Spotlight on the past, eye on the future

Heritage

S Narayanaswamy chronicles the history of Bangalore’s Minto Eye Hospital. The Hospital had its beginnings in a tiny clinic in Chikpet, then functioned out of a small lodge in Lalbagh before it became the large facility that it is now.

Among the states of British-ruled India, the princely state of Mysore has always been at the forefront – adopting innovations in education, health and communication. The Mysore University, Akashvani (All India Radio), Victoria, Vani Vilas and Minto Hospitals, and the Lalbagh Government Botanical garden are some of them.

Among the hospitals, the Minto Hospital had its beginnings in Lalbagh during the start of the 20th century.

It had a chequered and scintillating history as its present location is the third in its passage through time.

The present-day Minto Hospital  appears to have undergone a metamorphosis as no comparison can be made of the present artistic and elegant building with the small dingy room in Chikpet or the small cottage in Lalbagh – which no longer exists.

The Minto Hospital has had a century of meaningful existence. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was a small dispensary called Bangalore Eye Hospital; started on November 9, 1896 in a small building located in crowded Chikpet.

Dr S V Ramaswamy Iyengar was the first medical officer of the hospital. While on the first day, only nine patients were treated, a century later, more than 900 patients are treated in the hospital every day.

There was a gradual rise in the number of patients and this exodus led to inconvenience and discomfort both to the patients as well as the staff due to the narrowness of the lane and small rooms. It had both outpatient and inpatient departments. The government thought of shifting the outpatient department to ease the congestion and so by the end of 1896, the outpatient department was shifted to the verandah of the Lalbagh lodge on Hosur road.

The Lalbagh lodge, was a small cottage situated in Lalbagh, facing Hosur road (present Dr M H Marigowda road). It was one of the government buildings under the control of the Deputy Commissioner of Bangalore district and was maintained by the Chief Engineer. It was in Lalbagh but was not under its administrative control.
It was a building of some significance. Many government officers sought to rent it. The first tenant was Vijaya Raghavendra Rao, Secretary to the Revenue Department, who lived there for three years, from 1894 to 1896, paying a rent of Rs 30 per month.

Lodge to hospital

After he vacated it by the end of 1896, there were many rental applications from other government officers. But the government declined their requests and decided to utilise it for public and government purposes.

It was at this time that the outpatient department of the hospital was shifted to the verandah of the vacant Lalbagh lodge.

Later, in the year 1898, when a plague outbreak caused havoc in Bangalore, the city hospital (later known as Victoria hospital) was shifted to the main hall and rooms of the Lalbagh lodge. Being an isolated location, it proved ideal for the treatment of plague infected patients.

For more than a year, the city hospital operated with 16 beds; when Victoria hospital was constructed in the 1900s, it was shifted there. Meanwhile the outpatient department continued to operate in the verandah of the Lalbagh lodge. 
As working at Chikpet had become impractical, the inpatient department was also shifted to Lalbagh lodge in 1900.

The daily outpatient attendance rose to 35 by 1903. The number of surgeries also kept increasing. Consequently, the strength of staff also swelled with one surgeon, one superintendent, one compounder and seven ward attendants.

During these years, the hospital provided great service to Bangaloreans in particular as well as people of other states. For almost 13 years, the Lalbagh lodge served as a serene location with its salubrious climate for the eye hospital. For a while, the government was of a mind to permanently keep the eye hospital at Lalbagh lodge as funds were scarce for construction of a new building at other locations.

Ambitious proposal

In fact, in the year 1908, the foundation for the construction of an operation theater was laid in the compound of Lalbagh lodge. But due to the intervention of the superintendent of the hospital, Ramaswamy Iyengar, the construction was stalled. He prepared an ambitious proposal to construct a magnificent building for the hospital. After deferring the proposal for a year, the government approved in 1910. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on December 17, 1910 by Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the Maharaja of Mysore.

The construction of this granite building continued for two years. It contained wards, testing rooms, operation theatres, office rooms, etc. The cost of construction was Rs 2,82,000 and was finished by the end of 1912. It was one of the most elegant buildings in the State. By that time the hospital had gained popularity as the most specialised eye hospital in India.

The hospital was formally inaugurated on January 31, 1913 by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar. The government named the hospital ‘Minto Eye Hospital’ in the honour of Lord Minto, the Viceroy of India.

What was a small government eye infirmary at the beginning of the 20th century, is now an internationally acclaimed, specialised hospital offering free medical help to lakhs of people. It is popularly called ‘Minto Opthalmic Institute’.
It owes its popularity to Lalbagh – the state botanical garden, where a visitor could feast on the colours of varied blooms from 1,800 plant species.