The story of Marathalli

Marathalli or Marathahalli is one of the many localities in Bangalore. A majority of the people and even residents of Marathalli say the name of their locality is from Maruti or Hanuman.

They say that there was a temple of Maruti in the locality and, hence, the name. Marathahalli is derived from the Sanskrit word “Maruti” meaning Lord Hanuman and  Halli meaning village in Kannada. Other people believe that a fighter aircraft called “Marut” crash landed at the place. Therefore, the area came to be called Marathalli.

Very few people know that Marathalli is one of the handful of places in and around the City that predate Bangalore or Bendakalooru. There is no doubt that several centuries ago, this  was a small village and the residents depended on forestry, agriculture and they also reared cattle and were into poultry farming.

However, agriculture was thee main source of profession of the residents of Marathalli.

Another legend about this place is that it was here that the Marathas settled down and this was during the reign of Tipu Sultan, the ruler of Mysore. With scores of Maratha families living here, it came to be called Maratha Halli which later came to be known as Marathalli.

A few other residents say Marathalli is named after St. Martha’s Hospital.

Whatever its origin, we now know that Marathalli is one of the oldest places in and around Bangalore. Historians and archaeologists say that the first mention of Marathalli as a settlement is in a written record belonging to the Vijayanagar Dynasty in 1508. However, there is proof to say that this locality existed even in the middle ages.

The Someshwara Temple of Marathalli and an inscription on an Ashwatha Katte date the inhabitation of Marathalli to the eleventh century. This makes Marathalli much older than Bangalore or other towns in and around the Garden City.

A few decades ago, the Someshwara temple was the centre of the Marathalli village. But today, it stands away from the centre point of the locality. Historians date the Someshwara Temple to the Cholas and this was built sometime during the eleventh century.

The temple of Someshwara is a typical Chola structure. It is really interesting to note that it was from the time of the Cholas that the penchant for constructing Someshwara temples began and almost all such temples are in and around Bangalore.

(Another Someshwara Temple of the Cholas is in Ulsoor or Halasuru but this was substantially repaired and renovated by Kempe Gowda).   

The Someshwara Temple at Marathalli is as old as the Someshwara Temple at Agara in Sarjapur. Thus, we find many Someshwara Temples of the Chola era in Bangalore.

Coming back to Marathalli, historians discovered an old inscription on the Aswathakatte  or platform of a banyan tree.

The inscription belonged to the Vijayanagara kingdom and it is dated 1508. It mentions the reign of Viranarasimha Raya or Viranarasimha the third of Vijayanagara kingdom in 1508.

The inscription also mentions that Brahma, Saptarishis, Harihara and the god of Varanasi were among the witnesses of Viranarasimha's rule in the Vijayanagara kingdom.

Historians have mot been able to assign a reason for the inscription. The inscription only records the reign of a Tuluva King of Vijayanagar.

Viranarasimha was the brother of Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1529) and he followed the Vijayanagar Emperor, Narasa Nayaka, to the throne. Viranarasimha reigned for four years, between 1505 and 1509. Soon after he ascended the throne, he faced rebellion from several quarters, including the Ummattur chiefs.

According to folklore, Viranarasimha wanted his minister, Saluva Thimmarasu, to pluck the eyes of Krishna Deva Raya so that his con could ascend the Vijayanagar throne.  

We may surmise that Viranarasimha had the inscription put up as he wanted to exert his authority. Whatever the reason, we now know that Marathalli was part of the Vijayanagar kingdom.

The Vijayanagar inscription is in Telugu and this shows us that Kannada perhaps was not the mother tongue or language here, at least till six centuries ago.

The inscription testifies to the fact that Telugu was the language of the Vijayanagar court along with Kannada.

Today, the Someshwara Temple and the Telugu inscription are the only relics of yore. Today, the temple has been renovated and it bears little resemblance t the ancient structure that it was. As far as Marathalli goes, it is an important locality of Bangalore and even its residents have forgotten the local history of the area, caught up as they are in the throes of  modernization and the real estate boom.

