Tea, scones and indology

 A hundred years ago, when there was a resurgence of interest in Indian culture and Mystic Society was started as a discussion group by the then Collector of Bangalore.
Tea, scones and indology

BENGALURU: In the midst of crowd and traffic on Nrupathunga Road stands the Daly Memorial Hall ,seemingly unchanged by the passage of time. This July, the lime and mortar building will complete 100 years of its existence.

V Nagaraj, Secretary, Mythic Society, says, “We will hold some seminars, lectures and discussions as usual and also cultural programmes to mark the 100th year.”

History
The building is named after Hugh Daly, the British Resident of the Mysore state, who was also the Chief Commissioner of Coorg. Independent historian and researcher Arun Prasad says, “He played a significant role in drafting and signing of the Treaty of Mysore in 1913 which gave equal status to the Mysore state as the British. Also, he played a vital role in negotiating sharing of Cauvery water with the Madras Presidency.”

How it came into being
The last quarter of 19th Century and early 20th Century witnessed a rise in the intellectual and literary class in Karnataka, especially Bengaluru, says Arun Prasad.

Central College was founded in 1858. Many printing presses were established during the period. The Mysore State also had many newspapers that started then. Institutions such as Arya Samaj, Bhrahma Samaj and Theosophical Society also opened their branches in Bengaluru. “During this self-realisation period, the literary people worked on understanding India’s past and its culture,” says Prasad. “It also saw the Golden Age of Princely Mysore with developments on all front including education, infrastructure and industries.”

F J Richard, Collector of Bangalore Cantonment under the Madras Presidency, mooted the idea of starting an association. The first meeting of the mythic society took place at his residence on May 5, 1909. “The object was to hold discussions, seminars and lectures on subjects such as history, Indology, mythology and archaeology,” says Prasad.


An official of the society says that it started functioning informally in 1906 or 1907 but was officially registered in 1909. The foundation stone for the Daly Memorial Hall was laid in 1916. Arun Prasad says, “The construction was completed in 11 months at a cost of Rs 25,000. It was inaugurated by Kantirava Narasimharaja Wodeyar on July 25, 1917.”

Managing Committee 
Members and Famous Visitors
It started with 17 members in 1909 and by the end of the first year, it had 174 members. Dr Morris W Travers was the first president of the society. Arun Prasad says, “Rev A M Tabard was also served as the president of the society for a long time.” He was the president from 1910 to 1926. Nobel Laureate Dr CV Raman, also a former president of the society, had delivered a lecture on gems.

Many eminent personalities have visited the Mythic Society such as Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore. Nagaraj says, “Mahatma Gandhi had also visited the Society before the non-cooperation movement and delivered a lecture.” 

Arun Prasad adds, “He delivered a lecture to a group of scholars on the issue of untouchability in 1927 and also took their assistance for tracing historical records on the same subject.” 

Rabindranath Tagore came in 1919 and delivered a lecture on the folk religions of India.
Ismail Mirza and M Visvesvaraya, the dewans of Mysore, were also the patrons of the Society.

Hoysala Dynasty Insignia
The emblem of the Hoysala dynasty has been adopted by the Mythic Society as its logo. V Nagaraj says, “Sala, a youth, killed a tiger with a dagger to save his guru. The insignia depicts the fight between the tiger and Sala, Hoy means Strike and hence the name, Hoysala. Since, the dynasty ruled majority of Karnataka and also other states, their insignia was adopted as the logo.”

The Library
The library at the Mythic Society has about 40,000 books on subjects such as history, literaure, religion, philosophy and culture. It was housed in the Daly Memorial Hall but was later shifted to another building behind it in 1980s. 

According to a Mythic Society’s quarterly journal, A Century of Mythic Society, the society built its own library to help the research scholars. It was started with a donation of a huge collection of books from Rev Tabard himself. 

Sir Hugh Daly also took a great interest in developing the library and it was at his insistence that various presidency governments added the Mythic Society on their mailing list.

The books are available in Kannada, English and Sanskrit with separate sections. 
TN Srinivas, the librarian says, “On an average, 10 to 15 people come every day. The library is open for all from 10 am to 5 pm. There is no membership fee to use the library resources.” 

Nagaraj adds, “Several eminent historians and scholars were associated with the society. It ranks among the pioneering institutions such as the Royal Asiatic Society of Calcutta and Royal Society of London. Earlier, they were like sister organisations. If you are a member of any one of them, you become of all three. After Independence, we have not been associated with Royal Society of London. Our library houses many rare books. People from across the globe still enquire for some references or consultations.”

Dr N G Pavanje Art Gallery
The Mythic Society also houses an art gallery, dedicated to renowned artist Dr N G Pavanje. The gallery contains his paintings and the items he used, donated by his daughter Anasuya Pavanje in March 2011.

Indology Course
Affiliated to Tumkur University, it used to offer a PG diploma course in Indology until 2007. Due to the mandatory rule of the university that there should be at least 15 students in a batch, it was discontinued.

Architecture
Arun Prasad says, “Built in stone, lime and mortar, it is constructed in the European classical style architecture. It has a high roof structure with an extended entrance porch. At the entrance, there are also three high-arched doorways with the pediment windows on the sides.” 
It was renovated in 2009 but the old architectural elements have been retained.

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