Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Engineering grad shows the way

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion
K Nikita who won the Leo of the Year award at a function in Visakhapatnam on Thursday
K Nikita who won the Leo of the Year award at a function in Visakhapatnam on Thursday

Being a civil engineering student doesn’t stop her to reach out to the deprived lot and serve society in the best possible manner.

It is this selfless attitude that made K. Nikita, III year student of Dr. L. Bullayya College, stand out from the crowd and win an international award ‘Leo of the Year 2012-2013’. As part of Leo Club Visakhapatnam Greater, a community-based youth wing of Lions Clubs International, Nikita got selected for her consistent effort serving diverse communities. Nikhita is the first person to win the award from the State and second in the country, says her father K.L.V. Krishna Rao.

Apart from being a brilliant student and an NCC cadet, Nikita has designed several projects that heighten the happiness quotient of the needy. “The club, involving 20 youngsters, provides me a platform to meet different people and understand their requirements. Visiting places such as Central Jail, Juvenile Home for Girls, old age homes and slum areas made me think beyond classrooms,” she says.

Community projects

Nikita feels creating tailor-made community projects provide an avenue to foster leadership qualities. She says, “service is contagious. It gives me immense pleasure when people benefit out of our programmes and spread the smile. The recent week-long workshop at the Central Jail saw inmates participating in a series of sports and quiz contests. I feel these people have been brushed aside by society due to varied reasons. And it is our responsibility to bring change in their lives.”

Drawing inspiration from her parents and team-mates, Nikita is confident about living her dream by utilising her time efficiently. Shuffling between studies and community work, according to her, is an art that one nurtures over a period of time. “Everything is time bound in life. It is important to plan your day. With so much to do in life, the art of living lies in enjoying what you do. And in the process, you will end up finding time for anything you want to do,” she adds.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Rani Devalla / Visakhapatnam – January 31st, 2014

Free workshop on film making

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education

If you think that the success of a movie depends on its casting, music and foot-tapping item numbers, you are mistaken.

The movie ‘Minugurulu’ has no such regular templates to draw the audience to the theatre hall. However, the well-made film will hardly leave its viewers disappointed as its theme is entirely different from the run-of-the-mill melodrama.

Released in 2014, the film, directed and produced by Ayodhya Kumar Krishnam Setty, grabbed special jury prize in the International Children’s Film Festival of India apart from being nominated for Best Indian Film at the 9 India International Children’s Film Festival.

To facilitate the aspiring directors understand the concept of directing message- oriented films, Vizag Film Society has taken the initiative of screening the film on April 25 which will be followed by a free workshop on filmmaking.

The director of the film is coming to Vizag to engage the wannabe filmmakers and take them through the workshop that focuses on the making of ‘Minugurulu’. “To celebrate the theme-based film’s success, we have organised this workshop. The session facilitates an interactive forum with director Ayodhya Kumar where one gets familiar with the nuances of making low-budget films,” honorary secretary of VFS Narava Prakasa Rao said.

Certificates will be given away to those who participate in the free workshop. Free screening of Minugurulu will begin at Visakhapatnam Public Library from 10 a.m. Those who want to register can contact 9052954800 or 9032477463.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Visakhapatnam / by Staff Reporter / Visakhapatnam – April 22nd, 2014

Remembering a titan of Hyderabad’s heritage

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

He played cricket and football for St Stephen’s Delhi with distinction. He did his masters in English as well as Arabic and he topped Punjab University in Persian. And if you are to name a saviour of the cave art of Ajanta and Ellora it is him: Ghulam Yazdani, a Padma Bhushan awardee as well as a recipient of OBE (Order of British Empire). 

Remembering a titan of Hyderabad’s heritage
Remembering a titan of Hyderabad’s heritage

