Bangalore expands

Bangalore expands

The Mayo Hall was constructed in memory of the assassinated Viceroy of India, with money raised through public subscriptions



Glorious greenery The city owes a lot to Col. Meade, Commissioner of Mysore in 1864, who conceived the Cubbon Park

Bangalore was also witness to the socio-religious movements taking place in the country. Swami Vivekananda visited Bangalore around 1892 before his visit to Chicago. He stayed as a guest in the house of Palpu, who was the Health Officer in Bangalore City Municipality. Dr. Palpu also hosted Sri Narayana Guru during his visit to Bangalore.

In March 1901, some acolytes of Swami Vivekananda started the Vedanta society in Bangalore. In 1906, the Mysore Government sanctioned an acre of land for them to start the Ramakrishna Mission. In course of time, further grant of lands were made to the Mission. In 1911, Holy Mother Sharada Devi visited Bangalore and stayed in the Ramakrishna Mission premises for nine days.

As early as November 10, 1894, Swami Visweswarananda and Swami Nityananda established an Arya Samaj unit in the city. The famous Arya Samajist and Shuddhi protagonist, Swami Shraddhananda, visited Bangalore twice in 1924 and 1925 and addressed public meetings. Similarly, a unit of Brahma Samaj was established in the city in 1872. One of the founders of the Theosophical Society, Col. Olcott visited Bangalore in 1886 and addressed a public meeting here. The same year a Theosophical Lodge was established followed by another in the Cantonment area.

Hectic activities

This period also saw a flurry of construction activities in Bangalore. The Attara Katcheri, (the present High court) was constructed, wherein the State Secretariat was shifted. About Rs. 4.28 lakh was spent on this two-storeyed building. The Mayo Hall was constructed in memory of the assassinated Viceroy of India, with money raised through public subscriptions. The Bangalore Palace, modelled on the Windsor Castle in London was constructed around 1880 at the cost of Rs.10 lakh. Originally, it belonged to one Mr. Garrat from whom the Maharaja of Mysore purchased it. Col. Meade, the commissioner of Mysore in 1864, conceived the Cubbon Park. This Park occupied an area of 120 hectares and was planted with a rich variety of plants. The statues of Queen Victoria, King Edward, Mark Cubbon, Sri Chamarajendra Wadiyar and Diwan Sheshadri Iyer are seen here.

In July 1879, the city came to have two more divisions, that is Nagarathpet and Kalasipalyam and in1883, the High Grounds division was formed. In 1891, the total number of Municipal divisions was raised to eight. The two new divisions were Palace division and the Lalbagh division. In 1891, Bangalore town covered an area of 8.25 sq miles and had a population of 80,285.

In 1883, the Government of India enacted a separate law, The Bangalore Municipal Regulations 1883, for the Civil and Military station (Cantonment). Under Section 3 and 5 of the said Regulations, the Resident by his Notifications of the April 3, 1884, prescribed the Rules for election of members of the Municipal Commission other than ex-officio members. According to the rules which provided for communal representation by separate electorates:

1. Europeans and Eurasians were to have six representatives; 2. Mohammedans four; and 3. Hindus and others, eight. Thus in all, 18 members were to be elected.

Qualifications

The rules laid down qualifications of persons who could be elected Municipal Commissioners and also those of persons to vote. Persons of either sex possessing the prescribed qualifications could vote, but only men could be elected. The election was to be by ballot. The District Magistrate was the ex-officio president, the deputy surgeon, General British Forces, Mysore Division, the Assistant Quarter Master General, the District Superintendent of Police, the Executive Engineer, Presidency Division, the Resident Surgeon and the Second Magistrate of the Civil and Military station were the Ex-officio members. Except perhaps the last, the others were European. Thus, including the elected representatives, there were 12 European or Eurasian members of the Municipal Commission out of the total of 25.

Khan Bahadur Aga Abdulla Sahib and Khan Bahadur Aga Jaun Saib, uncle and father respectively of Sir Mirza Ismail, were among the Muslim representatives. But taxpayers had to wait till 1892 for the privilege of electing their representatives. Out of 22 members of the Council, half were elected and the rest nominated by the Government.