First electric street lamp goes unsung

Aug 20, 2023

The first week of August marks the 118th anniversary of Bengaluru’s first electric street lamp. It was switched on in 1905.

Metrolife went looking for the exact spot, and found no plaque or indication of where the lamp post was located.

Heritage enthusiast Mansoor Ali says the authorities should put in more efforts to preserve the city’s heritage. “Bengaluru already has very few monuments, so we should preserve what we have. That’s how the next generation will know. Bengaluru has always been at the forefront of research and technology. The street lights are an example of that,” he says.

The date of the inauguration remains disputed — between August 3 and 5. But Meera Iyer, author of ‘Discovering Bengaluru: History. Neighbourhoods. Walks’, believes it took place on August 3, citing a newspaper clipping.

Her book also chronicles how the inaugural ceremony was attended by big names — Dewan P N Krishnamurthi, J W Mears, electrical adviser to the government of India, John Hewitt, head of the government of India’s department of commerce and industry, and H V Nanjudayya, acting dewan of Mysore.

“The switch was flipped by John Hewitt. He switched on 104 lamps near Delhi Gate,” she adds. Delhi Gate was in the vicinity of Victoria Hospital and K R Market. Overall, 800 street lights were set up in the city, then called Bangalore. The ornate poles were made of cast iron, with five light fixtures in one.

Power by fluke

Electricity came to the city by chance. Architect-author Yashaswini Sharma shares: “When a hydroelectric power station was set up in Shivanasamudra in 1902, it was powering the mining operations in Kolar Gold Fields. But there was a surplus of power and the government had a choice to illuminate the palace or a part of the city.” And Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wodeyar wanted the people to be the first beneficiary.

Before the Maharaja gave the approval for the electrification of Bangalore in 1904, the streets here were lit by kerosene lamps. “Every day, people used to clean the soot accumulated in the street lamps, and then put in the kerosene and light them up,” says Yashaswini.

The Cantonment did not get electricity until 1908. Meera’s book says: “By early 1905, transmission lines were in place, and Bengalureans were at the cusp of the electric age. But then the infamous British bureaucracy made its presence felt. A special sanction was required under the Indian Electricity Act before the Cantonment could get electricity.”

WHERE ARE THE ANTIQUE LAMPS?

During construction in the 1980s, Bengaluru’s oldest electric lamp posts were removed from the KR Market area. “Thankfully someone preserved them. You find two lights at the BBMP office, when you enter from the Hudson Circle side. There’s another near Russell Market. They are the original lights, but they aren’t in the original condition,” says Naresh Narasimhan, architect and urban designer. Metrolife visited and verified these two street lights.

Drivers resting in the parking lot at the BBMP office were excited to share details when Metrolife went looking. “My father told me about it when I was a child. He was a proud Bangalorean and would often tell me about Bangalore’s many firsts. I still remember him when I see the lamps light up in the evening at the BBMP office,” says Manu, 46.

WAS THIS ASIA’S FIRST STREET LIGHT?

Many reports say that Asia’s first street light was installed in Bengaluru. Yashaswini Sharma says it is a false claim but believes that “these were the first street lights in at least south India, if not all of India.”

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