Theatrics’ of Urban Open Spaces: Exploring the Metaphorical Sense of Identity of a City’s Heritage

Bengaluru, earlier Bendakaalooru, (Bendakaalooru, meaning land of boiled beans in kannada language, was a name coined to bengaluru as suggested by a very interesting myth associated with the name origin for the city.) was one of the key trading centers of the South during the pre-colonial era. The idea of a town structured around Pettah (Pettah is a connotation used for market area in a city. Pettah was used as well. But Pete is more common amongst the natives of the land who converse in Kannada Regional language.), Kote (Kote is a connotation used for Fort. It is more common amongst natives who converse in Kannada Regional Language.), Kere (Kere—is a kannda origin term; meaning lake or a tank. Each lake or tank bund was differentiated based on if it was naturally formed or built to form a tank.) and Totha (Totha—is a Kannada origin term which means a garden or a nursery of plants. Usually, the natives housed all the plants at a place and nurtured them in order to protect the species that was indigenous to the area.) was an unquestionable matrix of natural occurrences and cultural practices. These urban elements that define the cultural landscape and landscape of urban memory—called “The Syntax.” The syntax has a direct response on to the built morphology configuring that lay of land giving necessary order in space. The community/settlement aligned themselves carefully along the syntax micromanaging the system, establishing a symbiotic relationship between the two. Every stage of development imposed alterations to the already existing syntax and each of these added a layer of new structure to the settlement as well as a new genealogy to the growth of the city. Despite the development, it is the resilient nature of the established systems that has survived the changes and till today, it is visible through the layers of unrecognized patterns as an outcome of disorderly outgrowth of the city. The key proposition of the paper argues the importance of the syntax in defining the spatial elements that is unique to the city of Bangalore and to acknowledge this as the most powerful single determinant of the urban environment. If one were to ignore reading the syntax unfolding the layers, the consequences will be irreversible eroding the identity and heritage value it carries. Hence, the paper questions how one should address this issue of merger of the past imprint and the future plans for the settlement, without the loss of the base identity. Ultimately, the findings offer a new insight into how to preserve the identity of a place and enable one to appreciate the skill it took to carefully conceive a system for land and thus to conserve.