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| National Gallery of Modern Art bldg., Bangalore google.com |
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| National Gallery of Modern Art bldg., Bangalore deccanherald.com |
Above image; The building was known as Manikyavelu mansion.
National Gallery of Modern Art, a popular place in Bangalore has been here since its inception in 2009. It was opened with a view to showcasing modern Indian art - modern and contemporary arts. It houses paintings by a large number of modern and contemporary artists, besides a good collection of paintings about 500 including Raja Ravi Varma, Jamini Roy, Amrita Sher-Gil, Rabindranath Tagore and others. Apart, it serves as a venue for lectures on art and culture and organizes workshops related to arts. With art reference library, auditorium, cafeteria, sculpture garden and museum shop, (NGMA) is a cultural hub of this city. are other highlights of the structure.
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| window topped by pediment.shutterstock.com |
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| Dentil cornice in a UK home. ukhomeinteriors.co.uk |
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| dentilled cornices Manikyavelu mansion, Bangalore citizenmatters.in |
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| National Gallery of Modern Art bldg., Bangalore oursquare.com |
National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), functioning in a fine heritage building on Palace Road was built by a merchant named Haji Sir Ismail Sait. Named Ismailia’ it was a two-story brick and mud-plastered building in the midst of greenery. The imposing colonnaded porch and verandah, dentilled cornices for better look, parapet near roofing and pedimented windows are meant to enhance the look of the building. Such features were common in the colonial building prior to 1900. In the early 1900 the royal Wadiyar family bought many bungalows near the Bangalore palace including this one and the other one -,Melville House on the same road. In 1917 the building underwent some minor changes and a decade later Raja Manikyavelu Mudaliar became the owner of this sprawling big mansion; hence the mansion is known as Manikyavelu Mansion. He was a successful businessman and mines owner and later owned silk and wollen mills in 1820s. After his death in 1939, his heirs had to pay hefty tax (estate duty) and in 1964 the state government acquired the building. In 1970 Housing board was in charge of the house. After 1980, the building was not used and maintained. Because of over growth of vegetation, wild grass. plants, etc there were cracks in the building that weakened the structure. Wall plastering started pealing off and wooden rafters in some places fell down. The 19th century building owned by different owners in the past and had begun to lose primarily due to and negligence.
The 90 plus year old building once home to very rich people and royals was specifically chosen by the government to house the art gallery. It was repaired and restored in the early 2000s for reuse under the guidance of architect Naresh Narasmihan. The architect was particular about saving its aesthetics so he never touched the garden and made alterations. Nor did he remove the well-grown trees around the site.
What is special about the building is it is surrounded by lots of trees -sandalwood, banyan, etc and the campus covers roughly three-and-a-half acre of greenery where visitors can relax and take a brief respite in the cool shadows of the trees. There exist a harmony between the majestic old building and the rich art gallery inside. It is a fascinating art gallery according to many media reports and is worth a visit.
https://www.deccanherald.com/spectrum/ngma-once-home-to-royals-and-the-moneyed-elite-931692.html
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