BENGALURU: If you are a fan of the city’s old world charm, here’s some good news for you. H V Nanjundiah Bungalow, located in Malleswaram, will soon be restored to its original condition. The 106-year-old structure was earlier the residence of H V Nanjundaiah, founder and first vice chancellor of Mysore Univeristy. The bungalow was donated by him to the state government, where it served as an educational institution. In Novemeber 2020, Esthetique Architect, a heritage conservative firm headed by Yashaswini Sharma, took it up for restoration. “We have finished 20 per cent of the restoration. We plan to transform the structure into a museum to exhibit the stalwarts of Malleswaram like CV Raman and Venkata Ranga Iyengar, who has connections to the erstwhile Mysore royals,” says Sharma.
Interestingly, the German Consulate in Bengaluru has shown an interest in the project and delegates from the consulate undertook a ‘heritage drive’ on Monday. Consul General Achim Burkart told CE, “Renovating such an old house is worthwhile. The youth has to know their heritage. I am sure this will be a place of getting together and learning about history.” The heritage drive was also attended by the Deputy Consul-General Karl Philipp Ehlerding, Deputy CM of Karnataka Dr Ashwath Narayan, and scion of erstwhile Mysore Yaduveer Wadiyar.
While restoration has been undertaken by Esthetique Architect, the adaptive and reuse work is done in collaboration with City Labs, a collective urban planner. QR codes will be setup in the bungalow to guide visitors to landmark places of Malleswaram. The bungalow houses 33 rooms with different floorings ranging from redoxides to athanagudi tiles. Molding, electrical wiring, and other maintenance work is under progress.
After visiting the bungalow, the group continued their tour and visited Janata Bazaar in Gandhinagar, and the directorate building and accounts office at Lalbagh Botanical Garden, which was constructed by German botanist Krumbeigel. According to Sharma, the members of the Consulate wanted to explore the shared heritage the city shares with Germany. “We are hoping that this restoration drive and awareness about heritage buildings could lead to a future collaboration with the German consulate in Bengaluru,” she says, adding, “A part of the funds for the restoration work has already been disbursed by the Karnataka government. We have now submitted the proposal to the BBMP for the adaptive and reuse work for the bungalow.”