Date with History: KR Puram's history is as entangled as its present geography

By Divya Shekhar

In recent years, KR Puram or Krishnarajapuram, located in East Bengaluru, 15 kilometre away from the Bengaluru City railway station, has evolved into a space where history remains entangled with its dusty roads, crowded residences and uneven commercialisation. The reality behind its name, or the various names it has adopted since many centuries, has long been forgotten.

The Bangalore District Gazeteer published in 1990 traces the name back to Krishnaraja Wadiyar III, who ruled the provincial state of Mysore from 1799 to 1868. People, however, speculate that it might even be attributed to his predeces sor, Immadi Krishnarajendra Wodeyar, who ruled between 1734 and 1766 AD.

SK Aruni, Deputy Director (Research) Southern Regional Centre, Indian Council of Historic Research (ICHR), Bengaluru, told ET that in records dating back to 750 AD, KR Puram was initially called Hosaru, and later Kishnapuram or Kishnapour. "In those days, people generally used to name places after village heroes or prominent rulers," he said, reasoning out on why the name of the place might have changed periodically .

Traces of the reverence many of these heroes once enjoyed lie buried in parts of KR Puram even today . One of the prominent ones is the Marya inscription.

Aruni explained, "Legend goes that under the rule of the Ganga dynasty king Sripurusha, there was a village hero called Mareya who protected the villages against dacoits and sacrificed his life in the process. The hero-stone inscription near today's Mahabaleshwara temple records this incident." The exact location of the stone, however, remains unknown.

On the other end of the spectrum was the Krishnarajapuram market, which had a history of its own. It was characterized by the weekly Santhe, which was held on 4-5 acres of common village land. The event was high on the social calendar of the agriculture-dependent community , since it helped farmers sell their produce directly to villagers who attended the event from far and wide.

Over the years, the iconic KR Puram Railway Station also made it convenient for people from far and wide to travel to the area for their businesses. Besides commerce, the area is also known for its various ancient temples -some of them built as early as the rule of the Ganga king -that exist even today .