Know Your City: Victoria Hospital, Bengaluru's colonial-era lifeline that has tackled several health crises

Indian Express

11 hours ago

Written by Bhoomika Roy Bannerjee, Mehak Singh
Victoria Hospital stands at the heart of old Bangalore; its origins deeply tied to the late 19th century. The idea for a city hospital in the native Pete area predated any epidemic: Mysore's Queen Regent Kempananjammanni (Vanivilas Sannidhana) and Dewan K Seshadri Iyer laid the foundation stone on June 22, 1897, coincidentally to mark Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.
'The Maharani of Mysore, Kempananjammanni Devi—known popularly as Vani Vilasa Sannidhana—recognised this need,' says historian Arun Prasad.
'The foundation stone was laid on June 22, 1897, intending the hospital to provide free treatment for all.' She was also the widow of Maharaja Chamaraja Wodeyar IX and mother to Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar IV. The Gothic-Victorian hospital building was formally opened on December 8, 1900, by the Viceroy of India and duly christened 'Victoria Hospital' in the Queen's honour to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign.
Plans were set into motion, but destiny intervened devastatingly. The plague hit Bengaluru in 1898, claiming thousands of lives and forcing a mass exodus. The urgency of the health crisis spurred authorities to accelerate construction. Two years later, the hospital opened its doors—formally inaugurated by Lord Curzon, then Viceroy of India.
The hospital is a prime example of Victorian-era colonial architecture, with its very walls serving as a testament to the British influence on public spaces in Bengaluru's old fort area. Built in the Victorian Gothic style, Victoria Hospital features steep gabled roofs, ornamental stone arches, long colonnades, and low pavilion-style wards with wide, shaded verandahs.
'You might call it Victorian,' says historian Meera Iyer, 'look at the roof of the building, the arches, the colonnades… all [are] European elements.'
The central block's long stone colonnade runs along broad corridors, marked by arched doorways on both floors, forming a classic pavilion layout. Some of these architectural details—like the intricate iron railings and stone features—have sadly been lost to road widening over the years.
'What strikes me most,' Iyer adds, 'is how the hospital served as the first major public secular building in the Fort area—preceding Minto and Vani Vilas Hospitals and long after temples and palaces had defined the skyline.'
Even the granite used to build Victoria Hospital holds history: many of the blocks were repurposed from the demolished fort walls after the Third Anglo-Mysore War. As historian Arun Prasad notes, the hospital's design is almost a literal transplant of British civic architecture.
Perhaps lesser known is that parts of the hospital were built using stones from the demolished fort walls after the Third Anglo-Mysore War. This fact alone makes it a structure of great historical and emotional significance.
While Victoria Hospital owes its name to royalty, its growth tells a story of collective generosity and civic pride. 'Several buildings were later funded by well-known merchant families of Bengaluru,' notes Iyer.
'This pattern of community-driven development continues to some extent even today.'
The hospital's service record is just as striking. Iyer recalls, 'The hospital played a really, really important role during the plague and during the Spanish influenza.' In the early 1900s, as thousands in Bangalore succumbed to disease, Victoria Hospital stood as one of the few public health institutions capable of meeting the crisis. Over the decades, it has treated war casualties, cholera patients, and more recently, Covid-19 cases alongside private hospitals. Through each of these turning points, Victoria has remained a constant in Bengaluru's public health infrastructure.
And there have been moments of quiet brilliance, too. Dr T Seshachala Mudaliar, one of its early superintendents, discovered a new arterial supply to the appendix—an insight published in international medical journals. While not often celebrated for landmark medical innovations or celebrity patients, the hospital has nonetheless made cultural appearances. It featured in Kannada films like Hasiru Thorana, starring Dr Rajkumar, and continues to be a recognisable backdrop due to its location near the city's fort and other heritage sites.
Today, Victoria Hospital is over 120 years old, one of the oldest and largest government hospitals in Karnataka. It is affiliated with Bangalore Medical College (founded in 1955) and remains a key training ground for doctors across the state. Every year, thousands of patients from across Karnataka pass through its gates, seeking treatment across departments. Its proximity to Minto Ophthalmic Hospital and Vani Vilas Women's Hospital forms a kind of historic medical corridor—a public health complex with deep roots and wide reach.
Yet the hospital's heritage status is under threat. 'There's been no master plan guiding modern renovations,' Meera laments. Historian Arun Prasad adds that the newer apartment towers and commercial developments around the campus now 'hide the original heritage building'. In many areas, the lush green lawns and stone dispensaries have been replaced by high-rises. Smaller colonial-era wards have disappeared.
Conservationists warn that future renovation efforts must preserve and showcase some of the historical or architectural beauties of Bangalore. Walking through its central colonnades or past the adjacent Delhi Gate still feels like stepping into a different century—a living reminder of a time when care, craft, and community converged.
In a city speeding toward its digital future, Victoria Hospital stands as a monument to value and memory. As Meera Iyer puts it, 'It has watched Bengaluru grow—from a royal outpost to a tech city.'
Through pandemics, population booms, and policy shifts, this hospital has not only endured—it has evolved.
(Bhoomika Roy Bannerjee and Mehak Singh are interns with The Indian Express)