s

History

Walk of Ages

Take a walk through these metros and
rediscover hilltop forts built by warrior
kings, graceful marble arches above a
poet’s tomb and secret bylanes that
show you a way of life now forgotten.
T
here’s no better way
than footing it to get
acquainted with the
sights, sounds and
smells of a city. It’s in
their forgotten pockets, amid the
maze of bylanes, that its pulse
points lie. Several of these have
been long forgotten and a few are
lucky to remain in the limelight
even as new urban spaces evolve
around them. Here are some trails
in the country’s metros for history
lessons filled with discovery, minus
the yawns.
Dinodia.com

Text Brinda Suri

16 Flylite August 2010

Jyothy Karat
History

The Armenians
had arrived in
Kolkata as traders
long before
the East India
Company dropped
anchor there and
changed the course
Sanjay Ramchandran

of India’s history.

Bengaluru
Ever heard of a shrine where you can
put locks on the gate in the belief
that when you take the key home,
you’ve locked away all your troubles?
This holds good at the Hazrat Syed
Pasha Dargah (a Sufi shrine) in Old
Bangalore, a treasure-trove of such
legends and attractions. This is the
area where modern-day Bengaluru was
born. Today, it co-exists harmoniously
with the boasts of tech savviness,
snazzy arcades, flamboyant nightlife,
tony restaurants and resorts.
It’s convenient to start at Thigalarpet’s
Dharmaraya Temple, dating back to
about a millennium, and considered the only site in the country connected with
the Mahabharata and, in particular, Draupadi. It’s famous for the 11-day Karaga
Festival (held in March), Bengaluru’s oldest cultural carnival celebrated by the
Thigala community. Move on to the century-old, atmospheric Krishnaraja Market
a.k.a. K.R. Market or City Market, named after Mysore king Krishnaraja Wodeyar
IV. The market’s vibrancy is typical of old-world commerce, with the wholesale
flower business providing added photo-op-perfect colours to the borough.
Apart from other traders, the lock sellers expectedly make more money, with the
Hazrat’s dargah adjoining it. Close by is also the city’s oldest mosque, the striking
Jumma Masjid.
A distance away, on K.R. Road lie the remnants of the Bangalore Fort. Initially a
mud fortification built in AD 1537 by Kempegowda, the founder of Bengaluru, it
was re-erected as a stone citadel by Hyder Ali in AD 1761. The walk down aeons
of history ends at Hyder’s son Tipu Sultan’s Summer Palace, an arresting structure
made largely of wood and extremely well-preserved.
Old Bangalore Walk: 4.5 km, 2.5 hours. Best time: 8 am

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History

Mumbai
‘Yesterday Once More’, the hit number from The Carpenters’ 1973 album
Now & Then, could well be the theme song of Ranwar, one of the few
surviving villages from the 24 that earlier constituted Bandra. Around the
corner from this upmarket suburb boasting of glass-steel high-rises and
endless chic stores, exists its alter-self: Ranwar, in a shape and size that
ensures even Grandma Pereira won’t feel out of place. Pereira, incidentally,
is a common surname in this paddy-cultivating settlement, which is striving
hard to ward off land-sharks with cookie-cutter ideas.
On view here is a largely Portuguese heritage dating back to the 1500s.
To explore it, begin at Waroda Street and turn into Veronica Street (there
are chances that the street names are unfamiliar to younger residents).
Follow the road till it opens up at Ranwar Square. The route you walked is
flanked by a characteristic visual vocabulary: red-tile-roofed cottages with
high ceilings, ornate grilles, porches, wooden lattice panels and fanciful
balusters. White-washed crosses stand at intersections, outside homes and
community spots that hum little now. The streets are not arrow straight. As
is typical of all Bandra roads, these zig-zag past and between the houses,
maintaining privacy, yet allowing the verandahs enough connectivity for a
friendly chinwag across streets.
Ranwar is a pale shadow of its past — the apartments coming up in the
vicinity are more of a lure. But some features continue to shine, like the
Oratory, which celebrated its centenary this February. Or adjoining it, ‘The
Trellis’, Father Larry Pereira’s faultless 170-year-old bungalow. His home
maps the area’s absorbing history and he’s a proud Ranwarite who’d like to
make sure his homegrounds stay as they are. Time though, is running out.
Take a walk before it’s yesterday no more.
Ranwar Village Walk: 2.5 km, 1.5 hours. Best time: 7 am
Kunal Kampani
History

dwindled there’s still a small gathering here

every Sunday.
Places of worship were signposts of communities
in cosmopolitan Kolkata and there’s a spread
of outstanding sites on Brabourne Road. A
few hops away, tucked inside narrow, winding
alleys of chaotic bazaars, stands the acclaimed
Maghen David Synagogue. It was built in
AD 1884 by Elias David Ezra, the first Jewish
sheriff of Calcutta, in memory of his eminent
father, David Joseph Ezra. The synagogue’s
spic interiors present a picture of splendour,
reflecting the grand lifestyle of the Jews,
who built business empires in India. Across it,
off Pollock Street, is another reminder: the
lime-yellow AD 1855 Beth El Synagogue, with
a simpler façade offset by outstanding blue
stained-glass window panels.
Each piece of history has an intriguing legend
behind it, as does the AD 1818 St Andrew’s
Kirk (church), at the head of Brabourne Road,
where the walk concludes. It’s said that the
Scots in the East India Company carried their
one-upmanship here, too, and made sure their
kirk’s steeple was higher than that of the area’s
English church!
In this historical landscape there are trails within
trails. For instance, to the right of the kirk is the
AD 1780 Writers Building, seat of the present
government. Further on is the domed GPO and
a little ahead the AD 1787 St John’s Church, the
oldest English church in Kolkata.
Brabourne Road Walk: 1 km, 1.5 hrs.
Best time 7 am.
Brinda Suri

