I can detect tints of American English usage, careful not to attack free enterprise. You see, the ‘Patriot Act’ is operating, and the Feds keep watchful eyes! I can give you a few anecdotes when the Feds asked a few friends of mine here about their e-mail messages! We do not want Indians in Guantanamo bay, and blogging from there!
Now, about Mysore and its expansion . To put it crudely, only when Indians stop multiplying like rabbits, the mindless destruction of nature will stop. Hence, take steps to stop the runaway population explosion.
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Ranga,
Thank you for your analysis. Please feel free to share some anecdotes about these sensitive email messages. When you mean, ‘here’ where exactly?
Merit is not the issue here!
I am only attacking the hypocritical behavior of NRN. On the one hand he benefits from the huge tracts of land supplied by the State, on the other he conveniently applies the ‘free-market’ principles in giving a free hand to the recruiting process where Tamils, Mallus, and Bengalis go on a rampage in recruiting their ‘own’. Even the security, canteen, other small jobs are taken up by non-Kannadigas–NRN conveniently ignores this and starts issuing threats of relocating else where because ‘conditions are deteriorating in the State’.. and all such lame-ass excuses.
While this is going on, NRN dons his wisdom cap and starts berating the governance process, lack of infrastructure, and other issues–all along enjoying the ‘State’ patronage! This is disgusting!
WTF is wrong with him? I tell you—the man is ‘IT Devegowda’
I agree with your observation on Indians making too many of their own.
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folks…
the post is about the impending death of heritage in mysore as we knew it.
IT, kutra maaDo patnadd maida, amayaka halli haida, rabbits, population etc have nothing to do with it. harappa mohenjodaDo were a cities way back when even the ancestors of our ancestors were not even concieved.
mysore is not gonna die bcoz of population explosion. i will due to apathy and lack of balance, initiative and planning. because a harappa is not being replicated in mysore.
here is a question…
what do you think of doDD market – problems on sayyaji rao rd and other allied miseries. imtiaz ahmed raised his hands in dispair ‘coz as things stand, no interventions are possible.
status quo? or rebuild?
Even as KP painstakingly records heritage structures, rich heritage property owners in downtown mysore have let their buildings rot. broken windows, collapsing facade elements, stains instead of suNNa. how many buildings on SR, DR, CG, AR, LB etc even do annual maintenance on their centuries old properties? and these are people sitting on multi-crore Rs properties. (prolly untaxed too)
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pardon the typos
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Doddi Buddi,
You were making fun of Uttama supporting his old students of whom NRN is one. Now you are changing the tune. About hypocrisy: There is hypocrisy in every one, including you. You would have done the same as NRN or much worse if you were able to. ‘Here’ means USA, and I know the image of India here, in Europe and in Australia in 1960s and 1970s. The Indian IT enterpreneurs, of whom NRN is one have changed this image.
Those from Karnataka who are ‘foreigners’ in USA are the very people who accuse NRN of employing non-kannadigas. If you stretch this logic and if you are working in USA. a non-American like you should be put on the next plane to Bangalore! This is hypocrisy at its worse.
The reason why Mysore is in such dire straits environment-wise, is because of the rising population and the loose environmental control the government exercises. These need addressing. Looking for scape-goats is typical Indian characteristics .
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Ranga , neevu helidhalla sari aadhre .
lets Say Infosys was given the same Land and all needed Infrastructure
but fail to employ majority local americans but has thousands of H1B’s working.
Wouldnt there will be a HUE and CRY in this country . That would be first reported in O’reilly factor or Lou dobbs.
Why dont you people understand this simple fact ???? This would happen anywhere in the world and what is your basis of argument .
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Ranga,
I don’t know what your point is–consistently I have maintained that NRN is a politician. If Uttama being his guru is happy about his student, I am only making fun of Uttama–fair?
I think your comment that I could have done much worse than NRN–can be simply turned against you and once again, you don’t have much to say.
