Kempegowda

Bengaluru

On his birthday today, know whyis the most important descendant of Morasu VokkaluAugust of 2016 saw a key Karnataka Government Cabinet decision, approving the formation of the ‘Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Development Authority’, announced with a vision to ‘preserve and develop monuments and heritage buildings relating to the founder of, Kempegowda’.Several months later, in April 2017, the State Government announced (and cancelled) April 17 as the celebration date of Kempegowda Jayanti.The background to this was the intervention of Swamy Nirmalanandanatha, head of the Adichunchanagiri Math, following differences among scholars and historians about Kempegowda’s date of birth. (It is generally known that while there are a number of books on Kempegowda, there is no agreed stance among writers or historians, with the date being placed in April or June).A month later, in May, the State Government took the occasion of the first meeting of the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Development Authority, to revive the idea of Kempegowda Jayanti celebrations (announcing a new date of June 22), along with some elaboration of the near-and-far-term activities of the Authority to be housed in Mayo Hall, the same locale as the Kempegowda Exhibition Centre.Finally, on Saturday Jun 24, came an announcement from the Chief Minister himself that the State Government will, for the first time, celebrate the ‘Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Jayanti’ on June 27.As with any commemoration of a historical event that has almost no documented evidence to the specific fact, this too has not escaped speculation and opinion. While there have been some reports that the celebrations are a move to keep the Vokkaliga community in good stead, there are others that linger on about the exact date of choice. Rationally, a debatable point would also be the need for celebrating the ‘founder’s day’, of a particular city, across the entire State. There is of course the oft argued ‘motherhood’ question of who really founded Bengaluru, since the name (documented in more than one inscription) existed much before the reign of Kempegowda. And finally, given this significance to such a celebration, and the background of flip-flops with the date, which also saw the constitution of an official panel to research the exact birth date of Kempegowda, it behooves the Government to publicize the rationale in selecting the final date.Be all this as it may, if there is any city in the world that begs to have better historical identity marks than have been stamped on it to date, it is Bengaluru. It is of no small importance that the city, with a name history close to a millennium, and a founding history of about half that time period (arguably the oldest ‘named metropolis’ of India), aspires to have a “founder’s day”. To this point, the celebration, if sustained over the years, can help open the eyes of not only the average tourist, but also the general populace, to the history of the man after whom several infrastructural landmarks in the city are named: the central bus station, the international airport, and now a metro station.But who was Kempegowda? Why is he important to the Bengaluru of today? The latter question having some supportive thoughts in the previous paragraph and open for a broader summary, the former is something to elaborate from quotable sources — to set known anecdotes and lore into historical context.The Kempegowda in focus here is the most important descendant of the Morasu Vokkalu.Kempegowda I was also known as Hiriya “the elder”. The gazette notes of Rice and book writings of TV Annaswamy indicate that it was he who realized the strategic significance of the site of the future Bengaluru and applied to obtain permission of King Achyuta Deva Raya to shift his capital there from Yelahanka.Kempegowda I succeeded in building the fort and establishing the first form of a protected, named town, (as opposed to a locale that had although existed earlier serving many purposes such as trading post, temple location, transit zone etc.) As a token of appreciation for his zeal, King Achyuta Deva Raya granted him the twelve ‘hobli’s, namely namely old Bengaluru, Varthuru, Yelahanka, Beguru, Halasuru, Tengeri (Kengeri), Talagattapura, Jigani, Kanneli, Kumbalagodu, Banavara and Hesaraghatta.These together were estimated to earn a revenue of 30,000 pagodas, and were a good source of funds to progress the vision of Kempegowda, who used it to establish monuments and infrastructure of public interest in order to sustain and grow his newly founded capital. It was at this time that the Kote Venkataramanswamy temple in the Fort was built, and the Basaveshwara temple at Basavanagudi, and the Gavigangadhareswara temple in Gavipuram were built or enhanced. He is also credited with the construction of the Sampangi tank, the Kempambudhi and the Dharmambudhi tanks, continuing the natural inter-linking of water bodies in the zone, in an early form of sustainable water management.Perhaps embolded by royal appreciation and the rapid growth of commerce and populace in the new capital, Kempegowda’s ambitious side overtook him at a certain point. He is said to have established a ‘tankasale’ (mint) and issued coins called Virabhadra Varaha, bearing the image of Baire Deva. This usurpation of the prerogatives of royalty earned him the wrath of the Vijayanagara sovereigns, who summoned him to court and subsequently imprisoned him. His territory was sequestered and added to the hold of Chennapatnada Jayadevaraya. After remaining in confinement at Anegundi for five years, he obtained release and return of territorial possessions by the payment of a heavy fine.‘Hiriya’ Kempegowda’s son Kempegowda II, was also called ‘Immadi’ (the second). He succeeded and extended the territory westwards. He had inherited visionary expansion and planning skills from his father. TV Annaswamy credits him with construction of boundary towers in the four cardinal directions spreading out from the Bengaluru ‘Pettah’ or Fort area. In all senses, this strategic vision to create a city that can live on for the future, is the essential characteristic of someone to be accorded the title of ‘founder’, and while both father and son may be taken on opposite sides of the balance to weigh in for such fame, the title, fairly, has to be offered to Hiriya Kempegowda for that seminal decision (in 1537 as generally accepted), to move his capital to a new location and sustain it with a protective fort. Every city needs key anchors to the past, and historical identities to build and grow its character. Accepting a named founder for whom there are, fortunately, inscriptions from olden times to support inferences of rule and achievement would be a first step to a greater heritage awareness and ownership of the city by its citizens.