Cubbon Park Case Study

Cubbon Park

By 1881 AD, Bangalore had two nuclei: one a high-density area around the fort and its market (K.R. Market area) in pete and the second Blackpally (Russel Market area) within the colonial city. Both of these comprised the inner city of Bangalore with Cubbon Park acting as a large green buffer. Several suburbs were built at the turn of the century. By 1931 AD the CMS’s population was 134,113 and that of Bangalore was 308,000.

By 1812 AD the colonial city developed as a low density “Garden City”, with a parade ground, clubs, churches, bungalows, shops, markets, cinemas, and parks and other open spaces interspersed by water bodies. The colonial city had a strong European character, with public life and thus public space centred on

Sir Richard Sankey developed Cubbon Park in 1864. Cubbon Park served as a setting for Attara Kacheri (public offices which has been converted into the Karnataka State High Court) and later Vidhan Soudha (Legislative Assembly). Cubbon Park also had a bandstand where the military band played for the public. This tradition started with the celebration marking Queen Victoria’s 60 years of rule and went on till the 1960’s when an orchestra used to perform once a week. According to Maya Jayapal the bandstand in the 1940’s and 1950’s was a place to promenade – to see and be seen5. Today Cubbon Park occupies about 150 acres of land in the centre of the city and the Attara Kacheri (High Court), the Seshadri Iyer Memorial Hall (Central Library), the State Archaeological Museum and the Karnataka Government Insurance Department are housed there. It also has a children’s park with an amusement ground in a park setting. Next to this is the complex of buildings housing the city aquarium, Government Art Museum and the Visveswaraya Science Museum. Throughout the Cubbon Park are groves of shady trees and bamboo, turf, grass, flowering plants, creeks and ponds, promenades, seats and shady nooks for pleasure and rest, meadows, woods and lawns. It is a naturalistic garden and is heavily used on holidays. Cubbon Park today caters to peoples’ active and passive

Cubbon Park, which was usually used for rest and leisure, transformed into a political public space during rallies, likewise Mahatma Gandhi statue provides a symbolic backdrop to a demonstration. Mysore Bank Square, Banappa Park and Chick Lalbag used to be venues for protests and demonstrations.

Today the corporate sector dreams of turning Bangalore into a “city-state”. Also citizen groups have become more active over the years, as demonstrated by the protest to protect Cubbon Park in 1998. According to Janaki Nair the Cubbon Park protest illustrated the elites’ and middle class’ anger towards politicians and the erosion of “cantonment character”6. The Cubbon Park protest mobilized women and children in large numbers, unlike the male dominated caste and linguistic