Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Prehistoric labyrinth discovered in E. Godavari

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Nature, Records, All
Archaeologist Kadiyala Venkateswara Rao at the labyrinth in Kolimeru village, East Godavari district.
Archaeologist Kadiyala Venkateswara Rao at the labyrinth in Kolimeru village, East Godavari district.

It throws light on ancient cult practices, says freelance archaeologist

A prehistoric painting of a mystic labyrinth has been discovered at a cave on top of a hill near Kolimeru village near Tuni in East Godavari district. The labyrinth, dating back to the Neolithic period, consists of seven circles in red ochre on white pigment painted on a rectangular rock in front of the cave facing the Sun.

“The discovery of the labyrinth throws light not only on the ancient religious practices of prehistoric civilisations, but also on their knowledge about astronomical signs. Ancient civilisations had worshipped Sun and were able to predict seasons and even natural calamities,’’ freelance archaeologist and former deputy director, Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh, Kadiyala Venkateswara Rao told The Hindu on Friday.

Mr. Rao had earlier unearthed a unique Menhir at Karempudi in Guntur district that threw light on the existence of prehistoric civilisations in Guntur district.

The word labyrinth is an ancient Greek word with Minoan cultural influence and means extremely complicated and therefore difficult to understand.

The hills, known locally as ‘Bangaruloya,’ and the rock shelter ‘Pandavulavari Gani,’ have mystic folklore. Locals believe that Pandavas lived in this rock shelter during “aranyavasa,’’ and also thought mystic drawings could indicate that huge gold and precious things were hidden in the caves.

Line drawings

Mr. Rao, now aged 75 years, located the rock shelter after an arduous trek. The natural rock found at the entrance of the shelter has sacred Neolithic labyrinth motifs painted in red ochre on a white pigment. He also found line drawings of a bull and a deer on either side of the labryinth, though the colour has faded away. It is believed that the rock shelter might be a worshipping place of Neolithic hunter-gatherers.

“Ancient literature has thrown light on the ways in which priests studied the equinoxes, solstices and movements of Sun and Moon hoping to gain mastery over the elements. Cult priests might have also performed rituals and other ancestral worshipping practices in front of the labyrinth symbol,’’ Mr. Rao added.

Mr. Rao also discovered a prehistoric cup mark which are also found on other prehistoric sites such as dolmen and menhirs, sacred ritual symbols.

It is interesting to note that similar labyrinths have been found in Europe and other countries and are common in aboriginal art and usually associated with creative energy. In India, labyrinths have been found at Halibedu in Hoyasleshwara Swamy Temple in Karnataka, and in Goa and Rajastan, where they are worshipped as Manas Chakra, a religious emblem.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Vijayawada / by P. Samuel Jonathan / Guntur – October 21st, 2017

Writer Haranatha Rao passes away in Ongole

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

HaranthaRaoANDHRA08nov2017

Penned screenplay for over 150 films

Noted Telugu playwright, script writer and actor M. V. S. Haranatha Rao died of cardiac arrest here on Monday. He was 70. He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.

The progressive playwright has also carved a niche for himself in the Telugu tinsel world, writing dialogues for over 150 films, including Nandi award winning films like ‘Pratighatana,’ ‘Bharata Nari,’ ‘Anna’ and ‘Ammayi Kapuram.’Drama continued to be his passion though Haranatha Rao entered the cine field through noted film-maker T. Krishna. He has penned screenplay for over 150 films. He has also acted in 20 films and won acclaim for his stellar performance in ‘Rakshasudu’ and ‘Swayamkrushi.’

The first play he penned was ‘Rakta Bali.’ His latest play ‘Kanya Varasulkam,’ which portrays the assertive modern day Telugu women in the present social milieu, has won the best drama award of the Andhra Pradesh Cultural Affairs Department. Forest Minister Sidda Raghava Rao condoled the death of the playwright.

Indian People’s Theatre Association State honorary president Nalluri Venkateswarlu, NTR Kala Parishad founder Edara Haribabu and playwright Patibandla Ananda Rao were among those who paid their last respects.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Ongole – October 10th, 2017

Bhairavakona spectacle draws over a lakh

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature
Picturesque spot: Kaigal waterfalls was the youngsters’ choice destination in Chittoor district. | Photo Credit: By Arrangement
Picturesque spot: Kaigal waterfalls was the youngsters’ choice destination in Chittoor district. | Photo Credit: By Arrangement

Siva temples abuzz with special rituals in connection with Karthika Pournami

All roads led to Shiva temples across Prakasam district as devotees thronged them to offer special prayers to mark Karthika Pournami on Saturday.

