What really is Old Bengaluru?

History of Bengaluru for many starts with Kempegowda and there is no doubt Kempegowda clan (Yelahanka Nadaprabhus) played a major role in 16th century building of city of Bengaluru. But the history of Bengaluru goes way back in the time. It is also true that today’s central business district MG Road or the so called old Bangalore is more like a misnomer because to be precise the ones that we call new Bangalore like Sarjapur or Begur and others actually have archaeological evidence that goes back thousand’s of years. The British rule and all the changes in 20th Century that we regard as Old Bengaluru looks nothing but recent from that angle.

There are many inscriptions and Hero Stones in and around Bengaluru that have been recorded and found. Mythic Society founded in 1909 has been doing great work and here is an extraordinary  map published by them which showcases the antiquity ward wise

 

What is Veeragallu?

Veeragallu or Hero Stones are commemorative stones for common people who died for a noble causes. There are many kinds of Hero Stones and again Mythic society has a very good guide that you can look into . These are very important to as they talk about common people and have been there for years. The credit of recording all these hero stones and inscription goes to Benjamin Lewis Rice who has published Epigraphia Carnatica in 12 volumes between 1886 and 1904. He is called “Shasanapitamaha” translated into Father of Administration or ” Purathathva Pitamaha” translated into Father of Archaeology. 

There is a  map for Hero Stones which provides similar view like inscription map that you would have seen earlier

I came to know about Mythic Society’s work after getting into one of the rabbit holes like I generally get into, extent and quality of work has really struck me. 

Kaikondrahalli Hero Stone

Once I get to know some of this I could not stop myself to visit them. I met Udaya Sir who showed me bunch of things and he suggested me to go over and check out Kaikondrahalli Hero Stone just because I am in that area which is currently sandwiched between two buildings (Location). The good thing about it anyone can go and witness it. History lies everywhere and but it needs a little poking around. The good thing about this Hero Stone is that it has inscription  on it which was almost not visible now but again Mythic society as a part of their project “Bengaluru Inscriptions 3D Digital Conservation Project” have scanned it and also translated the inscription.

So lets dive into the details of this Hero Stone

 

Imagery

Here in the picture above one can see man with bow in one hand and a sword in another and multiple arrow piercing his body both from back and front. In front of him lies what looks to be a deceased man and on the side there is a bag on a pedestal. On the scene above the man seems to be on a stool with two apsaras on both side with chamara (hand fan).

The scene captured here can be interpreted as the the man shown here is in a battle protecting his city and he has killed a man in action. While he has shown bravery, he himself is pierced with many arrows and has died in the battlefield. After his death he has reached heaven where he is being taken care by the apsaras.

Inscription 

The inscription seen is here on the right is about 12 lines with 65 characters. This is written in Kanadda of that time and it sometimes called “Halegannada” which is no longer used by normal people. Here is what was published in Itihasa Darsana Volume 31

This inscription translation can be done as follows ” When Nagattara was ruling the country and Yereyamma Gaawunda (older word of now known caste Gowda, but probably meant village head) was head of Kannelli village Yereyanga Vadaraga died in the battle and his son Maarasinga Vadaraga in his memory installed the hero stone.

All other names are common people like you and me but Nagattara who was a Chieftain in Ganga Dynasty that is believed to have ruled these regions for more than 600 years from 350 AD to 999 AD. There are 10 other Hero Stones discovered that have Nagattara mentioned in their inscription.

Like the Begur inscription that was commissioned by Nagattara and talks about a battle of Bengaluru in 890AD. Nagattara’s mentions about his son Buttanapati and his adopted son Pervonasetti
were killed in the battle.

There is another Hero Stone that was installed for Nagattara himself. The stone talks about Battle of Tumbepadi fought between armies of Ganga dynasty and Rashtrakutas where Nagattara himself was killed and the Hero Stone was installed by Ereyappa Arasu, possibly a Ganga King.

Current State of Yereyanga Vadaraga Hero Stone

When I was talking to Udaya Sir, he told that there used to be a old lady who kept the area clean and did her Puja. Unfortunately she passed away few years back and now there is no one who takes care of the place. She was worth crores as she sold her farmland to a developer and today there is a apartment complex and she chose to stay in a kind of hut probably to take care of the Hero Stone herself. When I visited, there was a young man who saw me entering the place and asked me what I was upto and I thought atleast there is someone who is keeping an eye. When I talked to him, he remembered the lady who told him that they should take care of the Hero Stone. He did mention that they do some puja once in a while.

The good thing about it still the land owner has not encroached it completely and the place can be visited. There is definitely something more that can be done to remember heroes like Yereyanga Vadaraga who sacrificed their lives fighting for their land.

Today with all the development happening all over Bangalore, there are many of these Hero Stone almost lying in the rubble or garbage long forgotten by their own people.

Because of good work of Benjamin Lewis done hundreds of years back and Mythic Society who are preserving these by making their digital twins of almost all the inscription and hero stones we will never lose them now. Hope these continue to inspire generations to come.

  If anyone would like to to visit the place and having a difficulty let me know. There are things that I think can be done and if anyone wants to team up just reach out to me here and I will be glad to help.