Kolkata
Long before the East India Company
dropped anchor in Calcutta (as it was
then known) and changed the course
of India’s history, the Armenians had
arrived there as traders. They settled
in sub-continental ports, and wherever
their presence grew they established
a church. One such is the Holy Church
of Nazareth, erected in AD 1707 on
Armenian Street, off Brabourne Road,
in the heart of commercial North
Kolkata. The biggest Armenian church
in the city, it’s considered the oldest
Christian edifice here as well. Though
the city’s Armenian population has

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History

Chennai
When two legends meet, you should expect the extraordinary.
As it happened when the doyen of Carnatic music, Madurai
Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi, affectionately called MS,
played host to Helen Keller. The deaf-blind American author-
activist ‘heard’ MS and was overwhelmed by her control over
the musical notes. How did Keller ‘hear’ MS? By placing her
fingers on the singer’s throat!
Nuggets like these are what make Kalki Gardens, her
erstwhile residence in Kilpauk, a place to be revered for MS
Subbulakshmi’s fans. It’s here that the celebrated MS —
called the ‘queen of music’ and by some the ‘eighth note’—
and her husband Sadasivam entertained luminaries; where
he published the revolutionary Kalki magazine and she held
numerous musical soirees. They were at Kalki Gardens for
about 40 years before it was sold to the Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi trust which little values its history but has at least
retained the original structure — a small consolation for
MS fans.
In contrast to deeply cultural Mylapore and historical Fort St
George, Kilpauk, off Poonamallee High Road, is a posh area
with a mixed but significant heritage. On the route from Halls
Road to Aspirin Garden there are locations like Madras 350,
the only commemoration to a city reaching that landmark,
Kilpauk cemetery, and Votive Shrine of the Immaculate
Heart of Mary, erected to protect the city from World War II.
Interestingly, the AD 1810 St George School and Orphanage
here, though meant as a free school for girls, became an
orphanage for abandoned children from Anglo-Indian
marriages. As far as edifices go, a fantastic site is the AD 1870
Kilpauk Water Works.
Kilpauk walk: 3 km, 2 hrs. Best time: 6 am
Suprakash Ghosh

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 xxx
Brinda Suri

Delhi
Mirza Ghalib, Emperor Humayun, Amir Khusro, Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana, Shah
Jahan’s daughter Jehan Ara Begum, Isa Khan… These are exceptional names from
pages of history. There’s a common thread that binds the ruler and the ruled, the
poet and the muse. It’s in a small space of approximately 1.5 sq km, in the heart
of the capital New Delhi that memorials are built to them all. They lie interred
in the vicinity of the dargah of one of the most revered Sufi saints of the Chisti
order, Shaikh Khwaja Syed Muhammad Nizamuddin Auliya, referred to by his
followers as Hazrat Nizamuddin. The warren of bylanes around the dargah that
Whereabouts
lends its name to the eponymous neighbourhood off Mathura Road, is a little How to go
medieval world, bursting with distinct colour. Roadside vendors line its paths, JetLite and Jet Airways have daily
some selling fragrant attar, some aromatic biryani, others hawking rosaries and flights to all five metros from most
major cities across the country.
ablution essentials. Attendants of cheap eateries call out to passers-by, rose-petal
sellers beseech you to buy a few baskets as offerings to the Khwaja (an honorific Book JetEscapes packages to have
that means ‘master’) and chadar (a blanket of flowers) sellers do quite the same. a worry-free vacation in any of
On the way to the dargah, Ghalib’s tomb beckons silently. In itself, Nizamuddin’s these destinations. For customised
resting place is an isle of faith and the faithful celebrate it as such. (Beware the packages contact our JetEscapes
phoneys, who try goading you into various prayers). On Thursday evenings, Service Center at +91 22 4249
qawwals (devotional singers) get the congregation swaying. 5999 or write to us at jetescapes@
jetairways.com.
Begin the walk from Nizamuddin’s unmistakable landmark, the Sabz Gumbad
(blue dome edifice) roundabout, and trace your way through Humayun’s tomb, Where to stay
Each of these metros has a host of
an immaculate UNESCO Heritage Site. Drop by the Sikh Guru Gobind Singh’s accommodation options ranging
gurdwara Damdama Sahib in its vicinity; and move on to upscale Nizamuddin East from shared dorms to luxury hotels.
where lies the tomb of Khan-i-Khana, one of Akbar’s navratans (the nine jewels
of Akbar’s court) and a poet famed for couplets on Lord Krishna. Make the For more information
dargah the last stop and as you exit, treat yourself to a platter of the famous www.maharashtratourism.gov.in
Karim’s kebabs. www.karnatakatourism.org
www.westbengaltourism.gov.in
Nizamuddin walk: 2 km, 2.5 hours. Best time 8 am or 5 pm. www.tamilnadutourism.org
www.delhitourism.nic.in

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