Marathalli is home to several IT and BT companies and it is also the place where several companies known for branded apparels and furniture shops have their establishments. 

When the twin cities became one

Generally when two cities grow near each other or in close proximity with each other, they are labeled as twin cities. In India, one of the best known twin city is Hyderabad and Secundrabad in Andhra Pradesh. Both these cities have managed to retain their distinct identity and made a name for themselves.

In Karnataka, the cities of Gadag-Betagiri is among the most known. Both Hyderabad-Secundrabad and Gadag-Betagiri have retained their entity and distinctness. However, till 1947, Karnataka had one more twin city that was separated by a beautiful park and a huge body of water. If the older part of the city was ruled by a native prince, the newer part was controlled by the British.

Both the older city and the newer part had separate administrators and each had their own municipality and rules governing them. Each developed separately and till Independence they each retained their identity.

It was only after August 1947 that both the cities were merged and today both are an integral part of the bigger conglomerate of  Bangalore. The old city, till 1947, was called the Pettah or Pete area and the new British area was called the Cantonment.

Even today, the Cantonment retains vestiges of  British style of planning and architecture and the Pettah area the Indian style. Surprisingly, till the late 1920s, it was the British built Cantonment that had more population and also collected more revenue from levy of taxes on people than its Pettah neighbourhood.

The history of old Bangalore or the Petah goes back to several centuries and the discovery of Roman coins have proved that Bangalore was an important trading centre even during the Roman times. Inscriptions of the Nolambas (they ruled over large parts of Kolar and Bangalore), Gangas, Cholas and Hoysalas prove that Bangalore was a fairly well-populated city and it was also an important military centre during the middle ages.

It was, however, Kempe Gowda or Hiriya Kempe Gowda (1510-1569), who gave a push to Bangalore and made it politically significant.  His descendent, Kempe Gowda, the third, had to surrender Bangalore to the Adil Shahis in 1637 and retire to Magadi.

Bangalore from 1637 to 1686 remained under the Adil Shahis of Bijapur. During that time, the Adil Shah granted Bangalore as a Jagir to Shahaji, the father of Shivaji. In 1687, the Mughals under Quasim Khan captured Bangalore and then sold it for Rs. 3 lakhs to Chikadevaraja Wodeyar.

The Marathas once again captured Bangalore in the mid 1700s. Their claim to Bangalore lay on the fact that Bangalore along with Kolar, Doddaballapur, Chikaballapur, Hoskote and Kanakagiri was part of  Shahaji’s jagir. Hyder wrested Bangalore from the Maratahs and his son Tipu held it till his death in Srirangapatna on May 4, 1799.

After Tipu’s death, Bangalore initially was held by the British. The British restored the Mysore throne to the Wodeyars and established their Residency in Mysore city itself. They later shifted the Residency to Bangalore in 1804. The Residency was abolished in 1843 and revived in 1881. It survived till 1947.

The British planned a Cantonment to house their troops in Bangalore and construction of this township started in 1806. The Cantonment was planned away from the Pettah area and the British compelled the Wodeyar King to hand over the vast area covering the present Ulsoor to them. It was divided from the Pettah by Cubbon Park and Sampangiramanagar tank.  

In just a few years, both the Pettah and Cantonment began developing in contrasting styles and soon they became among the first twin cities in Karnataka.

The Cantonment had broad and clean streets and footpaths and huge bungalows. The military were housed in barracks surrounded by rolling lands. The British introduced gardens to the city by surrounding their houses and offices with flowers and fruit trees. The localities came to be well laid out and beautifully designed.

In sharp contrast, the Pettah area continued to be “dingy, dark and ugly.” The roads were narrow and winding. The houses were small. Sanitation was almost absent. The drains were narrow and mostly clogged. Since the Pettah was under the control of the Wodeyars, all decisions could be taken only in Mysore. The decision making process thus was delayed unlike the Cantonment which enjoyed a free hand.

