M'luru builder buys heritage house for Rs 50 cr

Though concerned citizens and associations have tried their level best to retain the house of Deshabhakta Karnad Sadashiva Rao (K S Rao), the veteran freedom fighter who built the Congress in the state, their efforts went in vain and modern structure has replaced the heritage building, where K S Rao was born and brought up.

Now, it’s the turn of Shivabagh, the majestic bungalow, located at Shivabagh in Kadri. Incidentally, the area got its name because of the bungalow where eminent personalities and freedom fighters stayed once upon a time. While Mahathma Gandhiji is said to have visited this house, Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and others had stayed in this bungalow during their visits to Mangaluru. There is a stone inscription mounted on the wall of the house in Rabindranath Tagore’s memory and it is said that there is a portrait of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in the bungalow signed by Nehru himself.

According to the sources, the heritage bungalow situated on 2.4 acres of land has been sold to a well-known builder in city for over Rs 50 crore and it may not be surprising if some swanky apartment or commercial complex comes up on the spot.

150- year-old building

Going by the history, the bungalow was constructed by Deewan Bahadur Nyampalli Shiva Rao about 150 years ago. He served as the chairman of Mangaluru Municipality between 1891 and 1894. His wife Lalitha Bai was social reformer Kudmul Ranga Rao’s eldest daughter. The couple’s son Subba Rao had three sons-Krishna Rao (married to well-known social reformer and freedom fighter Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay,) Rama Rao (whose daughter Tara Rao successfully ran the Chandavarkar architect firm after her husband, renowned architect Narayan (Nanu) Chandavarkar, passed away) and the youngest Shiva Rao.

Shiva Rao’s son N Subban Shiva Rao is the present owner of the building, who is based in Bengaluru. However, a couple looks after the heritage house. While most of the rooms are locked, the couple stay in a portion of the bungalow. They don’t allow anybody inside the bungalow.

It may be mentioned that the Nayampalli family contributed greatly to erstwhile South Kanara in the fields of education, social reforms and improving the infrastructure of the district. According to Mangaluru Darshana (comprehensive information on Mangaluru published by district administration), any dignitary including the governor were staying in this bungalow during their visits.

Gandhiji’s grandson thrilled

Mahathma Gandhiji’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who was in the city three months ago (to release a book titled ‘On the Trail of Gandhiji’s Footsteps-Odyssey of Jathappa Rai’) was thrilled after visiting the Shivabagh bungalow (out of curiosity) and learnt that his grandfather had visited the very same bungalow about 100 years ago. “In fact, he was very much impressed,” said a person, who accompanied him on that day.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi, also the former Governor of West Bengal, had reportedly asked the authorities concerned in city to explore the possibility of preserving the heritage bungalow without causing any irritation or discomfort to the original owners.

It is also reliably learnt that the present owner N Subban Shiva Rao was reluctant to any such proposal, said to be due to his own impressions about the government machinery. “He wants privacy and wanted to deal with the bungalow as per his wishes,” said another person, who did not wish to be quoted.

When contacted, a prominent entrepreneur in the city said that he would be happy to involve himself in preserving the heritage of the Port City provided if anybody (including the government) comes forward to initiate the works.

Quite interestingly, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced construction of ‘Gandhi Bhavan’ at a cost of Rs 3 crore in each district (2016-17 budget) in the next two years to propagate the ideology of Gandhiji. The State Information department has been asked to implement the project.

Though the heritage structure has been sold for a whopping Rs 50 crore, retaining a small portion of the building in Gandhiji’s memory and utilising the available funds for the purpose would serve the dual purpose-saving the heritage structure and utilising the funds for the right cause. Whether it will be a reality is a million dollar question.

Perhaps, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, a diplomat himself, had rightly exclaimed after visiting the bungalow that he can’t help seeing the beauty decaying before his own eyes.