Bengaluru's century-old Sanskrit college

The Karnataka Samskruta University at Pampa Mahakavi Road in Chamrajpet in Bengaluru. DH Photo/ B H Shivakumar

When the government recently announced plans to fund the Karnataka Samskrit University, it elicited some very strong reactions. The university, established in 2010, has been allotted land in Magadi. It currently functions from the campus of the Sri Chamarajendra Sanskrit College in Bengaluru. The Sanskrit College itself has an interesting history of functioning from some very unusual places before it settled in its current location in Chamrajapet.

Travel back in time to about 150 years ago and we find that in Bengaluru, Sanskrit was taught in a few temples like the Kote Venkataramanaswami temple and the Bhoganandisvara temple in Nandi village, for example. But for the most part, Sanskrit learning was an individual effort that happened in a few people’s homes.

That changed when the Vani Vidya Pathasala was established in 1884. This private institution received funds from several mathas around Karnataka and an annual grant from the Bengaluru city municipality. In 1894, the Mysore government took over this institution. It was renamed Sri Chamarajendra Sanskrit College, in memory of Chamaraja Wadiyar who ruled over Mysore State from 1881 to 1894.

The college was initially under the Muzrai Department and later moved to the Education Department.

Students who joined the college were given free education. But in its first few decades, only Hindu Brahmin boys were admitted. In the early 1900s, when some non-Brahmins and Jains were refused admission, Sir K P Puttanna Chetty, then a member of the City Council, voiced his frustration. Calling for a more liberal spirit and a change in the order of things, he said, “The sooner this unreasonable barrier is removed, the better for the cause of Sanskrit education.”

Beginning in the early 1920s, students were admitted irrespective of caste.

Unusual address

In its early days, the college had a rather unusual address. For more than 30 years, it was housed in an armoury built during Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan’s rule. The so-called Lower Arsenal was located near where the Vani Vilas Hospital stands now. Having been unused and neglected since about 1800, by the 1890s, it was in a ruinous condition.

The armoury, originally built to store weapons, was restored and suitably modified to accommodate the college. The dilapidated roof was strengthened. Old doors and windows were replaced. To give it the appearance of an educational institution rather than an armoury, some decorative touches were also added to the Arsenal. An additional building was constructed next to it to accommodate more classes. The well nearby, which had fallen dry, was revived by deepening it to 6 feet!

In 1931, when plans for constructing Vani Vilas Hospital were sanctioned, the Lower Arsenal was demolished and the Sanskrit college moved to Tipu’s Palace.

It was only in the mid-1930s that the stately building you see today on Pampa Mahakavi Road was built.

The area around the Fort showcases some wonderful public architecture executed by the Mysore government including three hospitals, Fort High School, Vani Vilas Institute and K R Market. The Sanskrit college is one of the last public buildings built in this area by the Maharaja’s government.

Together, these buildings demonstrate an evolution in the civic architecture of the Mysore State, the development of an aesthetic that was monumental and was influenced by European styles but was self-consciously different from them.

The two-storeyed Sanskrit college building is well set back from the road. The trees in the large garden provide generous shade and muffle the traffic noise, immediately putting you in a quieter frame of mind.

“The entrance to the building is through a central bay which is emphasised by projecting it out and having a large masonry dome on top, topped with a finial,” explains Pankaj Modi, conservation architect with INTACH. There are four miniature domes adjacent to it.

A long colonnade with square stone columns and stone railings on both the floors leads into the rooms which are arranged symmetrically on either side of the central bay. Each end of the building is once again defined with a smaller dome.

The The double-curved eaves on the first floor and also just below the central dome are styled very much like those found in temples of the Vijayanagar periods. Above the small central balcony, the earlier name of the institution can still be seen written in Devanagari script: Shri Chamarajendra Sanskrit Mahapathashala.

(The writer is the author of ‘Discovering Bengaluru’ and the Convenor of INTACH Bengaluru Chapter)