The Unesco inscription of Rudreshwara (Ramappa) temple as a world heritage site has fulfilled an 800-year-old prayer of Kakatiya noble, Recherla Rudra, who built the temple considered a fable in stone, in 1213 CE. While laying the foundation for the grand temple complex, Rudra, a general of the Kakatiyas, offered prayers to all deities invoking their blessings for the prosperity of the temple and the town associated with it. The stone inscription at the temple, which has 54 verses, begins with the invocation of the gods seeking their help and praying to each of them to keep the temple and its city of Atukuru (now Palampet) prosperous and flourishing.

The verses also sing hymns in praise of the Kakatiya ruler and describe the locality around the temple complex, including its grandeur and magnificence, that even a “betel vine had climbed up the coconut tree” to have an aerial view of the locality. As in the case of Hyderabad, whose founding father Mohammad Quli Qutb Shah, had prayed to make the city full of people just like the sea which is full of life, Rudra sought the collective help of all deities for the prosperity of the temple and the town. Intach city convener P Anuradha Reddy said the Kakatiyas had given importance to three Ts — temple, town and tank.

And, Ramappa is the best example of this synthesis of architectural, social and aquatic heritage. The inscription was translated by Dr Lionel David Barnett, a scholar in Sanskrit who was associated with the British Museum in early 20th century. The translation was recorded by eminent archaeologist Ghulam Yazdani of the princely Hyderabad state in his ‘Temples at Palampet’, the first-ever scientific document on the Ramappa temple complex.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/unescos-tag-for-ramappa-an-answer-to-800-yr-old-prayer/articleshow/85021299.cms, August 2, 2021

In an attempt to show the best works of individual artists, the city-based S Cube Art Gallery in association with Art Kanara Trust and Mindcraft Studios has launched its ‘Art of the Week’ series. Over the coming six months, the gallery will highlight an exemplary work of one artist every week at its Kodialguthu Center for Art & Culture, G.G. Road, Ballalbagh, Mangalore-575003. The painting will be on display along with a profile of the artist during the respective week. Visitors and art lovers are welcome to visit the gallery from 11 am to 1.30 pm or 4 pm to 7 pm on all weekdays except Sundays. ‘Art of the Week’ series was formally launched on Saturday, 31 July 2021 at 5 pm by Jyothi Alva, the owner and hostess of Kodialguthu House, one of the oldest heritage houses of the city.

She unveiled ‘Mahishasura Pravesha’, an 36x30in acrylic on canvas work by veteran artist Ganesha Somayaji, Honorary President, Karavali Chithrakala Chavadi. Ashok Alva of Kodialguthu House and Mahesh Nayak of Mangalore Today English monthly were the guests of honour.

In her address, Jyothi Alva expressed her own keen interest in art. She appreciated the different art activities hosted by Art Kanara Trust in her heritage house as a befitting gesture and said that it has added to the glory of the venue. Ganesha Somayaji appreciated the initiative of S Cube Art Gallery to highlight one artist every week and said that it would introduce numerous artists to the public.

Mahesh Nayak hoped that this series would help in building a culture of art appreciation in society. Dr S. M. Shivaprakash, secretary, Karavali Chithrakala Chavadi also spoke on the occasion. Reshma Shetty welcomed the gathering. Nemiraj Shetty proposed the vote of thanks. Subhas Basu, convener of Intach Mangalore Chapter was the programme anchor. Established in 2014, S Cube Art Gallery is situated at Kodialguthu Center with its collection of paintings, drawings, graphics and sculptures. For Details Contact: S Cube Art Gallery +91 94800 14812 [email protected]

https://www.mangalorean.com/s-cube-art-gallery-launches-art-of-the-week-series/, August 4, 2021

