Kempegowda Museum

Kempegowda Museum, Bangalore
	Location in the Map of Bangalore
Established	7 April 2011
Location	MG road, Bangalore
Coordinates	12°58′27″N77°36′39″E / 12.974092°N 77.610754°E
Type	Heritage center
Curator	Prof. Devarakonda Reddy
Owner	Government of Karnataka
Public transit access	Metro: M.G. Road & Trinity stations; Bus: Mayo Hall Bus Stop
Nearest car park	Utility building ; (next door)

Last updated March 11, 2021

Kempegowda Museum is a government museum located in the city of Bangalore, in the state of Karnataka, India. It was established in the year 2011 is dedicated to Yelahanka chieftain Kempegowda (1513-1569) who was the founder of Bangalore city. The museum is located on the first floor of Mayo Hall.^[1] The museum has Kempegowda's statue as well as posters and pictures of forts, temples, reservoirs and inscriptions from his time.

History

Kempegowda was the founder of Bangalore city. He was honored with the title of Chikkaraya by Vijayanagar emperor Sri Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara dynasty.^[2] Kempegowda built four towers that marked the limits of erstwhile Bangalore town. These four towers are located in following areas of today's Bangalore: near Mekhri circle, inside Lalbagh park, near Kempambudhi Lake and the last one near Ulsoor Lake. Many of the city's current lakes and markets and the Bull temple date back to Kempegowda's time.

The move to set up the museum to honor the city's founder was first proposed in 2000 though there was no progress for many years. The execution of museum idea only started when the Samithis (committees) for Kempegowda Smaraka Vastu Sanghrahalaya (Kempegowda memorial museum) and Adyayana Kendra (Learning Center) were founded in the year 2005. The museum was finally opened on 7 April 2011. The museum was inaugurated by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa.^[1]

Building

The Kempe Gowda Museum is housed is the first floor of the heritage building of Mayo Hall. The building has been painted in the Cantonment colors of red and white. Mayo Hall's upper storey was earlier reserved for public meetings free of charge while the ground floor housed the municipal offices. Until the year 2010, the Mayor of Bangalore's meetings were held on the first floor. The adjoining blocks of the building which were built in 1904, now house a variety of courts and public offices were previously referred to as 'station public offices'. When a visitor enters the building, they can view the floor plan of the museum's first floor gallery. The impressive wooden stairs that lead to museum have old paintings of Bangalore and its nearby forts, made by British surveyors.

Museum design

A framed map of 18th century Bangalore forms the entire base of the main hall with the four corners of the room having tower shaped panels to symbolise the four watch towers (fixed boundaries) of earlier town. The panels in the four corners display information about the locations of Kempegowda's towers in the current city. There are display panels located on the walls in between the towers showcase information with photographs and illustrations.

The museum concept was planned and implemented by Design Core, a design firm.^[3] The chief designer of the museum is K.N. Suryaprakash.^[2] Historian and folklorist and H.K. Rajegowda wrote the text that accompanies the pictures on display in the museum.^[3]

Collections

Heritage Bangalore map

An interesting experience of the museum is the floor. Visitors to the museum will actually be walking on a magnified heritage map of 19th century Bangalore.^[3] The map is spread across the wooden floor and laminated with a glass slab. The map has been procured from the Mythic Society and is drawn by the British. One can locate and view old names of places and buildings of Bangalore city. The huge floor map shows the east–west zones of the city. One gets to walk over the map while viewing various exhibits on display.

Kempegowda statues

A small statue depicting Kempegowda in Shivaganga has been placed at the entrance of the museum.^[2] The museum has an imposing fibreglass statue of Kempegowda place in the center of the hall on the first floor.^[3] The statue is placed in a manner that it appears to be welcoming visitors with its hands folded in a traditional Indian way.

