The Cubbon Park, Bengaluru

To get away from one's working environment is, in a sense, to get away from one's self; and this is often the chief advantage of travel and change.

- Charles Horton Cooley

Cubbon Park

The Cubbon Park, officially known as Sri. Chamarajendra Park, is an historic park, located in Bangalore, the 'Garden City' of India.

Many official and public buildings are located within and along the periphery of the park. The High Court Buildings, Indira Priyadarshini Children’s Library, City Central Library, Government Museum, Art Gallery, Aquarium, YMCA, Yuvanika- the State Youth Centre, Century Club, Press Club, Jawahar BalBhavan, Tennis Pavillion and a number of other offices are located in the park, few of them offering amusement and sports facilities.

The part of the park developed on symmetric lines with terraces on either sides of the central promenade, which is the focal point from the Museum building to the central hall of the High Court, forms the formal gardens. The terrace garden developed in the gradient from the Attara Kacheri towards the East is a beautiful sight to see. The Sheshadri Iyer Memorial Hall – now the City Central Library building is an artistic structure worth seeing. Located in front of the Library is the rosary, a spectacular area for any visitor to see. Many beautiful lawns are found in the park’s expanse.

HISTORY:

The Cubbon Park of Bangalore has a history of more than 100 years. It has been a part of Bangalore’s landscape since 1870. The then Chief Engineer of the state of Mysore, Richard Sankey, conceived the vast landscape of the Cubbon Park, way back in 1864. The park was initially called as Meade’s park , but was subsequently named as Cubbon Park, after Sir Mark Cubbon, who had the distinction of being the longest serving Commissioner of Bangalore. In the year 1927 the park was officially named as ‘Sri Chamrajendra Park’ to commemorate the silver jubilee of the rule of Sri Krishnaraj Wodeyar in the Mysore state. But popularity of Cubbon Park stayed on.

ATTRACTIONS IN CUBBON PARK:

• The Ringwood circle, lotus pond and bamboo grove nook are worth seeing.
• The Grevillea robusta (silver oak), having the distinction of being the first oaks introduced to Bangalore from Australia are still found in Cubbon Park adjacent to the tennis pavillion.
• The bandstand - before India’s Independence, the British Royal Air Force used to play western band music at the band stand every Saturday evening. The bandstand is an octagonal shape made with cast-iron, was built in the early part of the 1900s.
• An attraction for children is the well planned children's amusement park as part of Jawahar Bal Bhavan, which has the toy train, Puttani Express that runs (0.75 miles or 1.2 km) within the Park, the Doll museum and a boating facility. A 20 million year old fossilized tree - a gift from the Geological Survey of India, is also at the park.

Karnataka High court

CUBBON PARK TIMINGS:

• The Park is open to the public at all times but the roads are closed for traffic from 5 A.M to 8 A.M every day.
• The motorable roads which run through the park are allowed for light motor vehicles only. All locations of the park are accessible through walking paths.

HOW TO REACH?

• The park is located at a decent distance of 5 km from the railway station.
• You can easily access buses from Majestic (Kempa Gowda Bus stand) to the Cubbon park.
• The Cubbon Park is located in the middle of the city and can be accessed easily from M.G.Road, Hudson Circle and Ambedkar street.