As the Archaeology Department of Andhra Pradesh marks its 100 years the coming Friday, it is time to remember the man who created the department out of nothing.
If Hyderabad has a vestige of its heritage left, it is thanks to him. Deputed to Hyderabad as a Superintendent in 1914, he brought with him his expertise, energy and accountability. Not for him the claptrap of archaeology department doing the job of cataloguing and executing conservation work, Yazdani was a hands on man who got a road laid between Hyderabad and Bidar to protect the Bahamani heritage of Bidar and also between Toli Masjid and Golconda.
A man of sharp wit, he dismisses the decorative motifs of Toli Masjid as: “The impression made by such buildings overloaded with decorations is like the impression left by the ostentatious and lavish display of personal adornment, generally favoured by lowly persons suddenly become rich.”
For the restoration of the Ellora cave art, he tried to get Luigi Cavenaghi, the man linked to restoration of Leonardo’s Last Supper, to work on the paintings. Unfortunately, he could get only Lorenzo Cecconi, who applied shellac on the paintings, ruining them further. Ghulam Yazdani published a series of photographs and reproductions of the cave art with his explanations.
And by the way, Ghulam Yazdani’s salary was ` 560 per month. And just recently, the Archeology Department found it fit to name its museum after YS Rajasekhara Reddy!

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> Life & Style> People / by Serish Nanisetti, TNN / April 21st, 2014

Daughter fulfils father’s last wish

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration /Positive News and Features, Records, All

 

P.M. Rao, whose body was donated to Osmania Medical College. / The Hindu
P.M. Rao, whose body was donated to Osmania Medical College. / The Hindu

Donates his body to the anatomy department of OMC. The family of late Madhava Rao was pleasantly surprised by the feedback from students of the medical college.

A father’s last wish, of being useful even after death, was fulfilled by his daughter. K. Sandhya Gupta, who donated his body to the anatomy department of Osmania Medical College.

A retired employee of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), Parepalli Madhava Rao, who passed away recently, had planned ahead. “He was very clear that his eyes and body should be donated to a medical institution. He used to say that there is no point in burning the body after so many years of feeding it. That’s why we went all out to fulfil his wish,” his daughter, Ms. Gupta, recalls.

The family of late Madhava Rao was pleasantly surprised by the feedback from students of the medical college. “For the past six to eight months, the anatomy department students were working and reworking on the same cadaver. The practicals of researchers and students were held up as there was no cadaver. They welcomed us with open arms and appreciated our efforts,” she says.

Interest in research was huge for Rao, who has translated Russian books into English in subjects that include botany, zoology, agriculture, fuels and mining for Indian publishing houses. “By the age of 80, he had already translated 80 technical books and hundreds of scientific articles from Russian to English,” she adds.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Hyderabad / by Staff Reporter / Hyderabad – April 15th, 2014

Facelift for Abdul Wahab tomb

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence
Grandiose plans:The 400-year-old tomb in Kurnool is set to be developed as a tourist spot.-Photo U.Subramanyam / The Hindu
Grandiose plans:The 400-year-old tomb in Kurnool is set to be developed as a tourist spot.-Photo U.Subramanyam / The Hindu

Abdul Wahab tomb, popularly known as Gol Gummaz, located near Osmania College here will soon get a facelift under the Special Tourism package. Financial assistance was given under Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Central Tourism package.

The Union Tourism Ministry sanctioned an amount of Rs 4.30 crore for development of Gol Gummaz, Kondareddy Fort, Vijayavanam as landscape and Rupala Sangameswara temple.

Special focus was laid on the 400-year-old tomb for development as tourist spot along with three other places, which will form a tourism circuit. Gol Gummaz has a special place in the history of Kurnool city. The tomb of Abdul Wahab, the military commander of Bijapur army and first Muslim ruler of Kurnool was believed to have been constructed in 1618 after the death of Wahab. After successful invasion of the Kurnool fort, Bijapur Sultan Adil Shah declared Wahab as its chieftain. His successors ruled the fort until another dynasty headed Davud Khan was installed as rulers of Kurnool fort.

The monument with a large dome was constructed in typical Bijapur style of architecture. The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) notified the structure as monument and took all measures to protect its ambience. However, with the latest decision of developing it as a tourist centre, every care was being taken to preserve the originality of the monument, said Krishna Chaitanya of ASI.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Andhra Pradesh / by  D. Sreenivasulu / Kurnool – March 19th, 2014

Gopal Darwaza stands as a witness to history

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence
The historical gate way to Tungabhadra river Gopal Darwaza in Kurnool. / PHOTO: U.SUBRAMANYAM / The Hindu
The historical gate way to Tungabhadra river Gopal Darwaza in Kurnool. / PHOTO: U.SUBRAMANYAM / The Hindu

Gopal Darwaza, popularly known as ‘Gopal Diddi’, a dilapidated structure on the bank of Tungabhadra river speaks volumes about history and a gory past.