The age-old tradition of using edible gold in food has now become a fashion statement in the food industry and modern Hyderabad is welcoming it with open arms. Over the past few years, edible gold has become a trend. From biryani to burgers, dusting gold or using gold flakes in food is something that chefs around the globe have embraced. This trend has made its way to Hyderabad as well and many look forward to trying out edible gold. But this isn’t the first time the city has heard of the precious metal being used in cuisines. Anuradha Reddy, convenor of INTACH Hyderabad, says metals like silver and gold, and pearl dust have been used to decorate food for decades in Hyderabad. “Silver vark has been used in the past, especially on mithais and pans,” she says. She recalls that until a few years ago, an entire lane beside Mecca Masjid was filled with people who would hammer silver and turn it into foils, which would be used for food decoration. Gold foil-decorated food was available in the past too, but at high prices and were bought only for special occasions. Gold was also used for its medicinal properties, as it could destroy bacteria, strengthen the body and improve immunity, she says. This age-old tradition has now become a fashion statement in the food industry and modern Hyderabad is welcoming it with open arms. In the city, there are two such stores which sell food that are decorated with edible gold — Huber and Holly and House of Dosas. These have brought in a craze for edible gold among Hyderabadis. “All that glitters may not always be gold, but in our case it’s tough to argue otherwise. Our Mighty Midas is an exotic dessert which comes wrapped in a 24-carat gold foil with edible gold flakes. The ice-cream comes with 17 different toppings, including Belgium chocolate ice-cream, chocolate truffle balls, caramelised rocher balls, raspberry rose sorbet macaroon, waffle dipped in golden pearls and gooey brownie,” says Satheesh Kumar, the operation manager at Huber and Holly. The ice-cream is made-to-order and everything for it is made in-house by the company. “The challenge was to make the ice-cream premium. We are so fond of desserts, but we hardly have any homegrown brand that has premium or luxury offerings in the segment. We thought of playing it up with this ice-cream and making it the best that the market can offer,” says Gayatri Chona, founder of Huber and Holly. On the other hand, Abhiram Mitta, founder of House of Dosas, tells CE about what inspired his gold dosa, also known as 916 KDM dosa. “Using gold in cuisines is not new, it has been a part of my culture (Kadappa) for a long time. The idea was to add a hint of native feeling to the dishes and that is why the gold leaves, which are used for decoration, are brought in from my native place.” The idea was to bring a homely essence, for which Abhiram also uses his mother’s dosa recipes. This special variety dosa is stuffed with dry fruits and is served with two-three varieties of podi, Bombay chutney, green chili paste chutney, red chili paste chutney, fried dry fruits and ghee.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/hyderabad/2021/jul/31/a-bite-of-gold-2337899.html August 3, 2021

With commencement of beautification project at city’s old Dabbi Bazaar and Sheesh Mahal Bazaar in the coming days, this heritage street will get a complete facelift with uniform look from its entrance towards the market side. The blueprint to restore pristine glory of these markets is on the finalisation stage. An expert team from the Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage (INTACH) will also visit Sheesh Mahal Bazaar to chalk out further strategy to develop similar facade in these areas. As Dabbi Bazaar is already a heritage street, the entire place will be given a new looking on the heritage pattern. Punjab Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora, who visited these areas, situated in the heart of city, said, “The Punjab Government will provide sufficient funds for this heritage project once the blueprint is finalised.

The beautification project will cover the entrance of Dabbi Bazaar. Entire market has similar facade based on the pattern of other heritage cities like Jaipur and Jodhpur.” “Both markets will have attractive look and heritage significance,” he said while adding, “The district administration and the Municipal Corporation are working in tandem to start and complete the project within next six months."

"Dabbi Bazaar and Sheesh Mahal Bazaar are known for wood inlay works and handicraft potential, which will be revived. Tenders of these projects will be floated shortly so that the work on heritage street can be started,” he said. Attractive gates would be fixed at the entrance of these markets so that daily visitor could see the heritage look of these places, he added. Besides roads will be recarpeted, floor lights and similar sign boards will be installed in markets, he said.

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jalandhar/hoshiarpur-dabbi-bazaar-sheesh-mahal-facelift-soon-290790, August 5, 2021

Abandoned, unattended, dilapidated and perhaps forgotten since the 2001 earthquake, a 150-year-old heritage school building in the bustling area of the walled city of Ahmedabad is all set to be restored. Powered by a state government initiative, Architect duo Manuel M De Las Heras – a Spanish architect and his partner, Sanskriti Panchal, will restore this heritage building of a government high school into an innovation centre for girls. The restoration project is the first case of an adaptive reuse of a government-owned heritage building.

The restoration work is expected to be completed within the next two years. On Friday, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between Gujarat Chamber Foundation and LxS Foundation for establishing a Girls Innovation Center in collaboration with the state education department, , Alliance Française d'Ahmedabad and Indian National Trust for Art & Culture (INTACH). “The innovation centre will basically focus on four projects to start with. These include life skill training, sports training and career counselling, and even a scholarship programme that girls can avail. The idea is to enable young girls from underprivileged backgrounds with additional skill sets and access to financial aid,” said Panchal, co-founder, LxS Foundation.

“The project also aims at enabling micro entrepreneurs in pols of Ahmedabad through grants,” she added. The idea behind restoring the heritage building and turning it into a functional innovation centre for women is to bring the heritage to its people. “Physical heritage only prevails to future relevance when it represents equality, inclusion and innovation.

