Many citizens from urban and rural Bengaluru have learnt about their locality’s heritage through programmes conducted by a group of volunteers in the last five years. Called ‘Inscription Stones of Bengaluru’, this community has been protecting and restoring inscriptions stones that are part of the city’s heritage.
The inscription stones that they refer to are age-old structures, that describe the significance of the locality or its history. These structures can be found in and around the city even today.
Nagarajappa, a 72-year-old farmer and resident of Jakkur, said he could not decipher information inscribed on a stone found in the locality, but after attending a workshop, he understood the history of Jakkur and Agrahara.
“One of the inscriptions read that whatever was grown at our place was given as pooja items to Allalanatha temple near Yalahanka. Through this, I got to know that Jakkur lake was around 700 years old,’’ the farmer said.
He revealed that the stone would have been destroyed because of BDA layout construction if it was not traced.
Like Nagarajappa, several people have attended workshops conducted by Inscription stones of Bengaluru. The community has conducted workshops in Begur, Hebbal, Malleshwaram, Madiwala and Sarjapura among other locations. Some of the organised events include week-long programmes.
The most popular programme, ‘Know Your Neighbourhood’, is conducted every Sunday at places where they find inscriptions. Details for the programme are announced on Facebook.
Vidya Murali, a writer who attended the event, said she was inspired to write stories on these heritage inscription stones after attending the ‘Know your Neighbourhood’ programme in Hebbal.
“My sister and I have written around 10 fictional stories on many inscription stones on blogs to make children understand their significance,” she said.
They were astonished to know find that an inscription in Hebbal was found near the gutter. “Through this, we got to know the heroics of Kittayya, who was Bengaluru’s first known citizen,” she said.
Tracing origins
Mohan, a plumber, was able to trace the history of a temple through an inscription stone at Singapura village after he attended a programme held in Chikkabettahalli and Harohalli in 2017.
The Singapura inscription mentions a grant made by a person to Singappanayaka for the Varadarajaswamy Temple in the area. It explains that the temple belonged to the Hoysalas and not Cholas as believed by villagers.
He said this inscription is the oldest reference to Singapura, which is around 900 years old. J V V Murthy, who was born seven decades ago in Bengaluru, said he learnt the heritage of his ancestral village Jakkur after reading the book ‘Bengaluru Itihasa Vaibhava’ published by the community.
“After reading the second issue of the book on the heritage of Jakkur, I was elated to learn that the existence of Hoysala-style Varadarajaswamy Temple at Jakkur was true and Allalanatha and Varadarajaswamy were the same,’’ Murthy said.
He thought that the temple had disappeared or destroyed due to bad weather and lack of care.
The book ‘Bengaluru Itihasa Vaibhava’, which explains the history of Jakkur and Singapura localities, hasbeen released in English and Kannada.
More than 2,000 copies of both issues have been distributed for free to libraries, schools, and localities. Around 5,000 copies have also been downloaded.
Importance of local heritage
On the importance of knowing local heritage, Udaya Kumar P L, a techie who spearheads ‘Inscription Stones of Bengaluru, said people link heritage to palaces and forts of Hampi or Mysuru, but forget the ones in their locality.
“They should know that Bengaluru is 1,100 years old, Jakkur lake is 700 years old and Hebbal lake is 1,500 years old,’’ he added.
He has created a digital map that has traced around 1,500 inscription stones in Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural and Ramanagara districts. The website has information on about 500 inscriptions.
More than 1.5 lakh people have learnt about their locality’s heritage through this virtual platform.
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