The entrance (northern gate) was part of the Kurnool fort which was built by vassals of Vijayanagara Kings in the 15th and 16th century. Araveeti dynasty ruled Kurnool fort on account of its close relations with the Vijyanagara kings.

However, two controversial accounts exist about the majestic entrance overlooking the river. According to one version, the last king of Kurnool Araveeti Gopala Raju, grandson of Araveeti Ramarayalu (son-in-law of Krishnadevaraya) used the entrance to reach to the river every day for a dip and worship in the Nagareswara and Anjaneya Swamy temples. Hence it was named Gopal Darwaza.

Another account is that Gopal Raja fled from the entrance when the army of Bijapur commander Abdul Wahab laid a siege to the fort. Palle Kesava Rao, a noted historian and writer, depicted in his book that Gopal Raja fought a fierce battle and died a heroic death in front of the temple of his beloved God Nagareswara. However, the next rulers wove the fleeing story to avoid backlash from public.

After the battle there was no trace of Gopal Raja and no account exists whether he had taken shelter anywhere. The valiant king who defended the fort even after the fall of Vijayanagara Kingdom could not have surrendered so meekly to invaders, says historian K. Maddaiah.

In fact, Gopal Raja repelled the attack of Abdul Wahab successfully in 1618 taking the help of his cousins from Owk, Penugonda and Ghani. After the fall of Vijayanagara kingdom in Tallikota battle in 1565, the Kurnool fort was offered to Bijapur as part of arrangement. But the Kurnool kings refused to surrender and revolted, which took another 50 years to get subdued.

In 1624, the Bijapur army renewed its attack on Kurnool fort and waited for a long time at Gondiparla, on the other side of the bank, and carried out the surprise attack during night. Gopal Raja, who was confident of repulsing the attack, could not secure support from his cousins this time.

Kondareddy Burj and Gopal Darwaza are the remnants of the sprawling Kurnool fort, built of red sandstone. A part of the long moat (trench) of the fort was levelled during British time and a street was constructed, which is named as Minchin Bazar, after a British official.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Kurnool – April 22nd, 2014

Historic Sangameswara temple surfaces

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

SangameshwaraTempleHF26apr2014

Sangameswara temple surfaced from the backwaters of Srisailam reservoir three days ago. Priests and devotees have been making hectic arrangements for conducting rituals for 12 weeks in summer.

It has been a kind of sojourn for the temple since 2003 when it surfaced for the first time after 20 years. The temple was the only structure which could not be relocated on the request of devotees under the rehabilitation. Scores of villages and temples were shifted to different places and some important idols were stored at the museum in Kurnool.

The temple remained under water for two decades and surfaced in 2003 when the dam authorities depleted the water in the reservoir. Since then, the temple has been surfacing when the level declined below 834 ft.

The irrigation officials draw water for power generation and to supply water to irrigation canals in winter and beginning of the summer. The depletion is likely to be intensified in the coming years when Hundri-Neeva, Veligonda and Srisailam Left Bank Canal start drawing water.

The Hindu
The Hindu

Meanwhile, the temple priests headed by Telakapalli Raghurama Sarma are gearing up for the daily rituals and weekly “homam”. The team planned Lalitha Sangemeswara Kalyanotsavam on June 9.

The volunteers cleaned up the premises while the priests conducted rituals sanctifying the temple. Mr. Raghurama Sarma underscored the need for strengthening the structure since the temple is showing signs of stress since it remained in water for 31 years.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Kurnool – April 16th, 2014

Heritage of negligence

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

Hyderabad :

The International Council on Monuments & Sites (ICOMOS) adopted ‘Heritage of Commemoration’ as the theme for this year’s World Heritage Day celebrations. Celebrated globally on the 18th of April, the event aims at promoting the concept of heritage being a shared asset of mankind. The theme this year highlights the inherent desire in humans ‘to remember and transmit their memory to others’. Architecture being the most immediately apparent manifestation of the past, successive generations have added commemorative markers to record and transmit their history. The choice of theme is said to have been influenced by the fact that 2014 marks the centenary of commencement of hostilities in that dreadful international conflict known in history as the Great War of 1914-1918 or World War I.

