Shivamogga: A photograph of a rare landscape painting of Shivamogga city from 1805 is on display at the Museum of London. The painting has a caption, “A view of Shimoga city in August 1805”.

The beautiful painting has a view of Shivamogga Nayaka Palace and the fort on the other side of Tunga. There was no bridge in 1805 for commuters to cross the river and had to use coracles. The fort wall built on the bank of the river had eight watch towers, locally known as buruj.

The riverside view painting might be near the present day Madaripalya locality. The fort seen in paiting is completely dilapidated today and only two of the eight watch towers are visible, said Hegde.

Archaeologist Balakrishna Hegde said that Ajaykumar Sharma, a member of the Shivamogga chapter of Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana got the photograph. He was one who displayed it at the Museum of London. The name of the artist is not written on the painting.

According to Hegde, the handwriting of the caption resembles that of Colonel Colin MacKenzie, who had travelled extensively in Malnad region from 1790 to 1820. MacKenzie who had written a lot on socio-cultural life of the Malnad region, was also a painter.

Hegde further said that the painting will be an important source for people studying history of Shivamogga city. The photograph of the painting will be displayed at public offices and schools in Shivamogga city.

Hegde said that the artist might have worked on the painting on the riverbank near the present day Madaripalya locality. The wall of the fort seen in the painting is completely dilapidated today and of the eight watch towers, only two are seen now.