Over a lakh pilgrims visited Bhairavakona, a protected monument of the Archaeological Survey of India, to witness the grand spectacle of the moon’s reflection on the forehead of the mother goddess Trimukha Durga.

But the natural satellite played hide and seek in view of the inclement weather and kept the devotees on tenterhooks.

Tripurantakam, the eastern gateway to Srisailam, was agog with religious activity as devotees lined up to seek the blessings of Lord Tripurantakeswara.

A heavy rush of pilgrims was witnessed also at the picturesque beaches in the district, including Kothapatnam, Voderavu and Ramayapatnam as the devotees performed ‘samudra snanam’. Devotees in groups made Shivalingams with beach sand and offered prayers to Lord Siva.

Kaigal Falls

In Chittoor district, devotees thronged the famous Talakona and Kailasa Kona temples and the Kaigal Falls while the temples at Nagari, Puttur, Mogili, Madanapalle and other pilgrim places wore a festive look, with predawn rituals.

Many people trekked the Battinayya Konda near Srikalahasti and peformed special puja to Lord Battinayya and lit Karthika Deepam at the hilltop.

Similarly, the sacred deepam was lit at Anantarayalu Konda and Kartheeka Konda in Pakala mandal. Annabishekam was performed in many temples.

Siva deeksha

A large number of devotees took a holy dip in Pathalaganga on Karthika Pournami and had darshan of Sri Mallikarjuna Swamy and Sri Bhramaramba Devi at Srisailam in Kurnool district. Devotees performed Lakshavathula nomu and did Karthika Masa Deeparadhana at Nagulakatta. Many devotees took Siva deeksha and Karthika Vanabhojanam was organised at the Siva Deeksha camps on the way to Pathalaganga.

Special puja was performed at the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple at Ahobilam.

Suprabhatha Seva was performed early in the morning and abhishekam for processional idols of Sri Prahlada Varadaswamy, Sridevi and Bhudevi in the temple mantapam. Maha mangala harathi was given and the presiding deities were taken round on a palanquin.

A large number of devotees took a holy dip in Panchabugga Koneru in the Sri Omkareswara temple in the Nallamala forest area in Bandi Atmakur mandal in the district.

Historic temple

The historic Mallemkondeswara Swamy temple at Brahmanapalli in Gopavaram mandal in Kadapa district would be developed as a tourist centre, Minister for Endowments Pydikondala Manikyala Rao said after worshipping at the temple.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Andhra Pradesh Bureau / Ongole-Chitoor-Kurnool / November 04th, 2017

Visakhapatnam Railway Station has a rare art gallery treat for passengers

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
railway station
railway station

Visakhapatnam Railway Station surely knows how to enrich the experience of passengers on their journey and there has been no stone unturned in this regard.

Visakhapatnam Railway Station surely knows how to enrich the experience of passengers on their journey and there has been no stone unturned in this regard. In one of the first such projects across any railway station in India, Vizag will have an Art Gallery with rare pictures for viewing by passengers. Situated near the main exit gate, the Art Gallery has already been inaugurated by Waltair Division railway manager yesterday.

One can now see pictures in the art gallery of facts and events from the 1960s and 1970s which have artistic, factual and historic significance. These have been sourced from the National Rail Museum in New Delhi. Further in a statement, the authorities have encouraged local artists to come forward with their individual works to be displayed at the art gallery. Local talent is invited and it will serve as a platform for newbie artists to grab attention. The display will be free of cost to the artist and one can approach the Station Master for further details.

Highlights –

  • Mahatma Gandhi standing at the door of an old compartment during the times of Salt Satyagraha.
  • Steam engines that used to draw trains earlier.
  • Vintage pictures of Howrah Station.
  • Pictures of train carrying refugees from Pakistan into then India.

Definitely worth a peek for all of us next time we are making a rail journey, don’t you thinks so?

source: http://www.yovizag.com / Yo!Vizag / Home> News-City Updates

INS Viraat to become museum

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Tourist attraction: Detailed Project Report for the INS Viraat project will be ready in a fortnight. | Photo Credit: Rafiq Maqbool
Tourist attraction: Detailed Project Report for the INS Viraat project will be ready in a fortnight. | Photo Credit: Rafiq Maqbool

Navy warhorse to be refurbished at Kakinada

The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for refurbishing INS Viraat will be ready in a fortnight and it will be then submitted to the Union government.

The Andhra Pradesh government intends to convert the Navy’s warhorse aircraft carrier into a museum and a hotel in the sea, depending on the logistics.

