A FORGOTTEN ROADSIDE MARKER
Bearing the legend ‘1 MILE FROM THE BUNGALOW,’ this unique roadside marker carved on a wayside boulder, would have undoubtedly brought cheer to many a weary wayfarer plodding along the rugged and steep First Coonoor Ghat.
The bungalow in question could only have been the traveller’s bungalow, which once stood at the present-day court complex in Coonoor.
The caravanserai is known to have been built at the completion of the First Coonoor Ghat in 1832 and it is well spoken about by Dr Baikie in his ‘The Neilgherries’ published in 1834.
The comments of another, written some 13 years later aren’t so kind, for Lt. Burton describes this piece of accommodation as ; ‘that long rambling thing perched on the hill above the little bazaar, and renowned for broken windows, fireless rooms, and dirty comfortless meals.’
From a litho made by Ponsonby Peacocke in 1847, entitled ‘View Of The Low Country From The 2nd Mile Stone, Coonoor Pass,’ it can be deduced that the marker could have been put up anytime between the opening of the First Ghat and the date on the litho. The fate of the 2nd and the others remain unknown.
