Ulsoor Lake in the Early 20th Century, Bangalore, 1910 Postcard

Ulsoor Lake in the Early 20th Century, Bangalore, 1910 Postcard

A 1910 postcard of the Ulsoor Lake in Bangalore (Bengaluru) in the early 20th century. After the 4th Anglo-Mysore War in 1799, the British set up a military cantonment around the Fort and Ulsoor Lake (now Halasuru Lake). Though it was a tank built by Kempe Gowda II in 1537, Sir L B Bowring, Bangalore’s Commissioner in the 1860s, developed it into a large lake.

Today, the lake’s catchment area is around 1.5 sq km or 123 acres. It is probably one of the oldest water bodies in the city. The Lake is situated towards the North-East side of Bangalore, close to South Parade Road (MG Road). The lake’s charm further enhanced by the number of beautiful islands on it. There are four islands on the lake, and it is home to several birds, butterflies, and fish species.

All this is rapidly declining, especially the fish species, because of high pollutants that have seeped into the water. The lake has shrunk from its original perimeter mainly due to encroachments. Though the authorities are taking all efforts to restore the lake to its past glory. One of the islands can be seen in the postcard with its beautiful rainforest tree. Click image to enlarge.

Did you know – there was a jackfruit orchard near the lake. In Kannada, ‘Halasina Hannu’ means jackfruit; hence, the area came to be known as “Halasuru”.