Cubbon Park, Bangalore

The Cubbon Park in the heart of the Bangalore (State: Karnataka) city and it occupies around 250 acres of area. (Click on the images for bigger view)

The vast landscape of the Park was first visualized by Major General Richard Sankey, the then Chief Engineer of the Mysore State. In the year 1870 it was made reality by Sri John Meade, the then acting Commissioner of Mysore. Gradually it was developed and improved by adding new structures and features. In the year 1927, the park was officially renamed as "Sri. Chamarajendra Park" to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of Sri. Krishnaraja Wodeyar’s rule in Mysore State.

The park is also popular among the naturalists, who prefer studying the plants in their own environment. The park has variety of statues, heritage buildings, children park, aquarium, tennis court. It is the favorite area for the people who want to jog in the morning and exercise.

The park has a predominant green area with a few concrete buildings, housing government and other organizations' offices. The park has many motorable roads and well laid out walking paths running through the park.

Rich in plant wealth, many indigenous and exotic botanical species are found here. The park has about 68 genera and 96 species with a total of around 6000 plants or trees growing in its locale.

Indigenous species such as Artocarpus, Cassia fistula, Ficus, Polyalthias etc., and exotic species such as Araucaria, Bamboo, Castanospermum australe, Grevillea robusta, Milletia, Peltophorum Schinus molle, Swietenina mahagoni, Tabebuia sp. etc., can be seen. In addition, many ornamental and flowering trees both exotic and indigenous are found in the park.

The landscaping in the park creatively integrates natural rock out crops with thicket of trees, massive bamboos, with grassy expanse and flowerbeds and the monuments within its limits, regulated by the Horticulture Department of the Government of Karnataka.

bandstand

A bandstand, in an octagonal shape made with cast-iron, was built in the early part of the 1900s. Before India’s Independence, the British Royal Air Force used to play western band music at the band stand every Saturday evening.

lake in the park

The park also has a small lake and it is home for various variety of ducks. There is also a separate area in the park for birds.


Flowers of Park: 1

King Edward Statue, Bangalore

In the year the King Edward VII statue was built by public subscription, and installed at the North-Western point of the Cubbon Park, Bangalore.

Vittala Temple, Hampi

Hampi, is the cradle of Vijaynagar architecture as showcased by various monuments in the region. But,the Vittala Temple is the prime attraction among them. No words of explanation can do justice to the architectural extravaganza of this temple. The construction of the temple was initiated in 1513 AD by the Maharaja Krishnadevaraya. The work was later supported by its successors Achuta and Sadasiva till its destruction in 1565 AD. (Click on all the images for bigger picture)

Sculptures on the tower of gateways

The sprawling temple campus was built inside the high boundary walls with 3 gateway towers on the east, south and north. The eastern entrance is used for entry into the temple complex. Inside this campus there are many halls, pavilions and temples.

Stone chariot

In front of the main temple is the Stone Chariot. This has become a iconic monument in Hampi. Even though it is referred as monolithic, it is in fact built with many giant granite blocks. (Click on all the images for bigger picture)

Temple Maha Mandap

The Vittala Temple stands on a strong ornate stone basement that has been richly carved with designs of horses, elephants, dancing girls, floral motifs and soldiers. The temple can be entered through a series of steps flanged by elephant balustrades that leads to the Maha Mantapa. This contains four open halls within. While the central western hall has collapsed, the south, north and the east ones are still intact.

musical pillars

The main attraction of Maha-Mantapa is its superbly carved giant monolithic pillars. The outermost of the pillars have slender and short pilasters carved out of the giant pillars. They are known as musical pillars as they emit musical tones when tapped. The tapping on it is not permitted for the sake of preservation. (Click on all the images for bigger picture)

Sculpture on the pillar

The eastern hall is known as the musicians hall because of the sculptures of musicians on the pillars. The southern hall pillars are carved with mythical creatures called Yalis. The northern hall is surrounded with a series of pillars with the Narasimha themes. The ceilings of the halls are carved with lotus in the centre. The inner sanctum is devoid of any idol. (Click on all the images for bigger picture)

Pillared Hall in the temple campus

Even the other halls inside the campus are equally worth noticing. There is a 100-pillared hall at the southwest, the ceremonial marriage hall in the southeast. Even they have been richly carved.