BENGALURU: On the Palace Road stands the Balabrooie Guest House which is more than 150 years old. The state-government owned building now serves as a guest house to the visiting dihgnitaries.
The bungalow stands on a 14-acre plot admist serene surroundings in High Grounds, a literal derivative of its topography, which is “higher” than the surrounding cantonment area. Balabrooie was the private residence of Mark Cubbon, the longest-serving Commissioner of Mysore state.
History
Historian and Researcher Arun Prasad says, “It is one of the two European classical structures built in the 1850s. The other is Manikyavelu Mansion which now houses the National Gallery of Modern Art. The gardens in the bungalow have century-old trees.”
The land on which the bungalow stands changed several hands. Prasad adds, “It once belonged to Reverend John Garrett, who was an educationist and the first principal of the Central School, then it was converted into the Central College. and Agha Ali Asker owned the land later.”
Syeda Mirza says that the Balabrooie was built by her husband’s ancestor Agha Ali Askar (who was Syeda’s husband’s great grandfather). The name has two origins. It originated from the Farsi word, Balaberagi, meaning ‘may you rise higher’. Farsi was the native language of Agha Ali Asker. Also, the name Balabrooie comes from The Manxian dialect of the Isle of Man, where Mark Cubbon came from.
According to Syeda Mirza, Agha Ali Askar came from Iran with a string of 200 horses in 1824 when he heard about the new British establishment in Bengaluru which was in need of horses. She says, “Mark Cubbon was the resident of Mysuru then. Cubbon and Agha Ali Askar shared same interests, particularly equestarian sports. They became friends. Mark Cubbon felt a need of 100 bungalows in the city. He wanted Agha Ali Askar to build those bungalows and offered free land in return, which Askar refused and bought the land instead. In the mid-1800s, the bungalows came up on Cunnigham Road, Cubbon Road, Sankey Road, Race Course Road, Palace Road, High Grounds, Infantry Road, Agha Ali Askar Road, Agha Abbas Ali Road and in Richmond Town.”
Architecture
The bungalows were built in similar style. All were mostly one-storey houses with a portico in front leading to a verandah. The bunglows had a large central hall and a large hall behind that with two or more bedrooms on the sides of the central hall. They also had stables and servants rooms behind the kitchen. The bungalows had high ceilings with Burma teak rafters and tiled roofs with moneky tops on the windows and verandahs. The floors were laid with Italian tiles.
Syeda adds, “Agha Ali Askar entertained his guests regularly at (Balabrooie) bungalow.”
Arun Prasad explains, “Later, the palace was sold to Chamaraja Wadiyar, during the Rendition of Mysore (in 1881), after which it served as the residence of high-profile officials of the state till the Independence in 1947. After that, it came under the state government and they converted the bungalow to a guest house.”
House to VVIPs
The bungalow has housed several notable personalities including Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and India’s only literature Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. A plaque near Room No. 5 of the bunglow reads, “Rabindranath Tagore stayed here in 1919”.
Cultural documentarian Aliyeh Rizvi writes in her blog that Rabindranath Tagore completed his work Yogayog (1929) and the well-known Shesher Kabita (1928) when he was staying here.
The latter work, on the doomed love story between an Oxford-educated barrister and a governess, was first read out at Balabrooie to the eminent founder of the Indian Statistical Institute, Prof Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobois and his wife, by Gurudev (as Tagore was known).
Aliyeh writes, “I would like to imagine them sitting there in the morning, listening to the love story of Amit Ray under those magnificent rain trees in the garden. If this doesn’t make Balabrooie’s preservation critical to city history, then I don’t know what does.”
In the first decade of the 1900s, this was the residence of some of the chief judges of the court in Bengaluru.
Meera Iyer, co-founder of Intach, says, “Later, in the second decade of the 1900s onwards, it was converted into the residence of the Dewan of Mysore. Sir M Visvesvaraya stayed here at that time, as did Sir Albion Banerjee.”
Save Balabrooie
In 2014, the state government decided to demolish a part of the bungalow to build a club house for legislators. Citizens were quick to protest.
Sharath S R from BPAC, who was part of the protest, says, “The bungalow is one of the oldest structures in the city. We should celebrate the culture and heritage of the city by protecting the structures.” After people objected, the government gave an assurance that the building would not be demolished or re-constructed.
Mansoor Ali from Bengaluru by Foot says, “It’s a beautiful colonial-style building located in sylvan greens. The government can convert it into a club without either cutting down the trees or demolishing it.”
Architect Naresh Narasimhan says, “The heritage structure can be adapted for public use as a museum and cultural centre. Balabrooie Guest House could become a museum – perhaps dedicated to Sir M Visvesvaraya, who used it as his office when he was the Dewan.”
The bungalow is not on Archaelogical Survey of India’s heritage-building lists.
An employee at the guest house, says that the bunglow was renovated about 20 years ago. He says, “There are about seven rooms in the bungalow. Only the interiors of the rooms were modified. The building itself remains intact.”
Balabrooie Bungalow
The bungalow has a huge central hall which leads to a large dining hall with a long table that can seat about 14 people. The dining hall has a sleek modern addition which stands out -- an LED TV. The kitchen is at the other end of the bungalow.
Rabindranath Tagore’s Room
Room No 5, in which Rabindranath Tagore stayed in 1919, though modified, retains an old-world charm. One room leads to another, reminiscent of the enfilade architecture. The squared hall now has an LED TV and a pair of couches. As you take left, you enter the bedroom which has a queen-size bed and a couch. When you take a left again from the bedroom, you enter a walk-in closet and on your right is a bathroom.