The old Bangalore had more temples and more historic structures than the Cantonment. On its part, the Cantonment had more churches and educational institutions.  If the Pettah was the epitome of a typical Indian city, the Cantonment had an European flavour.

While drinking water to Bangalore was from several lakes and  tanks like Dharmambudhi and Sampangi initially and Hesaraghatta and Thippagondanhalli reservoir in the later period, water to Bangalore Cantonment was mainly supplied from Ulsoor, Millers tank, Sankey tank and Shoolay tank.

When Bangalore was under the Wodeyar rule for 68 years from 1690 to 1758, it was governed by administrators known as Parupathegars. There were 26 such administrators who governed Bangalore.

In 1758, Immadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar, the second, gifted Bangalore as a Jagir to his able Commander Hyder Ali. Under Hyder and Tipu, the Kannada speaking Parupathegars were replaced by Muslim Amildars.

When Bangalore came back to the Wodeyar fold again in 1799, it came to be ruled directly by them. Thus, the history of the two cities began unfolding in distinct ways. It was on March 27, 1862 that Cantonment got its municipality. It was called Bangalore City Municipality (BCM).  This municipality was set up under the provisions of the Improvement of Towns Act of 1850. The first nine members of the municipal board comprised Indian officials, non-officials and British officials.

A few years later, the pettah too got its municipality. The two bodies were legalised in 1881, but both continued to function independent of each other. In 1882, the system of election was introduced to induct non-official members in the municipality. The same year saw the introduction for the time property tax on houses and business establishment.

The British also conferred the right on property tax payers to become eligible to elect non-official members to the board of each of the two civic bodies. It was only in 1920 that the British agreed on the idea of electing a president.

Thus the president was the same for both the municipal boards and this system was in force till 1949, after which the two boards were legally merged to form the Corporation of the City of Bangalore, Now it is the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.

Dr. J.H.Orr was the first to head both the Bangalore and Cantonment municipal bodies.

When a census was conducted in 1891, the population of Cantonment outstripped that of Bangalore, As per this census, Bangalore had a populace of  80,285. Of this, 67,388 were Hindus and Jains, 10,472 Muslims and 2,425 were Christians. In  contrast, the Cantonment’s population was 1,00,081. Here, the Hindus including Jains numbered 58,251, Muslims 23,892 and Christians numbered 17,902. Of the Christians, 4,985 were classified as Europeans, 2,649 Eurasians and the rest Indian Christians.

However, till the mid 1920s Cantonment outstripped Bangalore in both population and collection of taxes, particularly octroi. Till 1923, the area of Cantonment exceeded that of Bangalore and it was only in later years that Bangalore expanded rapidly.  

The following table shows the comparative population of both the municipal bodies.  

Year	Population of Bangalore Pete	Population of Bangalore Cantonment
1901	69,447	83,599
1911	88,651	1,00834
1921	1,18,556	1,18,940
1931	1,72,357	1,34,113
1941	2,48,331	1,58,655
1951	5,00,786	2,78,191

So we see that Bangalore Pete began developing only from the mid 1920s and since then there has been no looking back. Today, Bangalore is the fifth largest municipality in India and it was only  Independence that brought both the entities together.    

The battleground that was Bangalore

Bangalore is one of the few cities in India that has never seen a war in over 250 years. The last time cannons boomed, swordsmen hacked at each other and bayonets used was in the final Anglo-Mysore war of 1799.

The British troops had overcome Mysore and several other towns before proceeding to Srirangapatna where Tipu died on May 4, 1799, defending his island capital. Since then, Bangalore has never seen any major battle.

This really appears rather strange as Bangalore was coveted by almost all dynasties and kingdoms right from the time of the Cholas.