The ship will be brought to Kakinada for refurbishment as soon as the DPR is approved by the Union government.

Representatives of Mumbai-based Master and Associates, which is preparing the DPR, are likely to meet Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu in the next couple of days to discuss “some key aspects” of the report.

In fact, the meeting was put on hold because of Mr. Naidu’s foreign tour.

Based on the suggestions and inputs by the Chief Minister, preparation of the DPR would be finalised, according to sources in the Secretariat.

“It would cost between ₹15 crore and ₹20 crore to bring INS Viraat from Mumbai to Kakinada,” the sources said.

According to the Navy, the ship cannot be dragged onto the land and has to be kept afloat.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by G.V.K.Subba Rao / Vijayawada – October 29th, 2017

Ongole writer gets award

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Samanya receives the award from Potti Sriramulu Telugu University Vice-Chancellor S.V.Satyanarayana in Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: by arrangement
Samanya receives the award from Potti Sriramulu Telugu University Vice-Chancellor S.V.Satyanarayana in Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: by arrangement

Samanya’s short stories win applause

Writer and poet Samanya was presented with an award in the short stories genre by Telugu University Vice-Chancellor S.V. Satyanarayana in Hyderabad on Monday.

The Ongole-based writer won a big round of applause as her short stories compilation titled Kothagudem Poragadiko Love Letter was introduced to the audience.

The story was set in the backdrop of the millennium march in Telangana before bifurcation discussing the pros and cons by a young couple through a letter, including the pulling down of the statues of literary giants by Telangana protagonists.

Not to rest on past laurels, she has taken up the task of translating Rabindranath Tagore’s songs into Telugu. “I have so far completed 20 songs and plan to come out with a book after translating 50 Tagore songs,” Ms. Samanya said after singing a few stanzas of the famous ‘Rim, Jhim Ghana Ghana Re’ song of Tagore on a rainy day.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Ongole – October 31st, 2017

4 cannons unearthed in Vizag school

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

CannonsANDHRA27oct2017

Visakhapatnam :

Four cast iron cannons, believed to hark back to the British Raj, were unearthed at the Queen Mary’s Girls High School here while excavating the ground to build foundation trenches for a new building on Thursday.

Recently , the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan had allocated a two-room building to the school at an estimated cost of `17.6 lakh, keeping in view the increasing number of girl students. An excavator operator, while digging the trenches at about 6.30am, found the cannons and alerted the officials.

According to Vijjeswarapu Edward Paul, an Intach member and heritage conservationist, the British entered Vizagapatam (present Vizag city) as early as 1682. “Vizagapatam was the Northern Division headquarters of the Madras Army of the English East India Company . A Major General-rank officer headed the Vizag unit. The premises of the school and the surroundings housed an arsenal during the British era. However, in about 1860, the arms were shifted to Madras and Singapore. Some of the arms, which were not worthy enough to be shifted, were left here,” said Edward Paul.

APSSA district project officer T Siva Rama Prasad said more studies will be taken up to explore what is hidden underground on the premises by leveraging advanced methods such as imaging technologies. “These cannons can also be placed along the RK Beach road to create awareness among students and general public about our history ,” said Rama Prasad.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Visakhapatnam News / Umamaheshwara Rao / TNN / October 27th, 2017

Kondapalli toys set for revamp, Andhra Pradesh government invites ideas for new design

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy

There are only about 56 families engaged in the craft at Kondapalli at present, and only five families that make the iconic bullock cart.

A Kondapalli bullock cart.
A Kondapalli bullock cart.

Kondapalli Bommalu, the traditional craft of making wooden figurines and toys in Kondapalli of Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, is set for a makeover.

The brightly coloured miniature bullock cart, which is usually gifted by Andhra Pradesh CMs and government officials to visiting dignitaries and foreign guests, will now be a “moving” one. The state government has called for designs from artisans of the small community that makes these handicrafts to develop a “moving” Kondapalli bullock cart, General Administration Secretary N Srikant said. The government has also announced a reward of Rs 2 lakh for the winning design.

Officials said that given the tough competition from cheaper Chinese toys, declining popularity of motionless toys, and shrinking number of families involved in Kondapalli Bommalu, the state government has decided to preserve this craft and save the artisans from penury by asking them to redesign models and make them more marketable.

Kondapalli toys are made by a community of artisans with centuries-old techniques. Their ancestors migrated from Rajasthan over 400 years ago and settled at Kondapalli, 40 km from Vijayawada, where they used soft white sandalwood from nearby forests to make the figurines.

