The Bangalore bungalows
When talking of Bangalore these days, it is quite the fashion to shake one’s head and say “...utterly ruined. It used to be such a lovely place. Truly a pensioner’s paradise. A real garden city. With beautiful houses, carefully tended -gardens and such a gentle way of life. But now..”
Wait, wait just one moment. Did you know that in the old Cantonment area, there are still so many little streets where you can discover an era long since forgotten? Step off the main road and you can enter tree lined lanes with old world names like Alexander Street and Leonard Lane, Cunnigham Crescent and Resthouse Crescent. And there peep into yesteryear. Into those classical Bangalore Bungalows where time has stopped while the birds still chirp and monkeys chatter away in the peaceful gardens. And perhaps you may chance upon that particular gem so unique to Bangalore... The Monkey Top.
Ah, but long before the monkey top the soldiers arrived. When the British took Srirangapatnam in 1799 they had not bargained for the malaria in that low lying place. So, early in the 19th century they moved north to Bangalore. At 3000 feet the cooler, healthier climate of Bangalore seemed just what the British needed.
The soldiers occupied the area just east of the walled town of Bangalore. In the 16th century a local chieftain called Kempe Gowda had transformed this village into a bustling township. Now, leaving just a symbolic strip of open land to separate themselves from the old town, the British began to lay down their Cantonment.
The military areas came up first. Between and beyond them plenty of land was left vacant to allow for future growth. Soon merchants, contractors, barbers, labourers, dhobis, artisans and others moved to the Cantonment to make available their services. The growth of the Cantonment had begun.
In time the classical Bangalore Bungalows began to appear. Beyond the imposing gateway would stand the typical cream or white-washed structure. Smooth, heavy, rounded pillars supported a large flat-roofed portico. Behind it curved the verandah. The roof was flat or gently pitched at different levels. The balustrades that marked these levels, the fan lights over the windows and doors and the work at the corners of the building contributed to the restrained elegance of these ‘Classical Bungalows’
As these bungalows spread, Bangalore’s reputation as a ‘garden city’ was firmly entrenched. In addition long, wide, tree lined avenues crisscrossed the Cantonment while numerous parks, small and big alike appeared everywhere.
Towards the end of the 19th century however the restrained classical bungalows gave way to taller more romantic buildings. Buildings with steeply pitched roofs and a wealth of decorative details. These steeply pitched roofs of bright red-orange Mangalore tiles culminated in a row of intricate ridge tiles. The gables carried plaster motifs and, against the skyline, a number of decorative urns. Some balustrades looked like battlements while others were even more elaborate. The corners of the buildings appeared like towers with pitched roofs. And cast iron made its appearance everywhere—in the railings, the brackets and even the pillars.
The really distinctive trademark of the buildings of that period was the Monkey Top, a pointed hood over theof the hood consisted of a delicate looking screen of closely-spaced narrow vertical slats. The bottom of the screen was shaped into a deep artistic curve and marked by a row of small knobs. At the top was a delightful ornamental design of geometric figures set in a barge-board.
The wooden slats of the screen were painted green as a pretty contrast against the white or cream walls. The barge-board details at the top and the knobs at the bottom were painted white.
The Monkey Tops still keep out the sunlight and the rain but their purpose is as much decorative as functional. However, the most fascinating aspect of this gem is its name—The Monkey Top.
No one can really explain why this name came to be. Some old timers chuckle in delight and claim that it keeps the mischievous, ever present monkeys at bay. Others disagree sagely and say that it is because monkeys like to gather on the Monkey Tops in the early evening hours. Perhaps the name was coined because the Monkey Tops actually resemble the fringed pointed topis that performing monkeys wore in the old days.
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