The Cholas, who were basically a Tamilian dynasty, wrested Bangalore from the Western Gangas (350AD-1000AD) first and other local rulers before they were forced to ceded it sometime in the 12th century to the Hoysalas.

However, the name Bangalore is believed to have much earlier history than the advent of the Hoysalas. The earliest reference to the name of Bangalore is in a ninth century Ganga inscription, on a hero-stone (viragal) in Begur village, about 14 kms south west of Bangalore.

The inscription clearly mentions the name Bengaluru, and it also refers to a battle that was fought at that place. Historian Rao Bahadur R Narasimhachar, in his Mysore Archaeological Report,  (1914-15) dates the inscription to the 9th century A. D.

The Ganga rulers, Vishnugopa (410-430) and Madhava III Tandangala (430-469) and their eastern territories comprised modern Bangalore, Kolar and Tumkur districts. Bangalore then was known as  Benga-val-oru, or the City of Guards as it is known in Hale Kannada or old Kannada.

After the fall of the Chalukyas, the Rashtrakutas managed to subjugate the Gangas who had they had their provincial capital at Manne. Later, the Ganga Emperor Shripurusha (728-788) made Manne or Manyapura, today a small village in Bangalore district which even today has a few temples belonging to the period, as his capital.

Subsequently, Bangalore fell to the Rashtrakutras. When Indra IV (973–982 CE), the last Rashtrakuta Emperor committed Sallekhana or death by starvartion, Bangalore automatically came to the Gangas.  

In 1024 C.E, the Cholas captured Bangalore. Today, little evidence can be seen of this period except for a few temples in and around Bangalore. One such temple is that of Chokkanatha or Chokka Perumal Temple in Domlur, Bangalore. Located just off the Old Airport Roar, it was commissioned by the Cholas.

A small village in south Bangalore and another village in Ananthapur district in Andhra Pradesh bear the Chola name but the residents today mainly comprise natives.

In 1117 C.E, the Hoysala king Veera Ballala II defeated the Cholas in the battle of Talakad which lead to the downfall of the Chola empire and the Hoysalas gained Bangalore.

With the death of  Veera Ballala III (1291–1343), the Hoysalas disappeared from history and left the scene for the Vijayanagars to rue over large parts of  Karnataka, including Bangalore, Tamil Nadu  and Andhra Pradesh.    

Kempe Gowda I (1510–1570), who is fondly regarded as founder of modern Bengaluru was a feudatory of the Vijayanagars. He took the permission of the Vijayanagar Emperor, Achuta Deva Raya, to build a mud fort in 1537.

Kempe Gowda and his descendents ruled over Bangalore and surrounding areas till they were defeated by the mighty Adilshahis in 1638.

The Adil Shahis were led among others by Shahaji, the father of Chatrapathi Shivaji and the redoubtable Ranadulla Khan. However, during the siege of Bangalore, Shivaji's elder brother Shambaji was killed by Shahaji’s rivals, led by the Ghorpade of Mudhol, for which Shivaji was to later exact revenge.

Bangalore remained under the Bijapur Kingdom till 1686. It soon became the southern military headquarters of the Adil Shahis who appointed Shahaji as Governor.

Though Shahaji had little time for administration, he made Marathi one of the languages of the area and very soon Bangalore became the centre for Marathi and Marathi also became the official language displacing Kannada.

The Adil Shahis established a garrison in Bangalore and also set up training camps, military bases and  ammunition dumps. Shahaji soon appointed natives of Maharastra as officers and Pandits in his palace and office.

Shahaji had a palace enclosed within high walls in the petes. Maharashtrian officials soon occupied all major posts in the Adil Shahi durbar in Bangalore.

After Shahaji's death in 1664, his second wife’s son, Venkoji or Ekoji, became the Governor of Bangalore.  

It then fell to the Mughals who extinguished the house of the Adil Shahis under Emperor Aurangzeb in September 1687.