Yelahanka dynasty

The museum also throws light on the Yelahanka clan that Kempegowda belonged to, the lineage of the Kempegowda family, their successors and has displays of the rulers of the dynasty. The foundation of Bangalore town, the commerce, water systems and religious agraharas (hamlets) built by the clan.

16th century Bangalore

A background of 16th-century Bangalore and photographs of the city can be found. Many pictures of Kempegowda's territories, the forts, temples and water reservoirs built by him are displayed and are supported by historical facts and inscriptions displayed on the wall.

Visitors

The Museum is open from Monday to Saturday, 9am-5pm. Currently there is no entry fee and it is open for all. There are no officially published statistics of visitors for the museum.

Governance

The museum is funded by the Government of Karnataka and the BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) is responsible for its upkeep. BBMP has also earmarked Rs. 5 crore for the museum project. The museum board includes litterateur D Jaware Gowda, retired IAS officer Chiranjeev Singh and museum's special officer Prof. Deverakonda Reddy.

Expansion

There have been calls for expansion for the museum. Renowned Kannada writer D Javare Gowda called for the shifting of the court from Mayo Hall to expand the museum. Further expansion of the museum is planned in the ground floor. It is expected to house an interactive multimedia displays on Kempegowda's life and display of archive photographs.

The British Library, possess some of Kempe Gowda's memorabilia and other items directly related to the 16th century chieftain. The museum committee had found several books that referred to Kempe Gowda and his reign at the British Library. The museum is making efforts to get the books and other extracts from the library.

The museum is making efforts are on to procure the clothing, weapons and household items from Kempegowda's period from citizens and Kempe Gowda's descendants.

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) was looking for suitable spacious premises to set up the museum permanently within its jurisdiction. A six-acre plot had been identified in Malleswaram.

Related Research Articles

Kempe Gowda, also known as Kempe Gowda was a chieftain under the Vijayanagara Empire. The city of Bengaluru, capital of the Indian state of Karnataka, was fortified by Kempe Gowda in 1537. He erected many Kannada inscriptions in the Kannada Country.

Bangalore is the capital city of the state of Karnataka. Bangalore, as a city, was founded by Kempe Gowda I, who built a mud fort at the site in 1537. But the earliest evidence for the existence of a place called Bangalore dates back to c. 890.

Yelahanka Suburb / Satellite Town in Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Yelahanka is a suburb of Bangalore in the state of Karnataka and one of the zones of BBMP. It is older than the Bengaluru (Bangalore) city which has now overgrown engulfing many of its neighboring villages and towns.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is the administrative body responsible for civic amenities and some infrastructural assets of the Greater Bangalore metropolitan area. It is the fourth largest Municipal Corporation in India being responsible for a population of 6.8 million in an area of 741 km². Its boundaries have expanded more than 10 times over the last six decades.

Vidyaranyapura is situated in the northern part of Bangalore city in the state of Karnataka, India. Vidyaranyapura, along with several other extensions of the city, comes under a constituency called Byatarayanapura. It comes under the Greater Bangalore jurisdiction of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Greater Bangalore is a metropolitan area consisting of the metropolis of Bangalore and its neighbouring regions. Greater Bangalore occupies an area of 741 sq. km, also known as Silicon Valley and IT corridor in India.

Puttenahalli WS Lake also spelled as Puttanahalli Lake is a 10-hectare water body near Yelahanka, 14 km north of Bangalore.

Padmanabhanagar is a residential locality in Bangalore, India, covering an area of 1.68 km² It's one of the zones of BBMP. Padmanabhanagar has a very famous park called Lakshmikanta Park. This park is to be noted for housing Lakshmi Kantha temple. It was looked after by residents association, in 2018 the corporator allotted funds and developed it further. The park was eyed for its medicinal trees and was sanctioned to be cut down completely and set up a landscaped area but the senior citizens of the locality who nurtured the park protested and stopped it. It is surrounded by Kumaraswamy Layout, Gowdanapalya, Chennamanakere, Kathriguppe, Kadirenahalli, Uttarahalli and Chikkakalasandra.