…” I know the image of India here, in Europe and in Australia in 1960s and 1970s….” Really? How amusing and do we care what the people in lesser colonies like Australia, think? Don’t forget apart from a few countries in Western Europe, the rest of Europe is still backward!
…”The Indian IT entrepreneurs, of whom NRN is one have changed this image….” Glad to hear that! I am sure you were not much of a good example to those all-knowing Europeans! :) But why are you still brown nosing them? Did it take you so long to find your voice in UK?
“Those from Karnataka who are ‘foreigners’ in USA are the very people who accuse NRN of employing non-kannadigas. If you stretch this logic and if you are working in USA. a non-American like you should be put on the next plane to Bangalore! This is hypocrisy at its worse…” I think DG has answered this point very correctly!
..”The reason why Mysore is in such dire straits environment-wise, is because of the rising population and the loose environmental control the government exercises. These need addressing. Looking for scape-goats is typical Indian characteristics ….” The issue is not Mysore alone–but the countryside from which Mysore derives much of its sustenance…NRN is not a scapegoat–he is in a position where he can make a difference–instead he is going around like an IT mystic pontificating on all subjects–truth hurts, Ranga.
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Ranga,
A friend of mine just called from Maryland–he says, “Any one can get a rank in our education system.” Then he narrated the tales of a few rank holders who did not know how to analyze a simple practical electrical circuit! There you go! That’s what we think of rank students from Indian Universities…they are good at getting ranks but they have no grasp of the very subjects they ‘excelled’ on paper.
TP Kailasm wrote ‘Tollo Gatti’ in 1918 I think–I am sure you are familiar with the play. Now you are welcome to decide who is Tollu or who is Gatti.
Uttama and Ranga—juganbandhi with fantasy and NRN reality :)
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Sorry that should be, “Uttama and Ranga—jugalbandhi with fantasy and NRN reality :)
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Swamii nevuu yakke istondhu chinthe madtheera namma jaanke
thavu obrru sukvagii idhre sakku bereyavaruu yagaadhruu negadhuu bidhrilli anno mysorena jana irrovagaa ivrana alloke ivarre aarisii
kalisiro namma rajakaranigollu.
ondhu gadhe idheyalla yatha raja thata praja.
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yep…. this is good na b-cos now how much pepale get the job ,,,and enjoyment,,,,,,
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Mahaswamigale,
Thavellaru ondu gamanisabeku, Mysore city has to be a heritage place no second thinking about it, Iyyer cafe set dose, 100 feet road Krishna Iyengar bakeries benne biscuth, old exibition building, Jayachamarajendra Wadeyar’s Dassara Jamboo savari, torch light parade at Banni mantapa, return jamboo savari, Devaraja Market Kavalige viledele, gamm anno mallige sampige hoova, eerangere badanekai, can any person who has witnessed all these at Mysore in 60s & 70s forget it. I can boast I was one of those lucky one’s, I have seen gas street lamps lit every evening in front of Devaraja market, Oh what a wonderful enchanting place it was. Mysore was my ajji’s & appa amma’s ooru and obviously mine too. The grandeur of Maharaja’s Darbar facing eastern gate was a sight to watch. The present day politicians has no sense of heritage value, they are all uncouth, selfish, anti history, anti heritage heartless people not worth to be even discussed about. The genuine Mysorians should get together form a forum or association of sort to fight out uncouth external elements to rape Mysore like they did to Bangalore. So sad to see a heritage place like Mysore being poisoned!!!!!!
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Tell me what percentage of people in India have read Bhagavad Gita or know Sanskrit? It is a fashion to speak english, smoke cigarettes, drink beer, pretend to be westernized. Silly, Silly. It is certainly desirable to keep up our culture & Heritage. Unfortunately the reality of the world is different. Mysore was always a beautiful city, the pride & joy in me. I am 70 now & have lived iand worked in the US for 45 years. I still visit Mysore every year. During my stay in mysore, I become a 18-22 year old boy. It is always in my heart & mind and goes whereever I go. I am retiring to Mysore, an inspiring wonderland.
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