<p>For about 150 years, the Chaturveda Siddantha Sabha School on Kamaraj road, functioned as an educational institution — first as a coed school and later as a tuition centre. In 2013, it was shut down and had been lying unused for close to a decade.</p>.<p>The once-dilapidated property has now been converted into an exhibition space and a performance venue. It was in 2019 that Raghu Tenkayala was roped in to bring this large space back to life. Though the property is owned by the RBANM’s Educational Charities, it was adopted by the family trust of V Ravichandar, chief facilitator of BLR Hubba, and his wife Hema. Raghu is an associate of Ravichandar.</p>.<p>“I believe public spaces need to come alive in Bengaluru. It is the most underfunded area. Health, education and poverty take most of the funding and rightly so. As a family, we decided, if we are doing some funding, we will focus on public spaces,” Ravichandar said, adding that they will run it for a 15-year period as an arts and crafts space.</p>.<p>The property comprises two buildings — one with a Madras terrace and another with a pitched roof. “The former has a set of central columns running the length of the building,” said Bijoy Ramachandran, the architect who was tasked with restoring the building. He was talking to a group of design enthusiasts who had assembled at the restored building, christened Sabha. It was a drizzly Monday morning and Ramachandran was leading a guided walk-through of the property as part of BLR Hubba’s The Maker’s Trail.</p>.<p>The pitched roof building on the other side of the courtyard was in a greater state of disrepair. The roof was damaged in multiple places. Ramachandran knew they had to “replace a major part of the roof”. All the girders and windows were also replaced.</p>.<p>Parts of the older building were pulled out and reused for other purposes. For instance, the stone pilasters used to support the columns in one of the buildings are now part of the flooring in the open courtyard. The Madras terrace building now has Kota tiles, while the other has granite flooring. The original Kadappa flooring was pulled out and reused in the corridors.</p>.<p><strong>Kids in focus</strong></p>.<p>Ravichandar plans to use the funds and surplus income from the exhibition and performance rentals to focus on arts and crafts for six to 18-year-olds. “I think that age group needs something beyond academics that is not just athletics. We will tie up with organisations that have curriculum and pedagogy for arts and crafts for specially curated events. Underprivileged children will be able to access the events free of cost,” he shared.</p>
<p>For about 150 years, the Chaturveda Siddantha Sabha School on Kamaraj road, functioned as an educational institution — first as a coed school and later as a tuition centre. In 2013, it was shut down and had been lying unused for close to a decade.</p>.<p>The once-dilapidated property has now been converted into an exhibition space and a performance venue. It was in 2019 that Raghu Tenkayala was roped in to bring this large space back to life. Though the property is owned by the RBANM’s Educational Charities, it was adopted by the family trust of V Ravichandar, chief facilitator of BLR Hubba, and his wife Hema. Raghu is an associate of Ravichandar.</p>.<p>“I believe public spaces need to come alive in Bengaluru. It is the most underfunded area. Health, education and poverty take most of the funding and rightly so. As a family, we decided, if we are doing some funding, we will focus on public spaces,” Ravichandar said, adding that they will run it for a 15-year period as an arts and crafts space.</p>.<p>The property comprises two buildings — one with a Madras terrace and another with a pitched roof. “The former has a set of central columns running the length of the building,” said Bijoy Ramachandran, the architect who was tasked with restoring the building. He was talking to a group of design enthusiasts who had assembled at the restored building, christened Sabha. It was a drizzly Monday morning and Ramachandran was leading a guided walk-through of the property as part of BLR Hubba’s The Maker’s Trail.</p>.<p>The pitched roof building on the other side of the courtyard was in a greater state of disrepair. The roof was damaged in multiple places. Ramachandran knew they had to “replace a major part of the roof”. All the girders and windows were also replaced.</p>.<p>Parts of the older building were pulled out and reused for other purposes. For instance, the stone pilasters used to support the columns in one of the buildings are now part of the flooring in the open courtyard. The Madras terrace building now has Kota tiles, while the other has granite flooring. The original Kadappa flooring was pulled out and reused in the corridors.</p>.<p><strong>Kids in focus</strong></p>.<p>Ravichandar plans to use the funds and surplus income from the exhibition and performance rentals to focus on arts and crafts for six to 18-year-olds. “I think that age group needs something beyond academics that is not just athletics. We will tie up with organisations that have curriculum and pedagogy for arts and crafts for specially curated events. Underprivileged children will be able to access the events free of cost,” he shared.</p>