After conquering Bijapur, the Mughals under Khasim Khan, marched to Sira and then arrived in Bangalore, which was then being ruled by Shivaji's brother Vyankoji Bhonsale or Ekoji as a Jagir of Bijapur.

However, Vyankoji or Ekoji had no stomach for a fight. He failed to resolve problems of Bangalore. In 1675, he left to Thanjavur and settled there never to return to Bangalore. When Shivaji heard of this, he forced his half-brother to arrive at a compromise and cede part of Bangalore and surrounding areas to him. He marched into south Karnataka in 1677 and occupied his father's Jahagir, keeping to himself Kolar, Chikkaballapur, and Doddaballapur. He, however, gifted Bangalore as Choli-Bangdi (pin money) to Ekoji's wife, Deepabai.  

Once an agreement was reached on sharing of the revenue of his father’s Jagir (Bangalore), Shivaji chivalrously went back. Shivaji died in 1680 and the Mughals began pressing hard in the Deccan to defeat the Marathas.

Ekoji then tried to sell off Bangalore to Chikkadevaraya Wodeyar, for Rs. 3 lakh. Unfortunately for him, before the sale  materialised,  Sambaji's army from Ginji and Aurangazeb’s army from Golconda, marched towards Bangalore. The Mughal Commander, Khasim Khan, marched faster and captured Bangalore in 1687.

Thus, the Mughals occupied Bangalore. They held Bangalore for three years before leasing it to the Wodeyar King Chikkadevaraja in 1689.

The Mughals gave up Bangalore but formed a new province in 1687 A.D., with Sira as its capital. The new province composed of

of Basvapatna, Budihal, Sira, Penugonda, Doddaballapur, Hoskote and Kolar. The Mughals made the states of Harpanahalli, Kondarpi, Anegundi, Bednur, Chitradurga and Mysore as tributary states.

Bangalore remained under the Wodeyars till 1759, when its Commander-in-Chief, Hyder Ali, assumed de facto powers of the Mysore Kingdom. Most of the Mysore Kingdom, including Bangalore, came under the sphere of influence of Hyder.   

During the reign of Hyder and his son, Tipu, Bangalore saw a few battles but none as ferocious as the one on the third Anglo-Mysore 1791.

Hyder realised the importance of Bangalore militarily and he kept a fairly big army. He repulsed several attacks by the British on Bangalore, particularly, in 1768. The then British Colonel Nicholson of the British Army was forced to lift his siege of Bangalore.

The commander of the British forces, Lord Cornwallis, had to face the valorous and fearless fort or Quila Commander of Bangalore, Bahadur Khan, who gave a stiff fight to the British on March 21,  1791.

The scene of the battle was the area surrounding the Ulsoor Gate police station and Siddi Katte (City Market). The Madras Sappers played s vital role in breaching the fort.

This was the last major battle in Bangalore as Tipu demolished most of the fort after 1791 and the present fort was all that was standing during the final Anglo-Mysore war. Since then, Bangalore has become the permanent home of this regiment.

After this war, there was no other in Bangalore and its vicinity. The only other war like events that Bangalore faced was during the two world wars but that is a matter for another post. So till then, Good bye.

History of Bangalore's stone age

We have all dated Bangalore as a new city and gave credit to the Hoysala Emperor for  the founding of  Bangalore and also for calling it Bandakaluru or the City of boiled beans.

Till recently, this theory about the origin of Bangalore held water. It is only in the last few years that this theory is being shredded as historians and archaeologist have found that Bangalore is a much earlier city than many of its neighbours.

What is more remarkable is that the archaeological remains and artifacts that have been discovered have pushed bank Bangalore’s antiquity to the Stone Age.

What is more amazing is that there is sufficient historical and archaeological evidence that points out to Bangalore’s close link to the Roman and other ancient Empires, showing the trade between these places. Such a trade link could not have been possible had not any settlement or town been in existence.

