Know Your City: 114-year-old Mythic Society in Bengaluru boasted of members like Sir CV Raman, botanist GH Krumbiegel

Their very first quarterly journal of lectures and academic papers – which continues to be published to this date – states that the purpose of the society was the “History, Ethnology and Religions of Southern India”. As it happens, the history of the then state of Mysore would be central to the Mythic Society. Even today, visitors marvel over its collection of 46,000 books, including the Epigraphia Carnatica, BL Rice’s guide to the ancient inscriptions of Karnataka, alongside comprehensive volumes on Indian, Greek, Roman and even Sumerian history.

Prestigious members

Like many other prominent societies of Bengaluru, the Wodeyars of Mysore were patrons of this society too. Some of its earliest senior members who are remembered even today include renowned Dravidologist S Krishnaswami Iyengar, German botanist G H Krumbiegel – who would later rise to fame as the superintendent of the Lal Bagh Botanical Gardens and the architect of modern Bengaluru’s trees – and H V Nanjundaiah, acting Dewan and senior judge of Mysore as well as the founding president of the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana.

A glance at lists of later members and visitors reveals names no less prestigious: Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi and Sir C V Raman (a member) delivered lectures at the society, while Diwans of Mysore Kantharaj Urs and Sir Mirza Ismail both served as its vice-presidents, to name but a few.

The building is It is named after Lt Col Sir Hugh Daly, Resident of Mysore state, who was a founding member of the Mythic Society as well as its honorary president. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)

But to the average Bengalurean, the Mythic Society is most visibly represented by the Daly Memorial Hall on Nrupathunga Road (then Cenotaph Road), a heritage building built in 1917 in the Greco-Roman style with prominent Greek-style pedimented roof and columns. It is named after Lt Col Sir Hugh Daly, Resident of Mysore state, who was a founding member of the Mythic Society as well as its honorary president. He was well known to the then Yuvaraja, Krishnaraja Wodeyar. Indeed, the Wodeyars covered Rs 10,000 of its construction cost of about Rs 25,000.

The library of the Mythic Society is open and free to all members of the public, although it does not allow the books to be borrowed. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)

Krishnaraja Wodeyar, who laid the foundation stone in 1916, said on the occasion, “The building of which I am just going to lay the foundation stone is intended to provide a local habitation for the Mythic Society and to honour the memory of my friend, Col Sir Hugh Daly, who was till recently Resident in this State. Both these objects have my warmest sympathy……I learn that the society gives its chief attention to researches connected with Mysore History and Archaeology and I earnestly hope that, when its objects become better known, the people of Mysore at large, not the learned few only, will begin to feel pride and interest in its work.”

A perusal of some of the older journals of the society reveals that this interest in Karnataka’s history has been carried on for some time. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)

Indeed, a perusal of some of the older journals of the society reveals that this interest in Karnataka’s history has been carried on for some time. One paper, for instance, describes an inscription over a thousand years old describing “Mangalapura”, most likely the Mangaluru region, and a part of the town known as “Kodala” or Kudla, a name that Tulu-speaking communities use for Mangaluru to this day. As Sir Mirza Ismail would later say, quoting Father Tabard, “Mysoreans must study Mysore, and they will love and understand Mysore all the more.”

Even today, visitors marvel over its collection of 46,000 books. (Express Photo by Jithendra M)

The library of the Mythic Society is open and free to all members of the public, although it does not allow the books to be borrowed. It is open on all days of the week except Monday, and is situated in a modern building behind the Daly Memorial Hall.