Chamarajpet

Chamarajpet is one of the oldest planned residential and commercial localities in the city of Bangalore (Bengaluru), the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Located in the western part of the old city area, it lies adjacent to other historic neighbourhoods such as Chickpet, Basavanagudi and Gandhi Bazaar, and forms part of the traditional Kannada-speaking heart of Bangalore.

Etymology

The locality is named after Chamaraja Wodeyar X, the Maharaja of Mysore during whose reign the area was laid out as a planned extension of Bangalore in the late nineteenth century. The suffix pet (or pete) is a common term in southern Karnataka for a market town or commercial quarter.

Geography and layout

Chamarajpet is laid out in a grid pattern, divided into numbered main roads and cross roads, a planning style typical of late nineteenth-century extensions of Bangalore. It is bounded approximately by Mysore Road and the Kempegowda Bus Station area to the north, Chickpet and the K. R. Market precinct to the east, Basavanagudi to the south, and the Vijayanagar area to the west. Its proximity to the City Railway Station and the Kempegowda (Majestic) bus terminus makes it well connected to the rest of the city.

History

Chamarajpet was developed as one of the early planned extensions outside the old pete area of Bangalore, alongside Basavanagudi, in the years following the plague epidemic of the 1890s, when residents were resettled into newly laid out, more spacious neighbourhoods. The locality became home to a mixed population of Kannadiga, Tamil and Muslim families, and developed a strong civic and cultural identity through the early twentieth century.

Culture and institutions

Chamarajpet is closely associated with several cultural and educational institutions of Bangalore:

• The Kannada Sahitya Parishat, the principal organisation devoted to the promotion of the Kannada language and literature, has its headquarters in Chamarajpet.
• The locality contains the Tipu Sultan's Summer Palace, a wooden Indo-Islamic structure dating from the late eighteenth century, located near the K. R. Market end of the area.
• The adjoining Bangalore Fort remnants and the historic Kote Venkataramana Temple lie just to the east of Chamarajpet.
• The Idgah Maidan in Chamarajpet is a prominent open ground used historically for Eid prayers.

The area also has a number of long-established schools, mosques, temples and Jain basadis, reflecting its diverse demographic character.

Civic administration and politics

Chamarajpet falls within the jurisdiction of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) for municipal services. It also lends its name to the Chamarajpet Assembly constituency, one of the segments that elects a member to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, and forms part of the Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency for parliamentary elections.

Economy and commerce

Chamarajpet has a mixed residential and commercial profile. Its streets host wholesale and retail shops dealing in textiles, hardware, printing, automobile spares and traditional goods, often functioning as an extension of the larger Chickpet–K. R. Market commercial belt. Small-scale manufacturing units, printing presses and traditional eateries are also a feature of the locality.

Transport

The locality is served by an extensive network of BMTC bus routes and lies within walking distance of the Kempegowda Bus Station and the Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (Bangalore City) Railway Station. The Bangalore Metro's Purple Line, which runs along Mysore Road, provides rapid transit access to Chamarajpet through nearby stations.

Significance

As one of Bangalore's earliest planned extensions, Cham