Till recently, the first mention of Bangalore was in records from the Ganga era as a small hamlet. Though this mention is in the form of a stone tablet in a temple in Begur, the location of this Bangalore coincides with modern Halebengaluru near Kodigehalli. This area is not all that far away from Hebbal.  

A local legend states that Kempe Gowda built his new capital town in about 1537 AD after taking permission from his Vijayanagar overlords. This was so as Bangalore was a part of the Vijayanagar empire and Kempe Gowda was only a local chieftain.

This new town came up in the vicinity of Ulsoor Gate police station and City Market. Kempe Gowda called it Bengaluru as his mother and wife belonged to the older hamlet of Hala Bengaluru which in Kannada means Old Bangalore.

It had always been believed that the story of  Bangalore began with Kempe Gowda. This is not exactly true now, though there is no argument about the fact that Kempe Gowda did found the modern city of Bangalore and was responsible for many of its development.

Some time ago, Stone Age weapons belonging to 2000 to 1000 B.C., have been found near Jalahalli, Siddapura and Gavipura in Bangalore. This has pushed back the date of  Bangalore’s origin to the Stone Age.

By the way, Jalahalli is very near Kodigehalli and it is in the forests here that the Hoysala emperor Balalla lost himself and was fed a cup of boiled beans by an old woman living in a hamlet.

Coming back to the Stone Ag implements, it was the Directorate of Census Operations which discovered that Bangalore had human habitation as early as 4,000 B.C (Middle Stone Age).

The officials of the Directorate discovered stone implements to back their claim in the localities of  Jalahalli, Sudasandra, Siddhapura, and Jadigenahalli belonging to this period.

Besides, burial sites dating back to 1,000 B.C (Iron Age) were discovered at Koramangala and Chikkajala on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Coins of the Roman Emperors, Augustus, Tyberious and Claudius were found at Yeshwanthpur and HAL. These finds are indicative of a trade between Rome and Bangalore. The earliest Roman coin found in Bangalore can be dated to 27 B.C.

Now how did a transoceanic contact emerge between Rome and Bangalore is a subject matter of further research. It is for archaeologists to probe the issue further and settle permanently Bangalore’s timeline.

Unfortunately, even Bangalore’s growth under the Gangas and Cholas is not properly recorded. How many of us now that when the Cholas overran the Ganga kingdom, south Bangalore was a major part of the Chola province and it was called Nikarilacholamandala. This was sometime in 1024 AD.

Several major battles were fought in and around Bangalore and Yelehanka. Not much importance has been given to them. A deeper study of these events would throw up more light on Hale Bangaluru.

An ancient grove of the Cholas

There are scores of  monuments and places of religious and  historical interest in and around Bangalore. Some of them are of heritage value such as the old fort of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan near City Market in Bangalore, the Tipu Sultan palace and  the fort at Devanahalli to name a few.

But do you really think that the heritage of a place is only restricted to buildings. It also applies to other things such as parks and gardens. Of course, I am not for a moment talking about the magnificent Lalbagh here but another garden that is much more older and much more farther from Bangalore.

The trees in this garden were planted by the Chloas when they ruled over this part of Karnataka. This was sometime in the 10^th century and early part of the eleventh century when the Cholas were one of the most powerful dynasties to rule over south India. This was the time when the Gangas were ruling over Talakad, Chalukyas over Badami and surrounding areas, Hoysalas over Belur, Halebidu and south Karnataka.

The Rashtrakutas too were at war with the Cholas and they had on several occasions been joined by the Gangas in battling Cholas.  Bangalore and surrounding areas were part of the Chola Empire and this was more of a forest than the city that we know of now as Bangalore.

Since much of the area was forested and the soil very fertile, the Cholas planted a grove that has withstood the vagaries of Nature and is still standing today.

This is the tamarind grove of Nallur near Devanahalli, which today boasts of  having the international airport located around its periphery.

