JOIN USRare paintings and photographs, depicting over 200 years of Lalbagh’s history, will be on display during the 10-day flower show which begins on Friday. The exhibition is part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the department of Horticulture.
An added attraction at the flower show will be a photo gallery of paintings dating back to the early 18th century till the present times. Some of the paintings, the ones collected by former additional director of Horticulture, Dr S V Hittalmani, and former senior assistant director, S Narayanaswamy, are as old as 220 years.
A painting by British artist R H Colebrooke is a panoramic view of Lalbagh, dating back to 1791. Another painting, by Colonel Hunter, dates back to 1805. Hunter had sided with the British East India Company against Tipu Sultan during the Anglo-Mysore wars. Photographs and paintings dating back to the era of Queen Victoria will also be displayed. “Such pictures will provide information about the early days of Lalbagh,” said Dr Hittalmani. Other photographs on display will be those depicting the visit of dignitaries to the Lalbagh. For instance, the visits of the then King of Nepal, King Birendra, the Shah of Iran, Sir Mirza Ismail, some rare occasions like transplantation of a whole tree, memories of Dr M H Marigowda, who is considered the father of horticulture in Karnataka.
“These pictures will be exhibited in two categories: ‘Mute memorials’ with sketches and photographs of colonial era, and ‘Golden era’ which will begin from 1963,” Hittalmani added. Some of the photographs collected here are available only at the Museum of London and in very few private collections.