Thursday, January 26, 2012

History of Bangalore Roads

I always wanted to blog details on the history behind some roads and map the old to new name for the roads in Bangalore. Recently I was travelling from Lalbagh road towards Lalbagh west gate. The road name on the "bus stop" specified as 'Krumbigal road". That was the first time I happen to hear about that road name. Earlier I used to refer that road as From Lalbagh Road towards Lalbagh West gate. I never new the name of the road. I thought I start creating a blog on Bangalore history..to start with the Road Names and history behind that. Hoping this is useful for the old as well as New Generation(I preferred to call it as Gen Y).
Appreciate any comments on this.

Attimabbe Road: Starts at Devegouda Petrol Station(30th Main BSK II Stage) and goes through KIMS, Indira Nursing Home.  ATTIMABBE, DANACHINTAMANI.  Attimabbe is one of the most renowned women in ancient Karnataka.  Attimabbe lived in the second half of the tenth century and the first half of the eleventh century. Her ancestors belonged to Punganuru of Vengimandala which is presently located in Andhrapradesh.  


Krumbigal Road: Road from Lalbagh Road to Lalbagh West Gate. Gustav Herman Krumbigal was a noted botanist and before coming to Bangalore had helped in designing and laying out flower beds in London’s Hyde Park. The main architect for Brindavan Gardens park was G.H. Krumbigal, then Superintendent of Parks and Gardens of the Mysore Government.Krumbiegal Road is named after Gustav Hermann Krumbiegal, who was born in a town called Lohmen in Germany. Krumbiegel had an important role in giving our city its (erstwhile?) status of Garden City. After training as a horticulturist, he moved to England, where he worked at the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew. In 1908, Krumbiegel took over as superintendent of Lalbagh. Apart from setting up vigorous plant exchange programmes with gardens around the world and introducing several species to this botanical garden, Krumbiegel was also responsible for introducing serially blossoming street trees in Bangalore and for landscaping the gardens at the Bangalore Palace and MEG. Krumbiegel lived in Bangalore till he died in 1956.

Mahatma Gandhi(M.G) Road: OLD name: South Parade

Suranjandas Road - Left towards Vignana Nagar from Old Airport road. Group Captain Suranjan Das was one of the two pioneer test pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF).
More details about Suranjandas is available in: http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF/Personnel/Legends/314-Suranjan-Das.html


Nrupatunga Road: OLD NAME: Cenotaph Road, which led from Hudson Circle to KR Circle, was renamed Nrupathunga, after the Kannada poet. The Cenotaph that stood where Corporation Circle now stands was built in memory of English soldiers. This monument and its surrounding cemetery were demolished; a symbolic action against the English rule.

Alur Venkatarao(A.V) Road : OLD name: Albert Victor Road.

Chamarajpet First Main Road that was named Albert Victor Road in 1889 after the future King Edward VII of England was later shortened as A.V. Road.
In recent decades it was renamed it as Alur Venkatarao Road, after the well-known Kannada writer and protagonist of unification of Kannada-speaking areas. Again this was shortened as A.V. Road
Infantry Road became Bhagavan Mahaveer Road in 2004.
Lavelle Road : was named after Michael Lavelle, an Irish soldier who made his money in the Kolar Gold Fields.

Nittoor Srinivasa Rao Road: This road is from Nagasandra Circle to Madhavan parkNittur Srinivasa Rao (Kannadaನಿಟ್ಟೂರು ಶ್ರೀನಿವಾಸ ರಾವ್) (24 August 1903 – 12 August 2004)[1] was a Gandhian who participated in theIndian independence movement. He was the Chief Justice of the High Court of Mysore State (now Karnataka). More details are in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nittoor_Srinivasa_Rau


Manjappa Road: OLD NAME:Langford Road: was named after Col.Pierce Leslie Langford whose residence was located on that road once.Manjappa road is named after former Chief Minister of Karnataka.

Ali Asker Road: Ali Asker was the grand father of Dewan Mirza Ismail who imported horses from iran

Monotype Road(only referred, it is not a valid street name): 27th Cross, BSK II Stage(at Kanakapur Road and HunseMara Junction). There was a company named "Monotype" on this road earlier.

Mission Road: named after the London Missionary Society, which had been active in Bangalore from at least the 1820s. In 1841, a seminary was established here, which in later years served as the first home of the United Theological College(UTC).