The Hyderabad Chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) organizes an annual awards function as part of its Heritage Awareness Program in which select heritages of the city are acknowledged. Through sustained efforts over the past two decades, the program has succeeded in highlighting numerous unique examples of the city’s cultural assets which, though known to a majority of the public, had been relegated to some deep recess of the mind. Taking inspiration from the ICOMOS theme, the focus of the selection process this year was on cultural assets which have strong linkages with personalities, events and movements from our past. Though the concept of recognition based on associational value is not new for the awards program and quite a few examples of commemorative heritage having been recognized in earlier years, the criteria took center stage this year. The change from an evaluation primarily based on typology, architectural merits and state of preservation was also motivated by the fact that INTACH’s own office at Hyderabad is housed in one such edifice. A rather nondescript structure with no architectural merits whatsoever, the Ronald Ross Building assumes great importance solely due to its association with Nobel laureate Sir Ronal Ross and his landmark discovery regarding the malarial parasite.

It is said a nation is merely the custodian of inherited heritage and as such charged with the responsibility of protecting and preserving what it has received so as to hand it over intact to the succeeding generations. In the process people of a particular time in history have the unique opportunity to add, with reasonable justification, all that they consider as being representative of their own times. Unfortunately, if the present apathy of the government continues unchecked, Hyderabad will soon be bereft of any vestiges of the past and the present generation would be blamed for erasing the past and leaving nothing for posterity except the monstrosity called Metro Rail to commemorate its existence.

At Hyderabad, the World Heritage Day is no longer an occasion for the celebration of shared heritage and has instead, unfortunately been transformed into an annual ritual of collective lamentation. The dirge has as yet failed to draw any sympathy from a state which refuses to honour international commitments made by the nation, assuring the protection and preservation of cultural assets. The indifference is amply manifest in the callousness of the government which has failed to reconstitute the Heritage Conservation Committee even though the last one having expired long ago. All attempts at reasoning with the authorities regarding heritages of the city have proved futile and the rampage continues unchecked.

With constitution of the HCC in a limbo, heritage violators can now wreck destruction with impunity. Playing out a charade which is said to have been originally conceived by mandarins of the secretariat, miscreants apply for permission to the GHMC and their applications are dutifully referred for clearance by the non-existing HCC. With no action forthcoming, a claim inordinate delay helps perpetrators in obtaining orders from the court directing speedy disposal. With no possible change in status, the ‘aggrieved’ party files for contempt and gets away with murder! In Hyderabadi lingo, the playing out such a sham is aptly put in the idiom “main maare jaisa kartaon, tu roye jaisa kar” (I will feign a punch, you pretend to cry). The ruse worked perfectly in the case of Victoria Maternity Hospital a few years back. Alain de Botton, author of The Architecture of Happiness claims “It is in dialogue with pain that many beautiful things acquire their value. Acquaintance with grief turns out to be one of the more unusual prerequisites of architectural appreciation. We might, quite aside from all other requirements, need to be a little sad before buildings can properly touch us.” Unfortunately our own dialogue with pain has not attained that requisite threshold of grief essential for architectural appreciation. If the present trend continues, we may end up commemorating heritage rather than appreciating the heritage of commemoration.

(The writer is a well known heritage activist)

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Hyderabad / by Sajjad Shahid, TNN / April 20th, 2014

Historic Old Town in for a makeover

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

Visakhapatnam :

For all those who thought that Visakhapatnam was a sleepy, fishing hamlet once upon a time, you’ve got another think coming. For, historic evidences and inscriptions point to the fact Vizag was a busy sea trade centre and a home to rich merchants as early as the 11th century.

Also, much before the revolt of 1857, it was in the Old Town area of Vizag that the first mutiny of Indian sepoys against the Britishers took place in 1788, in which a British officer was killed, something that hardly anybody is aware of. The area also housed India’s first school exclusively for young widows in the early 20th century.

Several such unknown or little-known fascinating historical nuggets are all set to entice tourists and visitors to the neglected and dingy Old Town area of the Port City as it is all set to feature in the city’s tourism map with the civic authorities finally allocating a few crores of rupees for conservation of heritage and a makeover for the Old Town under the new city development plan (CDP).

Planning experts from Ahmedabad also recently undertook a heritage walk and chalked out plans to take up the required development along with various stakeholders and Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach).

