These buildings will rock you

Karnataka is justly called the cradle of stone architecture with stone temples at Somnathpur, Belur and Halebid and the giant granite statues at Shravanabelagola, Karkala and Venur and other places.

Among several epithets, Bangalore is also called the ‘Stone City’, because of its rich stone resources, especially granite deposits. Stone implements dating back to the Middle Stone Age were discovered in the outskirts of Bangalore in places like Jalahalli, Siddapura and Jadigenahalli.

Peninsular Gneiss

The stone found here is known as Peninsular Gneiss, a geological term for a complex mixture of granite rocks extensively developed in peninsular India. The term was coined by Dr W F Smith of Mysore Geological Department in 1916. The Peninsular Gneiss is among the oldest rocks of the earth dating back 3000 million years. The antiquity of these rocks has attracted geologists all over the world and has given rise to erudite scientific papers on the evolution of the earth by the pioneers of the Mysore Geological Department, Geological Survey of India, and scholars.

St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral.

Every city has its own characteristic, particularly obvious by its buildings and structures made out of locally available materials. Bangalore had distinct architectural characteristics, visible a few decades ago. The rocky terrain of Bangalore and its surroundings, cheap labour and craftsmen specialised in stonework made stone popular as a building material. Besides, stone is also comparatively maintenance-free especially compared to some of the glass buildings of today.

Kannada Bhavan.

Many of its public buildings, places of worship, schools and colleges, factories and even residences, were constructed by using the locally available granite. This characteristic of Bangalore is being slowly erased with an increasing number of steel and glass buildings. The earliest stone structures in Bangalore which can still be seen today are the four watchtowers of Kempegowda and the remnants of the fort wall near city market.

Nimhans old building.

With the advent of the British in Bangalore, many of the public buildings in Bangalore were distinct and imposing structures of stone.

Many of the hospitals and dispensaries built nearly a hundred years ago were made of the grey stone — examples include Minto Eye Hospital, Victoria Hospital and Vani Vilas Hospital, all located in Chamarajpet, the original building of NIMHANS on Lalbagh Road. Many corporation dispensaries, some of which were set up by philanthropists in Bangalore are of stone — Corporation Maternity Hospital on JC Road, maternity hospitals in NR Colony, Sajjan Rao Circle, Guttahalli, Velu Mudaliar dispensary on Kamaraj Road, Annaswamy Mudaliar dispensary on MM Road, Frazer town, among many others in Bangalore.

Town Hall.

Stone all the way

Many of the older educational institutions in Bangalore are made of stone. In the cantonment area, there are several educational institutions — all stone structures. The St Joseph’s School and College, which is over a hundred years old, Renukacharya College of Commerce on Race Course Road, St Charles High School in St Thomas Town, Industrial Training Centre on Lalbagh Road, Kamalabai Girls High School, Connaught Road, off Queen’s Road, Theresa Convent in Briand Square and APS High School, are all stone structures. Many of the older Corporation schools such as the Telugu School in Shivaji Nagar, Urdu School on Mosque Road in Frazer Town, Girijamma Mukunda High School in Basavanagudi, Corporation Girls High School near Thimmaiah Road, have a stone structure and facade.

Oriental building.

Bangalore was once famous for textile mills and most of the factory buildings of these old textile mills were of stone like the Binny Mill building, Minerva Mills and Raja Mills.

Some of the older and well-known buildings of stone include Andrews Building and Bible Society building on M G Road, Kumara Krupa Guest House on Kumara Krupa Road, BRV Theatre on Cubbon Road, Oriental Building near Kumble Circle, housing the LIC office, Canara Mutual Fund building (later LIC building) on Residency Road, Accountant General’s office on Race Course Road, churches like St Francis Xavier Cathedral on St John’s Road, Seventh Day Adventist Church, Cunningham Road, St Stephen's Lutheran Church on Promenade Road, Frazer Town and St Joseph’s Church in Briand Square.

B R V Theatre.

Stone buildings continued to be erected even early decades after independence. The most prominent among these is, of course, the Vidhana Soudha, built during the mid-fifties. It is a stone structure, built almost entirely with the ‘Bangalore Granite’ excavated from the environs of Mallasandra and Hessaraghatta, selectively mixed with Magadi Porphyry, popularly known as Magadi Pink, and Turuvekere Black for enhancing the visual effect.

A prominent stone building conceived and established in 1973 is the Indian Institute of Management (IIMB) campus, located in 100 acres of sylvan surroundings in Bannerghatta. The portals of this hallowed centre of learning, in all-stone buildings, are encircled by verdant, lush woods alternating with undulating landscaped gardens. This provides a perfect setting for learning. Even in the mid-eighties, stone was a popular material for establishing imposing buildings. The GPO building that has grand entrance steps and imposing columns of classic design, was completed in the mid-eighties.

Exam Centre, Bangalore University.

Among the recent public buildings built in stone include the Bangalore Central Jail in Parappana Agrahara on the outskirts of Bangalore and the Kannada Bhavan adjacent to Ravindra Kalakshetra on J C Road.

Glass buildings may be popular in Bangalore today. But even the new millennium has seen the establishment of an imposing stone building — the Vikas Soudha, adjacent to the Vidhana Soudha.