The Scott’s Bungalow

The island city of Seringapatam in the state of Karnataka is home to a number of tangible relics of our Indian heritage. On a road trip across the city, one comes across marvels like the Ranganatha Swamy temple, the Srirangapatnam fort and many colonial era structures. One such structure is an old Bungalow, built in the British/English style of architecture and situated on the banks of the Kaveri (Cauvery) river.

Scott's Bungalow in 2015

On a November morning of 1999, a photographer named Jason Scott Tilley went on a road trip with his grandpa, in search of a Scott’s Bungalow in Seringapatam. His grandpa was convinced that the bungalow belonged to a branch of the Scott family. After several hours of driving on dangerous uneven dirt roads, the trio (for they were accompanied by a Vicki Couchman as well) managed to locate the bungalow. An old lady by the name of Yvette welcomed them onto the lands but not into the colonial-era bungalow, which was now her home. She had by now gotten accustomed to visitors coming in search of the bungalow. The trio went around the gardens of the house and came across a colonial graveyard close by, which had a couple of graves marked by the surname ‘Scott’. They eventually left the place convinced that it had nothing to do with their family history, as ‘Scott’ was a common name in days back then. A futile trip indeed!

(Jason Scott Tilley's grandfather in front of Scott's Bungalow; 1999)

The colonial grave they came across was the Garrison cemetery, and the graves marked by the surname Scott were the graves of the wife and infant child of a Colonel I.C. Scott.

Not many details survive of Colonel Scott. However, what is known is that he was part of the siege of Seringapatam in 1799 that took place during the fourth and final Anglo-Mysore War. In this siege, Tipu Sultan died at the hands of the East India Company. Scott was an active participant in this war. The war also led to the restoration of the Wodeyar dynasty as the rulers of Mysore by the British.

After the war, Scott was assigned as a supervisor of a gun factory in a village called Ganjam. In the subsequent years, he was highly praised by various factory inspectors for his remarkable skills, hard work, and devotion and was promoted to the post of Colonel. He also developed a deep friendship with the Maharajah of Mysore, who had a bungalow built for him on the banks of the Cauvery River. Known as the Scott’s Bungalow thereafter, it housed the Scott family for some time.

Located about half a mile from the Mysore gate of the fort, the splendid bungalow was built in the English style of architecture. A simple mansion with serene and lush green surroundings on the outside, it had rich interiors and luxuries on the inside. The Bungalow built as a token of friendship and a reward for an officer’s valor and hard work, soon turned out to be a house of woe for the Colonel.

In April 1817, Scott left for an inspection of the garrison. On his return the subsequent day, to his horror, he found his wife and two daughters dead.

His wife is said to have died in childbirth, while his two daughters were taken by cholera. Devastated, the local legend has it that he drove himself and his horse carriage into the torrential Cauvery River. Another version states that he disappeared without any trace. Subsequently, the grief-stricken Maharajah of Mysore is said to have given special orders to keep Colonel Scott’s bungalow intact, in the hope that the Colonel might one day return. The later Wodeyar rulers continued this tradition of maintaining the Scott’s bungalow for a long time. The Bungalow ultimately fell into oblivion.

In 1875, the curiosity and mystery surrounding the bungalow was evoked by a poem written by Aliph Cheem. Titled ‘The Deserted Bungalow’, the poem highlighted the tragic life of Col. Scott.

" The mouldering rooms are now as they stood Nearly eighty years ago, The piano Is there And table and chair, And the carpet rotting slow; And the beds whereon the corpses lay, And the curtains half time-mawed away."

The Colonel buried his loved ones three,

Then fled from the house of woe.

And ne’er since then

Have the feet of men

Trod in that bungalow,

Save feet of the traveller, passing near,

Who turns to see it, and drops a tear.

However, the real story goes that the Colonel, deeply saddened by the loss of his family, resigned and flew back to England where he breathed his last in 1833. He left everything behind and as a result, for several decades, any traveler who visited the bungalow could see the beds with their torn and antiquated mosquito curtains; the carpets crumbling with age; two voiceless pianos; the tables and chairs of a bygone era.

A book written in 1931 by Constance Parsons, titled ‘Seringapatam’ describes the old bungalow in some detail.

“Outside the house with its fresh yellow wash and glaring

Mangalore tiles- spick and span, and by daylight almost garish,

bears, until veiled and softened by dusk or moonlight,

little resemblance to the bungalow of over one hundred years ago.”

“The lofty aisles are dim

The bat’s shrill piccolo, the swinging musk

Blend with the beetles’ hymn.”

The awe-inspiring English bungalow, which once housed a renowned officer, was eventually sold out and as Jason Tilley described, was owned by a woman named Yvette in the 1990s.