Mythic Society's Daly Memorial Hall is a landmark on Nrupathunga Road (opposite State Youth Centre) in Bangalore. The hall is being used for literary conventions and other public functions. The former British Collector F J Richards built the European classical edifice in 1909, in memory of Hugh Daly, the then British Resident of Mysore. The Mysore Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar laid the foundation stone of the hall.
The hall is high roofed with an imposing entrance porch. High arched doors at the entrance and sides of the main hall with pediment windows on the side wings are the other interesting features of the remarkable building.

The birth of Mythic Society: According to the President of the Mythic society, Dr Suryanath U Kamath, the main aim of starting the Mythic Society on May 11, 1909 was to encourage the study of history among students. At a meeting held at the residence of F J Richards on the same day a decision of starting an academic club was taken which later became the Mythic society. The "academic club" was started with 17 European and Indian residents of Bangalore. The first President of the Society was Dr Morris Travers, who soon rose to be the Director of Indian Institute of Science, founded in 1911. The two active members of the society were Rev. Fr A M Tabard, a French priest, St. Patrick's Church and Prof. S Krishnaswamy Aiyangar, lecturer in English, Central College. Fr. Tabard was the one who was responsible for building the Daly Memorial Hall. During his tenure as the president, the membership of Mythic society rose to 552 and he opened the door of the Society to all who were interested. He had declared in 1913 that the "Society was not meant only for the elite or the intellectual aristocracy but also open to all who are interested".

Indology (history) Library: There is a public reference library on Indology behind the Daly Memorial Hall in the Mythic Society, which houses a rare collection of 29,866 books in various subjects. Most of the books in the library are on history of Karnataka, says Assistant Librarian, Prafulla. The library is a main source of information for PhD scholars, and architecture students. The library also has manuscripts and records containing the history of Mysore State. The library handles its books, manuscripts and old inscriptions very carefully. The library also subscribes dailies and other periodicals apart from historical books on Karnataka. Even if the readers wanted a photocopy of any portion of the books or inscriptions, the library staff themselves help the readers, but they do not lend the books out either for reading or photocopying.

Maps on Bangalore city, dating back to 1854 are also available here for reference. Prafulla told bangalorebest.com that with the help of the maps on Bangalore city, voluntary groups in the city successfully hindered the J H Patel government from constructing an annexe to the Legislature House in Cubbon Park. 1854 era maps, (preserved by the Mythic Society) on Bangalore helped the voluntary groups to show the boundaries of Cubbon Park.

Address:
Mythic Society,
(opposite State Youth Centre),
Nrupathunga Road,
Bangalore-560 001

Y. RAMA MOHAN

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