The first thing that connects us to people is the name. Once we have a name to identify someone with; a bond is forged, an acquaintance is formed. The same goes for places.Take for instance Bangalore. We grew up with childhood stories that called this city Bengaluru after ‘benda-kaal-uru’ the city of boiled beans. The legend is that ‘the Hoysala king Ballala named the location Bendakaluru in the 11th century when his hunger was satiated by the boiled beans offered to him by an old lady.’ Up until a few centuries ago, this was believed to be true. However, historians disproved the theory when they found an inscription dating back to 890 AD that refers to the city’s name as Bengaluru.VeergalsThis inscription was found on the premises of the Nagalingeshwara Temple in Begur, a village off Bangalore-Hosur highway, around 14 km from Bangalore. This 1000-year-old Shiva temple, also known as the Panchalingeshwara (for the 5 lingas it houses; each prayed for a specific purpose) was built during the Gangas rule, by an officer, Nagattara.When Nagattara died in a battle with the Nolambas near Tumkur district he was immortalised by a hero stone (Veer-gal). The stone is a tribute to the brave warrior and the inscription says the soldier died in the ‘battle of Bengaluru’. Now that throws the boiled beans story out the window. The stone is on display at the Government museum and there are more such stones, depicting war scenes and other war heroes on the temple premises.The present temple is an architectural mix of the Gangas and the Cholas. The 8th generation priest says that an inscription on the temple tower (Gopura) inspired Kempe Gowda to build his towers in a similar fashion. The rest of the architecture is simple. Along the outer walls are engraved moral lessons on how to forgo vices and embrace virtues.Unlike present-day temples which have the inscription of who paid for it to be built, the temples of yore celebrate real heroes and left behind life lessons for the next generation.The VillageAround 1000 years back, Begur was a prosperous village with fertile land which became a business centre over the years. It was surrounded by rich wildlife, the evidence of which is the neighbouring Bannerghatta National Park. It was an important administrative centre for the Cholas and the Gangas that grew under the Vijayanagar Empire, says Dr SK Aruni, Assitant Director, ICHR, Bangalore. As Bangalore came into existence, Begur took a backseat, remaining in its shadows waiting for historians to re-discover it.Other things of curiosityAround 1.5 km from the temple is a mud fort. No records exist on who built it. Dr Aruni says that the fort was probably built to protect the local king since the fort covers a small area and the village lives outside of it. The mud fort is interestingly built. It is 30ft thick and 20 ft wide, made of stone and mud; making it look bigger than it actually is.The idea was to intimidate the enemy.As with forts, there are temples inside, he says. An interesting observation he makes is that such forts are seen in North Karnataka. By looking at the temple and the fort structure he pins the time period to the 18th century. Not far from this fort is the idol of Jain Theerthankara in black stone, the head of which has been cut off.The idol indicates that the area was once a Jain settlement older than the Gangas, Dr Aruni says. The idol is now wedged between two houses, subjected to neglect. With the rapid development of Begur for its proximity to Electronic City, one can only hope that it won’t be razed to the ground to make way for houses.Coming back to Bangalore’s name, there is another theory to add to the confusion. After being called ‘benda-kaal-uru’ the ‘city of boiled beans’, the ‘Bengaval-uru’, the ‘City of Guards’; Aditi De, in her book Multiple City, a collection of writings on Bangalore quotes historian Suryanath Kamath: ‘The city more likely owes its name to benga, the Indian Keno tree that grew here abundantly.’ ‘What’s in the name?’ goes the Shakespearean cliche and Bangalore lovers couldn’t agree more.
Comments
0 comment