After drawing flak from all quarters for demolishing the heritage Kurupam Market tower, the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) seems to be finally trying to make amends by allocating funds to revamp and conserve heritage structures of Vizag, with a special thrust on the Old Town area.

GVMC commissioner M V Satyanarayana said, “We are in the process of developing the entire city and conserving its heritage structures. As most of these are in the Old Town area, we have kept aside funds from certain sources to utilize exclusively for this purpose.”

Elaborating on the latest developments, P V Prasad, convener, Intach, Vizag chapter, said, “In the new CDP, a generous amount of funds have been set aside for heritage conservation by GVMC, something that was not taken into account in the last plan. Also, planners from Ahmedabad’s CEPT University (Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology) have taken up the task of city development and are planning accordingly after they undertook a heritage walk in the Old Town recently.”

“We are soon going to have another meeting this month with GVMC, VUDA, archaeology department and other stakeholders to figure out how to roll out the plan and give a total makeover to the Old Town so as to attract tourists and visitors to the sites steeped in history,” he added.

The Old Town heritage walk includes a journey through the colonial era alleys that house century-old historic building and spots such as the Town Hall, European cemetery, Queen Victoria’s pavilion, Queen Mary’s Schools, St John Church and School, St Aloysius School, Light House, Isak Medina Dargah, Abu Sarang Street, Lavender Canal and other heritage buildings. “Some of these, like the hill-top dargah and mosque date back to the mid-13th century,” averred Jayshree Hatangadi, an Intach member.

Further, Vuda vice-chairman N Yuvaraj pointed out that proposals for setting up a heritage conservation committee for the four north coastal districts in Vizag is being sent to the state government on Friday after collecting nominations from Andhra University, GVMC and the Collectorate, which would then be followed by a government order for formation of the committee.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Visakhapatnam / by Sulogna Mehta / January 24th, 2014

University of Hyderabad Making Efforts to Preserve Gunjala Gondi Script

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All
Kotnak Jangu, one of the few who can read the Gondi script, at a Gunjala Gondi script reading programme held in Hyderabad on Friday on the occasion of World Heritage Day. Veteran journalist Potturi Venkateswara Rao (left) and UoH vice-chancellor Ramakrishna Ramaswamy seem relishing the dialect. | RVK RAO
Kotnak Jangu, one of the few who can read the Gondi script, at a Gunjala Gondi script reading programme held in Hyderabad on Friday on the occasion of World Heritage Day. Veteran journalist Potturi Venkateswara Rao (left) and UoH vice-chancellor Ramakrishna Ramaswamy seem relishing the dialect. | RVK RAO

Contrary to what everybody believes as established fact that first freedom struggle in India took place in 1857, a Gondi king with the help of Muslims fought against the British in 1730 and even sent a minister to bring army from Afghanistan.

“Britishers hanged about 300 people for revolting, all this we got to know after reading Gunjala Gondi manuscripts,’’ said V Krishna, professor, Centre for Dalit and Adivasi Studies and Translation, University of Hyderabad (UoH) on Friday at the recitation programme of Gunjala Gondi Script organised on the occasion of World Heritage Day at Potti Sriramulu Telugu University.

He said when manuscripts written in Gondi script were found in Gunjala village, Adilabad district, only four people were left who were able to read the script. “With the intention of preserving the script for posterity, we are going to document the script in audio and video format,” said Krishna.

At the programme, Kotnak Jangu, one of the few who can read the script recited a few phrases from the manuscripts. “I have written my biography in the script and teaching it to youngsters of the village,” said Kotnak.

With a very few people left who can read the script, efforts are being made to teach it to the current generation. It will be taught at 15 schools in Adilabad district, said Jayadhir Tirumal Rao, visiting professor at CDAST who has been working on revival of the script for the past couple of years adding that Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) is providing funds for research on the script and came forward to establish a research centre for the script.

Appreciating the efforts of the centre in preserving the script, Ramakrishna Ramaswamy, vice chancellor, UoH said that though scripts were excavated at Mohenjo-daro, no body was equipped to read and understand them. “Now with this work of the professors, Gondi script can be integrated with its culture and sounds of the language,” said Ramaswamy. “In the future, we will teach the script to Koya, Khond, Andh tribes also. We request the government to introduce the script in all the scheduled areas,” appealed Tirumal Rao.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Hyderabad / by Express News Service – Hyderabad / April 19th, 2014