Sankey Road: Another road that memorialises someone who contributed a lot to the city is Sankey Road, named after Colonel Richard Hieram Sankey, later Lieutenant General Sir Richard. Born in 1829, he came to India as in 1848. Thirteen years later, he came to Bangalore and Mysore, where he was appointed assistant to the chief engineer and three years later, chief engineer. Over the next thirteen years, when he was in charge of the public works department, he is also said to have improved old roads and improved new ones in the city. He also added an astonishing number of distinctive landmarks to our city: To him we owe the Attara Kacheri building, the Museum, Cubbon Park and Sankey Tank.

Cunningham Road – Cunningham Road is one of the busiest areas in Bangalore with malls and eateries cropping up every single day. The names of several roads in Bangalore have been derived from military nomenclature and similarly Cunningham Road was named after Francis Cunningham who was an officer in the Madras Army. Francis Cunningham was the son of the poet Allan Cunningham and the younger brother of Joseph Davey and Alexander Cunningham, who spent most of their working lives in India. He was a member of the Mysore Commission and Literary Editor. For a short while the area was called Sampangi Ramaswamy Temple Road.

Cubbon Road - Cubbon Road which runs along the stretch of Cubbon Park was recently closed due to the underground Metro work. However it was named after Lieutenant-General Sir Mark Cubbon who was a British army officer with the East India Company and later became the British Commissioner of Mysore state in 1834. Cubbon Park which is now is under the control of the Department of Horticulture has a history of over 100 years and was established in the year 1870.

St. Marks Road - St.Mark’s Road gets its name from the famous St.Mark’s Cathedral which is the oldest Anglican Church in Bangalore. The Church is now under the Governing Body of the Church of South India (CSI) and is named after St.Mark, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, who was believed to have been the first Gospel writer. The church was modeled along the lines of the 17th-century St Paul's Cathedral. However the new structure is known for its magnificent stained glass work.

F M Cariappa Road: OLD Name: Residency Road – Residency Road is a posh residential locality admired for its good houses and seemingly straight roads. In the earlier days the house of the British resident of Mysore was located on Residency Road and that’s how the name came to be. Around 1883, three new extensions were added to the Municipal area of the region - Richmond Town, followed by Benson Town and Cleveland Town – all named after British aristocrats.

D.V.G Road: It is in Gandhibazar. This extends from Nagasandra Circle to Gandhibazar main road. It is named after D.V.Gundappa(Popularly known as DVG as his full name is Devanahalli Venkataramanaiah Gundappa ). DVG was a prominent Kannada writer and a philosopher. He is renowned for Manku Thimmana Kagga, a collection of verses.

SJP Road

Avenue road was earlier known as Doddapete.

Pampa Mahakavi Road: OLD Name: Hardinge Road was the old name of Pampa Mahakavi Road.

Race Course Road became Devraj Urs Road

Grant Road became Vittal Mallya Road; In fact there are two 

Vittal Mallya Roads, the other one was earlier the bund of the Sampangi Tank where the Kanteerava Stadium came to be built.

Basaveshwara Main Road: OLD NAME:Milllers road

Kamaraja Road: OLD NAME:Cavalry Road

Kalinga Rao Road: OLD NAME:Mission Road

Rajaram Mohan Roy Road: OLD NAME: Sampangiramanagar Main Road

T.M.Naganna Road : OLD NAME: Cubbon Pet Main RoadSampige and Margosa Road



Sampige Road and Margosa road are the two main roads running through Malleswaram, one of the oldest areas of Bangalore. They derive their names from the flowery Sampige (Champak)and Margosa trees that once lined these roads; in actuality they are the 2nd and 3rd main roads of Malleswaram respectively. The busy roads are flanked by commercial establishments on either side, and end in the famous Indian Institute of Science.

Race Course Road

Another of the city’s landmark roads, it is so called because of the Race Course that runs across one side of the road. On the other, it has popular hotels like the Chalukya and West End, the famous educational institute Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and the Karnataka Electricity Board.
Meanee avenue road gets its name after the battle of Meeanee (Miani) where Charles Napier defeated a Baluchi army (1843)




NOTE: Some of the information is taken from http://www.ijanaagraha.org/content/story-streets

7 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. I need to know after whom is the H SIDDAIAH road named....Can you tell?

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  4. As the BBMP Commissioner’s deadline of 10 days to fill up potholes draws near, BBMP contractors have a found a quick fix — dumping building debris into potholes.

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  5. That's a great update regarding various roads in Bangalore. Very useful.
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