BENGALURU: Stones tell stories, and it’s in them where a man’s heart rests. The man, who earlier ferried people on a bus around Bengaluru, has now dedicated his life to uncover the forgotten legends of the city, by searching through its historical stones. K Dhanapal’s turn in this journey began 17 years ago.
In 2006, Dhanapal, a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus driver, was transferred to its sightseeing wing -- now popularly called ‘Bengaluru Darshini’. He was tasked with taking a tourist bus covering different locations around the city.
“One day, when I was taking some tourists around Sankey Tank in Malleswaram, one of them asked, ‘Why is it called ‘Sankey’?’ I was speechless and felt ashamed of not knowing the history around us. That was the trigger. I began to delve deeper into the lake’s history and learnt that it is named after engineer Richard Hieram Sankey. Accordingly, I developed interest in history, and today, I know the past of almost every place in Bengaluru,” says Dhanapal.
So much was his love for history that Dhanapal began devoting time after his daily shift at BMTC, exploring Bengaluru’s heritage. He claims to have found over 100 stone inscriptions belonging to different time periods with the help of his friend and guide Prof KR Narasimhan. With the thirst to explore more, Dhanapal enrolled into the evening college at Kannada Sahitya Parishat and earned a diploma in epigraphy in 2020. Retiring from BMTC three months ago, he now spends his entire time exploring Bengaluru.
Hero stone finds
Among several stones that lay hidden within Bengaluru are the ‘hero stones’ or ‘Veeragallu’. Dhanapal has discovered a few of them.
During a recent exploration, he claims to have found a Veeragallu at Nagaruru village, Dasanapura Hobli on the city’s outskirts. The stone has an inscription in Kannada and Sindhi, belonging to the Rashtrakuta period. He says it dates back to 967 CE and depicts the heroic act of a man saving cows at the cost of his life.
“While I was exploring the northern parts of Bengaluru, I found a (7-ft-long and 4-ft-wide) Veeragallu. A 30-line inscription on it, in Kannada and Sindhi, reads that the hero saved the ‘Turugalu’ (a large number of animals) of the territory (Kukkanadu), belonging to Krishna III of the Rashtrakuta dynasty,” he says.
“In the past, animals like cows were considered valuable and were closely guarded. The stone depicts the brave fight put up by the hero against those who had come to steal the cows. The hero is depicted fighting the opponents using bow and arrows. We can see four cows behind the hero,” Dhanapal explains, adding that in the act of preventing the cows from being taken away, the hero receives three arrows in his chest, stomach and legs, indicating that he died a brave death and was welcomed by angels.
Dhanapal says the inscription mentions that to compensate for the sacrifice of the hero, his family was given a piece of land.
Dhanapal has also found stones where heroes were seen waging wars to protect women. “In such inscriptions, we see carvings of women standing behind the hero,” he says.
“In one of my latest explorations, I found a 10th-century stone inscription of a man sacrificing his life for the prosperity of his king. The stone was lying in front of a house in Halasuru. Only after I read the inscription and decoded it that the locals understood its value. There are many such stones and history around us, which we have to explore, document and conserve,” he says.
Dhanapal’s journeys around Bengaluru have revealed to him a fundamental lesson: “No matter how advanced we get, preservation of heritage buildings, sites, objects and structures is crucial, as they connect us with times, places and events, and maintain continuity from our past to our present. We all can learn where we have arrived from and where we are today.”
RETRACING ‘BENGALURU’
Bengaluru was founded by Kempe Gowda I, who built a mud fort here in 1537 CE. But the oldest inscription (a Veeragallu) in present-day Bengaluru is the Hebbal-Kittayya inscription of the Ganga period (750 CE). The stone pays tribute to Kittayya, who was martyred defending his land during the reign of King Sripurusha. However, the first mention of the name ‘Bengaluru’ is from a Halegannada inscription dated 9th century CE, mentioning ‘Bengaluru Kadana’ (Battle of Bengaluru). The inscription, found near Begur, reveals that the district was part of the Ganga Kingdom and was known as ‘Bengaval-oru’ (the City of Guards in Halegannada). Meanwhile, several findings and legends exist, each claiming to be eponymous to the city’s name.