the   LADY   Jehangir   Kothari   Memorial   Hall

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HISTORY form "The Bangalore Parsis"       

DETAILS

Full Name : The Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall

Full Address :  

The Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall
14 Venkataswamy Naidu Road
Bangalore 560 051
India

Postal Address :  

15 Queens Road

Bangalore 560 001

India

Telephone No. : +91(80)  22864535

E-mail : Trustees@bpza.org

WWW : http://www.bpza.org

Visiting Hours : By Appointment Only.

Landmark : Opposite the Indian Express building and the Agiary.

LOCATION

HISTORY form "The Bangalore Parsis"

BY

DASTURJI NADIRSHAH P. UNVALLA

Establishing the Kothari Hall

Bangalore and Mysore have always been major tourist attractions.  In 1923 a wealthy Parsee couple from Karachi, Sir Jehangir and Lady Goolbai Kothari came to visit Bangalore.  Sir Jehangir was a globetrotter.  He traveled around South India and spent some days in Bangalore where his wife suddenly took ill and passed away.  She was laid to rest in the Parsee Aramgah. 

Sir Jehangir later visited Bangalore again.  The Parsees met with him and expressed their desire for a place to get together and celebrate Parsee functions.  They requested him to build a memorial to his wife.  He immediately agreed.  The Parsees spotted the present place where the memorial stands today which Sir Jehangir agreed to finance it through a donation of Rs. 25,000/-.  This is how The Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall came to be built.  Sir Jehangir had good contacts with the European Collectors who were in charge of Bangalore Cantonment.  With the help of the Anjuman President, Seth Dinshaw Cawasji, construction of the Hall started in 1931 and was completed and declared open in1932.  

The Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall is now used for recreational purposes, annual fairs, major community functions like celebration of Navroz and Pateti and regular get-togethers. Today, during the Navroz celebrations, there is not enough place in the building to accommodate everyone. A few years ago, under the guidance of the then President Mr. Behramsa Sidhwa, action had been taken to extend the hall.