Botanists believe that this was Devara Laadu or sacred grove where nobody was allowed to cut trees. Hence, the grove has stood the test of time and today it has several trees which go back to centuries.

Nallur is about 40 kilometres from Bangalore and it is near to Devanahalli. The tamarind grove here is set on a fairly large extent of land. There is a beautiful but ruined temple of Chennekeshava within the grove.

The small village of Nallur is nearby but nothing much remains of the once provincial capital of the Cholas. Once a prosperous trading town, there is nothing left of  the Chola presence except the grove and a few ruined temples.

Many of the trees in the grove are 1000 years or more in age. Some of the trees are believed to have been planted during the period of  Rajendra Chola I.

Though the Chola dynasty vanished, the trees they planted here have weathered storms, changes in climate, changing political equations and even urbanization to survive.

In all, there are 397 trees and each of them have survived centuries and each has its own tale to tell. The grove is in a 30 acre land and it is now under the care of the Forest Department.

Over the centuries,  the trunks have withered and twisted themselves into different shapes. Some of them have again gone back to the earth and deeply embedded themselves again. This kind of roots or trunks growing downwards and boring into the earth is generally unknown for a Tamarind tree. It is the job of the Ficus tree to develop prop roost and sucker roots for that is what they are and not a Tamarind tree.

Another unexplainable phenomenon is that new roots have sprung up from dead roots. One tree with a large trunk was struck by lightning 70 years ago and it split into two. Over the years, villagers made a path between the two halves. Both halves have now become independent trees and bear fruit too.

Another rare case is of a trunk root from which shoots have sprung up and they have become fruit-bearing trees. They are not independent but have sprung up from the mother tree. No wonder, these rare spectacles has botanists scratching their head for a suitable answer.

The Tamarind fruit is an unusual red here. This yet again is nothing short of a miracle. A tree planted centuries ago again bearing fruit. The Chennakeshava Temple tells us that there was worship in ancient times during mornings. Krishna was perhaps the main deity. At nights, the tamarind trees played hosts to ghosts and demons perhaps and this could be the reason for their longevity.

The grove has been declared as a Biodiversity Heritage site by the Karnataka Biodiversity Board in 2007.

Do you want to know  the age of the youngest tree. Eight four years. And the oldest : nearly 1,000. This is truly astounding as botanists generally say that a life span of a tamarind tree is 400 to 500 years and not more.   

Apart from the trees, the grove is also home to several species of birds. A few years ago, more than one hundred species were recorded. More than 20 species of butterflies too were recorded, including southern birdwing, common Cerulean, Tip Crimson, Grass jewel and Danald Eggfly.  

The word Tamarind is derived from the Latin word Tamarindus. The Persian name for this tree, which is widely prevalent in tropical countries, is Tamar-i-Hind meaning Indian Date.

By the way, Dakar is the capital of  the African nation of Senegal. Dakar, locally means tamarind.

The leaves are eaten by musicians  to improve their voices. There is a tamarind tree adjacent to the Brindavana of  Raghuttama Theertha (this is so as Krishna loved this tree) and it is also depicted on the tomb of  Tansen in Gwalior.

Nallur is in Devanahalli taluk. It is on the road from Devanahalli to Sulibele. Nandi Hills is just across Nallur. So the next time you plan a visit to the Hills, do not forget the cool shade of the Tamarind tree

The Chennakeshava Temple tells us that there was worship in ancient times during mornings. Krishna was perhaps the main deity. At nights, the tamarind trees played hosts to ghosts and demons perhaps and this could be the reason for their longevity.

The grove has been declared as a Biodiversity Heritage site by the Karnataka Biodiversity Board in 2007.

Do you want to know the age of the youngest tree. Eight four years. And the oldest : nearly 1,000. This is truly astounding as tamarind trees are known to have a life cycle of 400 to 500 years.