There are only about 56 families engaged in the craft at Kondapalli at present, and only five families that make the iconic bullock cart. Five other families make the dancing doll, originally called Thanjavur Doll.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> India / by Express News Service / Hyderabad – October 24th, 2017

Spreading wings for digital documentation of avian species

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All
Pheasant-tailed Jacana flying at Kondakarla Ava, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country, near Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district.K.R. DEEPAK
Pheasant-tailed Jacana flying at Kondakarla Ava, one of the largest freshwater lakes in the country, near Anakapalle in Visakhapatnam district.K.R. DEEPAK

Bird Count India conducts workshop in Vizag

In a first of its kind initiative to be conducted in the region, birdwatchers of the city are getting together to collect and document bird species spotted in Visakhapatnam and other parts of Andhra Pradesh through the digital platform of eBird India.

While Visakhapatnam and its neighbouring regions have several critical zones supporting resident and migratory bird population, so far not much has been done towards documentation of these avian species in a systematic manner. With an effort to bring the birders of the region together and initiate the digital documentation of bird species, a workshop was conducted by Bird Count India (BCI) in association with Vizag Birdwatcher’s Society at Visakha Public Library on Saturday.

eBird is a global, internet-based platform for gathering observations of birds, and for birders to maintain records of their sightings. Housed in Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology, the India chapter of eBird is managed by Bird Count India. The platform encourages birders to maintain complete bird lists and upload them on eBird, conducts periodic bird events and projects, offers support and resources to birding groups conducting their own projects and put together useful information on bird monitoring.

Speaking to The Hindu , Ramit Singal of Bird Count India, which manages eBird India, said: “So far, we have got seven million observations by around 9,000 birdwatchers from across India since 2014. However, there hasn’t been much information put up from Visakhapatnam. The idea is to provide a common platform to the birders of the region to upload bird data on the eBird.org.” The portal has an in-built filtering system and over 100 reviewers are based in cities across India who monitor the content uploaded. Vikram Penmetsa of Vizag Birdwatcher’s Society said that there were about 25 active birders in the region who have been documenting bird species, but eBird.org will help to bring together the data on bird distribution.

Apart from its major events like the Great Backyard Birdcount, which is held in February every year, Bird Count India has recently initiated a project for two big bird atlases, one in Mysore which was completed recently and another in Kerala which is a five-year initiative to be completed by 2020. “We recently completed a comprehensive bird survey for Kanha National Park and are in the process of getting a comprehensive checklist of birds from Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh regions,” Mr Singal said.

Unique event

One of BCI’s unique events is the Campus Bird Count which was started in 2015 with 50 college campuses in the India. Today, the event has more than 200 campuses participating every year. “There are over 400 bird species recorded from college campuses during this yearly event. We will be announcing the dates of the next Campus Bird Count in December and would be an ideal platform to document many bird species spotted in and around the educational campuses of Visakhapatnam,” Mr Singal added.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Nivedita Ganguly / Visakhapatnam – October 22nd, 2017

MS memorial award given to Dwaram Lakshmi

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Carnatic vocalist Dwaram Lakshmi receiving the M.S. Subbulakshmi memorial award from K.S. Govindarajan, principal, Government College of Music and Dance, and ZP chairperson Gadde Anuradha, at a function in Vijayawada on Saturday. | Photo Credit: ARRANGED
Carnatic vocalist Dwaram Lakshmi receiving the M.S. Subbulakshmi memorial award from K.S. Govindarajan, principal, Government College of Music and Dance, and ZP chairperson Gadde Anuradha, at a function in Vijayawada on Saturday. | Photo Credit: ARRANGED

She has evolved a distinctive style of her own

The prestigious music award named after Carnatic vocal doyen M.S. Subbulakshmi was given to vocalist Dwaram Lakshmi at a function organised by the Department of Language and Culture at the Ghantasala Government Music College here on Saturday.

Ms. Lakshmi is a Doctorate in Music and is working as a Grade ‘A’ artist with the All India Radio and Doordarshan. She is proficient in Carnatic Classical and Light Music (Sugam Sangeeth). She is the grand daughter of the legendary violinist Dwaram Venkata Swamy Naidu. She is a third generation musician with both her parents being musicians. Her father Dwaram Bhavanarayana Rao and mother Venkata Varadamma are also legends with many admirers. She is also a pupil of stalwarts like MS Vasantha Kumari, T.R. Subrahmanyam, Pemmaraju Surya Rao and learnt Hindustani from J.V.S. Rao. She has evolved a distinctive style of her own.

Violin maestro Annavarapu Ramaswamy and Krishna district Zilla Parishad chairperson Gadde Anuradha presented the award to Ms. lakshmi.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – September 16th, 2017