Deputy Commissioner's office building:
 |
| the Deputy Commissioner's office a colonial building in Ballari.deccanherald.com |
 |
| 12i year old colonial building Bellary, KA.thehindu.com |
Above image: Just across the Bellary railway station, Bellary city in the state of Karnataka stands a 3-story colonial building that houses the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office. This typically exotic building is on the Mysuru-Bannur Double Road in Siddhartha nagar. Also function here the assistant commissioner’s office, and others. Made of thick walls the interior looks impressive with many symmetrical arches and also windows. This structure has wide corridors around the floors to keep the interiors cool and well-lit during days. With a dome at the center, the facade of the building has Indo-Saracenic design - a blend of European architecture with Indian elements. A new building complex (total built-up area: 23000 sq.m) on a plot of 15 acre of land came up at a cost of Rs. 85 crore and the DC office was supposed to shift there long ago. Until April 2020 the new building remained unoccupied by the DC office and it continued to function in this building which is more than 121 year old.................................
Across south India particularly, in cities like Chennai, Bangalore and Mysore (Mysuru) there are many historic colonial buildings built by the British government or by the rulers or business people or patrons of the British rule. On the district level also many colonial structures came up to house the district collectorate, police departments, revenue departments, etc.
The region including Bellary was ruled by various dynasties including Pallavas, Badami, Vijayanagara, Hoysalas and Cholas. After the fall of Vijayanagara, it came under the Bellary Nayak, a vassal of the Bijapur Sultanate. Marathas, Moguls and the Nizam of Hyderabad had a grip on this region for some time. The latter ceded a large part of the Deccan including Bellary to the East India Company after the fall of Tipu in 1799. The British ruled this part of India for more than 147 long years. During their reign many colonial buildings came up. Bruce Pete police station, on Old Bengaluru Road, built in memory of a collector, Millerpete, named after another collector, DC bungalow on Annathapura road, Judge's bungalow on Taluru road, old court building, Jails, etc are some of the vestiges of early colonial rule.
Soon after Bellary became part of the Madras Presidency, Sir Thomas Monroe, (27 May 1761 – 6 July 1827), a popular Scottish soldier and colonial administrator was the first collector of Bellary district in 1800. From here he made the historic visit to the Ragavendra Mutt at Mantralaya regarding Mutt properties and spoke to the great seer (in the Samadhi) through intense prayer. Upon clarification from him, he convinced EIC about the legality of the Mutt lands, etc.
Alipore Jail, Bellary:
 |
| Bellary: Alipur jail, Karnataka. deccanherald.com |
Above Image: Alipore Jail, Bellary: In 1884 during the tenure of Collector Sir Thomas Monroe, the maximum security Ballari Jail or the Central Prison (called Alipur jails) came up. Once part of Madras Presidency, it has a large military cantonment (built in 1866) with big ammunition storage facilities (next only to Madras), etc; the reason is this place was the center of peninsular india. A part of the cantonment's infantry barracks was converted into a military jail, called the Alipore jail which had 14 blocks. It was initially built to lock up POWS of WWI (prisoners of war) from Turkey Denmark and France. It is the only jail in the sub-continent that was closed by the authorities after independence. Now the Vijayanagara Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS) is functioning there and the barracks of the soldiers have been converted into doctor’s residences. The ‘Swatantra Soudha’ has come up in place of the cells that once housed the freedom fighters.
.webp)
