New structure around shrine inside Bengaluru's Lalbagh triggers concerns

The building of a structure around a small shrine inside Lalbagh Botanical Gardens has triggered concerns among some visitors to the famed park.

Dedicated to Muneshwara, the shrine is located near Gate 4 of Lalbagh. When Metrolife visited it on Wednesday afternoon, cement bags, drums, pipes and broken glass panes were lying around. The structure now has a metal roof, a steel enclosure, and granite flooring. It was locked.

Art historian Suresh Jayaram, who has authored ‘Bangalore’s Lalbagh: A Chronicle of the Garden and the City’, remembers the shrine being much smaller, “like the folk deity shrines you see under trees”.

He believes it was located in the Mavalli area and became a part of Lalbagh when the gardens were expanded and a wall built sometime in the 1950s.

“We should respect local traditions but keep these shrines the way they are rather than glorify them,” he said.

If the structure has a long history, “before Lalbagh was made into a public garden”, it should only be preserved and not expanded or changed, says architect Prem Chandavarkar. He is part of the WhatsApp group Heritage Beku where the discussion came up. 

“The tubular steel structure and metal sheet roofing do not indicate that it is the preserved version of an old structure,” he said.

Smitha Srinath, who walks in Lalbagh daily, is worried about waste generation that may follow if the temple structure attracts big congregations.

P L Udaya Kumar, heritage conservationist, doesn’t think a botanical park as big and old as Lalbagh can only be home to trees and plants. “Any public-civic structures such as a library, temple or birding club is fine,” he said.

Not say, say experts. “Only the construction of necessary public facilities like toilets are allowed in the botanical garden,” said a horticulture official.

Walker's association says…

Muniswamy, member of the Lalbagh Walkers’ Association, says the construction began about two months ago. He said, “When the temple area was open, people would sit and linger there, monkeys would run riot,
and branches would fall after the rains. It is a sacred space and it
was looking neglected. That is why we built the enclosure. The
members crowdfunded this, paying a minimum of Rs 500 each voluntarily.” 

Association president Sadashiva Reddy says, “There is no plan to hold gatherings or festivities as Lalbagh doesn’t permit such activities. A woman comes to offer puja in the morning.”

G Kusuma says she was the deputy director of horticulture (Lalbagh) when the association asked for permission to paint the structure and replace a damaged grill, and it was granted. Now she oversees Cubbon Park.