Mysuru: To the delight of the writer’s many admirers, R K Narayan’s bungalow, conserved and restored by the Mysuru City Corporation at a cost of Rs 29 lakh, was thrown open to the public by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at Yadavgiri here Saturday evening.
Fans of the famed author, who brought the fictional town of Malgudi alive with his riveting stories in English, will get to see a rare collection of his belongings that include three spectacles, a watch, five coats, his shirts, pants and a tie at the restored house.
Also on display are two sofas and a dining table that he used, besides the many books he wrote, his old photographs and clippings of newspaper reviews of his work.
“Everything on display has been collected from various sources, including a few prominent writers,” said MCC Commissioner, Dr C G Betsurmath, the man behind the project, who saved the house from being demolished and a multi-storied building coming up in its place a few years ago.
Dr Betsurmath was Commissioner of the Mysore Urban Development Authority when he made sure that the home of the late author was declared a heritage building in September 2011.
R. K. Narayan spent over five decades in Mysuru, and over two decades in the bungalow that was built in the 1950s in Yadavgiri, which was his favourite place and where he wrote many of his literary triumphs.