Bengaluru Pete is an area of Bangalore city which was established by Kempegowda I in 1537 with roads laid out in the cardinal directions, and entrance gates at the end of each road. Kempegowda also termed the Pete he built as his "gandu bhoomi" or "Land of Heroes". Pete forms a well–defined body of markets which were associated with various trades and professions of the populace in the locality markets and given the names of trades pursued in such markets. The well known markets are the Tharagupete–market for grains, the Balepete – for Bangles and musical instruments, the Chikkapete and the Nagarthpete for textile trade, the Ballapurpete and the Ganigarapete market where oil is extracted by people of the Ganiga community, the Tigalarapete–flower market of gardeners, the Cubbonpete – textile manufacture by people of the Devanga community.

Sahakara Nagar is a residential suburb near Bangalore, India. Sahakanagar is formed by the Ministry of Communication Employees housing society and has developed to this extent under the efforts of the Sahakaranagar Residents welfare association. Ever since the inclusion of 45 new wards to Bangalore city in 2008, Sahakara Nagar comes under the BBMP limits. The locality is accessible via NH 7 on the East. Sahakara Nagar was formed in the early 1980s as a co-operative society for Telecom and Post & Telegraph employees of the Government of India. It has over 8 well maintained parks and two Playgrounds maintained by BBMP.

Yelahanka Lake, is a water body near Yelahanka, a suburb of Bangalore.

Bharathnagar is a well planned residential layout in the city of Bangalore, India. Located off the arterial Magadi Road and approximately 13 km (8.1 mi) from the Bangalore Central Railway station, this layout was primarily created for the employees of the public sector giant Bharat Electronics Limited. Bharathnagar is divided into Phase 1 & 2. Phase 2 is the larger of the two and has the capacity to accommodate 4000 independent homes, whereas Phase 1 can accommodate 2,000 homes. Bharathnagar was carved out of the larger village of Byadarahalli.

Mayo Hall is a government building located in the center of Bangalore. It was built to honor the memory of Lord Mayo, the 4th Viceroy of India. It offers a panoramic view of the city's Parade Grounds and Ulsoor Lake on one side, and the Bangalore Race Course and Brigade Grounds on the south.

Gandhi Nagar, sometimes spelled Gandhinagar, is a busy neighbourhood in central Bangalore. The area suffers from heavy traffic and pollution. A significant number of transgender people reside in Gandhi Nagar.

The Kempegowda Award or Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Award is a civilian award presented annually by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.

Yelahanka Ward, officially known as Kempegowda Ward is one of the 198 Wards of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, an administrative body responsible for civic amenities and some infrastructural assets of the Greater Bangalore metropolitan area in the Indian state of Karnataka.

The 2010 Bangalore Mahanagara Palike election was held on 4 April 2010 in all 198 Wards of Bangalore

The 2015 Bangalore Mahanagara Palike election was held on 22 April 2015 in all 198 Wards of Bangalore

References

1 2 Vidya Iyengar (8 April 2011). "Museum showcases the life and times of Kempegowda". Daily News and Analysis. Bangalore. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
1 2 3 "Kempe Gowda Museum opens at last". The Hindu. Bangalore. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
1 2 3 4 Rahul J (22 April 2011). "The builder gets a house". Bangalore: Live Mint. Retrieved 3 March 2013.

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[dna-1] 1 2 Vidya Iyengar (8 April 2011). "Museum showcases the life and times of Kempegowda". Daily News and Analysis. Bangalore. Retrieved 3 March 2013.

[thehindu-2] 1 2 3 "Kempe Gowda Museum opens at last". The Hindu. Bangalore. 8 April 2011. Retrieved 3 March 2013.

[livemint-3] 1 2 3 4 Rahul J (22 April 2011). "The builder gets a house". Bangalore: Live Mint. Retrieved 3 March 2013.

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