The erstwhile garden city’s pride, Cubbon Park which was neglected for a long time, is now getting a face lift. Thanks to Mahantesh Murugod, Deputy Director of Horticulture and incharge of Cubbon Park, many initiatives for its structural conservation will be taken up.
Speaking to City Express, he said, “Five statues were erected in this park 100 years ago : Queen Victoria Statue (1906), Seshadri Iyer statue (1913), King Edward VII (1919), Major General Sir Mark Cubbon and Chamrajendra Wodeyar (1927). Among them, Wodeyar’s right toes and shoes have been destroyed. Queen Victoria’s right hand’s fourth finger is missing. She holds a royal sceptre which is damaged while the bowl which she is holding in her left hand is misshapen. I was told by some of the workers who have been there for a long time that these statues have been in the same condition for the past 10 years. Therefore, I decided to get them repaired,” he explains.
Mahantesh presented his views before Yellappa Reddy, who is on the advisory committee for both Lalbagh and Cubbon park, who further advised him to get the work done in consultation with the members of Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath. “After I received the green signal, I met B L Shankar, D K Chowta and a few officials. They will be visiting the park next week to check the condition of the statues and submit a report,” said Mahantesh who also clarified that these statues will get a face lift without marring the original creation.
“We will also be referring to TP Issar’s book (The City Beautiful), which has the original photos of all the statues and get it repaired accordingly. This apart, a chemical cleaning will be done to give them a new look,” he added.
Further, the Cubbon Park authorities have decided to revive the huge garden but it may take sometime. “The government is planning to set up the Cubbon Park Development Authority and once that is formed, we will submit the various proposals planned for its revival to them,” said Mahantesh.