Where Gandhi was a guest: A bungalow in Honnali

On August 13, 1927, a frail man dressed in a simple cotton dhoti spent a few hours in Honnali, 45 km north of Shivamogga. Hundreds turned up to listen to his stirring speech. So moved were they, that they made a vow to give up liquor and abjure beef.

Mahatma Gandhi spent a few months in Bangalore that year, recovering from a bout of illness. In August, he set off on a tour around Karnataka. He reached Davangere on August 11, accompanied by C Rajagopalachari and Gangadhararao Deshpande.

The next day, he held public meetings in the town. On the 13th, he left for Harihar, where he addressed a gathering in front of the Harihareshwara temple. From there, he headed towards Shivamogga via Honnali. Gandhiji halted briefly at the Travellers’ Bungalow in Honnali.

Ranganath, who works with the Public Works Department, showed us around the bungalow. He brought out a painting of Gandhiji which bears the date of his visit and records the people’s vow. The painting is recent, indicating that the folk memory of the visit is still strong. 

The small Travellers’ Bungalow was built by the Mysore Public Works Department in 1862. Several others were also built at the same time, including those at Sakrebailu, Sagar, Madhugiri and Sakleshpur. It is likely they were built under the watchful eye of the Assistant Chief Engineer at the time, Major (later Lieutenant-General) Richard
H Sankey. Bengalureans will be familiar with that name, thanks to the tank he built in north Bengaluru which bears his name. 

Travellers in pre-colonial India relied on the chhatras and dharamshalas that most towns had for the use of pilgrims and others. When the British took over the administration, they built travellers’ bungalows, especially for the use of officials. It is no coincidence that many travellers’ bungalows came up near forests from where valuable timber was extracted.

Travellers’ bungalows were usually open to non-officials on payment of a small fee. They were also usually built in the best locales possible. Honnali’s bungalow is prettily sited on the banks of the Tungabhadra. No doubt, sahibs and mems of the Raj enjoyed their chai sitting here, watching the river rush by swiftly but silently.   

In the early 1900s, Sir M Visvesvaraya would have been charmed by the scene too. Ranganath informed me that in 1922, he had a bridge built across the Tungabhadra, a stone’s throw from the bungalow. Gandhiji would have crossed this same bridge on his way from Harihar to Honnali. 

The architecture

Like most travellers’ bungalows, Honnali’s bungalow is a functional building, devoid of ornamental flourishes. It is a non-symmetrical, single-storeyed structure with a sloping roof of Mangalore tiles. The entrance is through a spacious verandah framed by plain, round pillars. Inside is a large hall which is now used as a dining room. The two rooms for the use of travellers both open onto this hall. One of these rooms can also be accessed from the front verandah, and the other from the back verandah. 

Simple rectangular doors and windows let in light everywhere. Interestingly, the windows have double shutters. According to my colleague, conservation architect Pankaj Modi, double-shuttered windows are common throughout India but were most likely a European introduction.  

The bungalow’s rear facade mirrors the front with a large verandah overlooking the river. This verandah has now been grilled in and functions as a kitchen. 

A few months ago, the travellers’ bungalow underwent a minor transformation. The old bathrooms received a much-needed makeover. The building received a coat of cement plaster and paint. Some doors were changed. The original flooring was replaced with polished granite. 

Outside, some landscaping has unfortunately almost obscured the stone plaque which bears the bungalow’s year of construction. Almost contiguous with the front verandah, a large metal shed has been built that is used to park two-wheelers. The little heritage building is further hemmed in and dwarfed by a new building that is coming up next to it. 

But the building survives. There have been missteps, but the bungalow is being preserved. And as a result, it still tells the story of how a visionary engineer-statesman and the ‘Father of the Nation’ visited there. 

(Meera Iyer is a writer, independent researcher and the Convenor of INTACH Bengaluru Chapter.)

A painting of Gandhi displayed at the guesthouse. Photo by Aravind C

A view of Honnali bridge from the guesthouse. Photo by Aravind C