Kempe Gowda Towers in Bangalore

Kempe Gowda I (1513-1569) was a chieftain of Yelahanka, a feudatory of the Vijayanagara Empire. At first, he renamed the town from "Benda-kaal-ooru" to Bengalooru. Later, when the British invaded India, they renamed it Bangalore. Bangalore is still called "Bengalooru" by locals and natives. He is credited with having established the Indian city of Bangalore in 1537. Kempegowda built the four towers that mark the boundaries of Bangalore.

  • Near Mekhri circle
  • Inside Lalbagh park
  • Near Kempambudhi lake
  • Near Ulsoor lake

North West Tower - Mehkri Circle

Tower near Mehkri Circle underpass, next to Ramana Maharishi Park is the North Tower. This is located in a well maintained park, while a few statues on the mantap are headless. The rest of the tower is in a good shape. This is one of the only tower located on a level land and not on a hillock.



South West Tower - Kempambudhi Lake

Another tower is near Kempambudhi Lake, Hanumanthanagar. The location around is very picturesque with the tower is almost invisible, perched on the top of a hillock by the Bandi Mahakali temple. It is surrounded rocks and trees.



South East Tower - Lalbagh

Tower in Lalbagh at the end of Double Road is on top of a hillock in lalbagh is the most visited among all the towers. From here you can actually seeing the Bangalore Skyline. The tower is on a rock which is very ancient and believed to be 3,000 million years old according to Geological survey of India.



Lalbagh Botanical Garden
Architects of Modern Lalbagh
History of Lalbagh

North East Tower - Ulsoor Lake

Tower at Ulsoor Lake is well maintained by the military. They use this place for training their personnel. Common man cannot visit this place, unless special permission is sought.



Kempe Gowda built more than 100 lakes and many markets in and around Bangalore. He also built many monuments in and around Bangalore, including the Nandi Temple.

Another prominent feature of these towers is that they are all located close to lakes or tanks - Lalbagh Tower near the Lalbagh Lake, Gavipura Tower on the bank of Kempabudhi Lake; Ulsoor Tower on the bank of Ulsoor Lake and the Mekhri Tower close to Sankey Tank.

10 Replicas of Kempe Gowda Towers

Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has proposed to construct 10 replicas of the Kempe Gowda towers on the Bangalore city's outskirts. The foundation stone for the first such tower was laid by Minister for Transport and city in-charge Ramalinga Reddy at the junction of Mysore Road and NICE Road in February 2014.



The BBMP is joining hands with a few private companies for the construction of these towers. Of the 10 towers proposed to be constructed, six would be constructed by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise Ltd. All the six towers will be at the junction of important roads and the Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor, such as Tumkur Road, Magadi Road, Kanakapura Road, Bannerghatta Road and Hosur Road.



The design of the towers will resemble the one at Hudson Circle opposite the BBMP head office. The towers will be on a star-shaped pedestal. While the pillar will be 30 ft tall, the Kempe Gowda tower atop it will be 18.5 ft high.

The other four towers are being sponsored by Prestige Builders at Old Madras Road, Sobha Developers at Bellary Road, Sanders Properties Pvt. Ltd. at Sarjapur Road.

Labels: Kempegowda images