Our idea is to bring the urban heritage spaces to common citizens. Heritage buildings do not have to be tourist spots but rather places accessible by the local community and therefore, restoring them keeping in mind the aspiration of young generation and needs of the community is inevitable,” said Manuel, who has worked on restoration of heritage buildings and spaces with involvement of local community at Dhal ni Pol. The organisation will reach out to the girls in need through state education department. (GCCI) will fund Rs 15 lakh for the project.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/heritage-school-to-get-new-avatar/articleshow/84906287.cms, August 6, 2021

The pillow lava formations found in Nomira in Keonjhar, one of the designated geo-heritage sites, are unprotected and lie in neglect in Odisha. The Geological Survey of India has identified 26 sites as National Geological Monuments. Most of these are located in geologically rich states like Rajasthan, Odisha, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. The connection between people, landscape and the earth’s history forms the foundation of the concept of geological heritage. These unique geological features are embodied with significant scientific, cultural, educational or historical value. They reconnect humans to Earth. In many countries, the concepts of geo-heritage and geo-parks have found much traction with sites being properly protected as part of a larger bio-diverse. However, beyond declaring these sites as geological monuments, little else has been done to protect these marvels of nature as most of the sites are lying desolate and may well be lost to the country during the course of ‘development’. Nomira too is an unknown wonder, which lies in one corner of the state.

The Geological Survey of India, during its 125 years celebrations in 1976, had declared Nomira as a National Geological Monument. A private steel company had even put up a marble plaque at the site but then forgotten all about it. Geo-tourism is an integral part of these geo-parks which encompasses both landforms like outcrops and rock types and geological processes, such as volcanism or glaciations. The pillow lava site was discovered by British geologists Jones and Dunne in 1942. It was the second site in the country where such formations were found, the other being near Maradihalli, a small village situated in Chitradurga District of Karnataka.

Nomira is located about 18 kilometres south of Joda town, on the Barbil-Lahunipada state highway. The monument can be approached from Joda by following the Joda-Nayagarh road up to Bamebari village and then trekking 2 km eastward to Nomira. The pillow lava outcrops look like small buns or pillows, a feature formed when hot molten basaltic magma slowly erupted under water and solidified rapidly to form roughly spherical or rounded pillow-like shapes. According to Anil Dhir of Intach, this happened 2.8 billion years ago, when the area was covered by oceans, and provides an important clue to the evolution of Precambrian peninsular India. The well-preserved pillow structures are roughly ellipsoidal and closely packed. Because of its remote location, nestled in an inaccessible area which was a thick jungle till a few decades ago, Nomira is one of the best preserved pillow lava sites of the world, Dhir said. Such pillow basalts can be seen forming even today along the mid-oceanic ridges or where submarine volcanoes erupt in the ocean.

It is happening in the Hawaiian volcano eruption. The flowing lava, when it reaches the sea, gets chilled so fast that part of the flow separates into discrete rounded bodies a few feet or less in size. Dhir said it took a full day to locate the place. It is now heavily wooded with shrubs and small trees. Nobody knew of the place. It was with the help of GPS that one could locate it. The plaque that had been put up nearly 45 years ago was found with a lot of difficulty. The site now adjoins the railway line, and any expansion will spell doom for this natural heritage. With hectic mining and blasting going on in the vicinity, both legal and illegal, Nomira needs to be protected. There are at least two dozen unique geological sites in Odisha, which should be declared as National Geological Monuments. Lava ash beds, sand dunes, monolith stone formations, caves, waterfalls etc, have been discovered but not listed. Arun Kumar Das is a senior journalist covering railways. He can be contacted at [email protected].

https://swarajyamag.com/news-brief/nomira-odishas-unknown-geological-heritage-wonder, August 6, 2021

The Mysuru Division of South Western Railways and the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) will collaborate to conserve the old railway bridge across the Kabini near Nanjangud. An earlier proposal mooted by the authorities to have a restaurant on wheels is also being revived to boost tourism. INTACH Mysuru convener and heritage expert N.S. Rangaraju told The Hindu that multiple rounds of talks have already been completed and the details, including the cost pertaining to its conservation and development, are still being worked out. The heritage committee members, including a few experts comprising structural engineers and architects, along with railway officials recently paid a visit to the Mysuru Rail Museum to apprise themselves of the rail heritage.

Dr. Rangaraju said the stakeholders were also toying with the idea of roping in corporates for funding the project. Apart from the bridge, the old metre-gauge rail – which has now been dismantled – will be re-laid and a few coaches will be converted in to a restaurant. A railway coach converted into a cafetaria already exists in the museum and the heritage experts inspected it to check its feasibility. Even the Sujathapuram station will be developed as part of the project. A similar proposal was made more than 10 years ago but the project did not take off. The bridge is located between Tandavpura and Nanjangud town on the Mysuru-Chamarajanagar section. But the authorities are confident of signing an MoU to kickstart the project after finetuning the final details. However an area of concern is the seasonal flooding for a short duration that takes place when the discharge from the Kabini reservoir exceeds 75,000 cusecs during monsoon. In 1991, the bridge was submerged and hence the authorities are wary of such a situation and how the damage if any to the project could be avoided.

The bridge across the river Kabini or Kapila is nearly 280 years old and existed even before the advent of the railways. Reckoned to have been constructed in the 1730s, it was the initative of Dalvoy Devaraj, who was a local chieftain, and the metre-gauge link connecting Mysuru to Nanjangud was laid and commissioned in 1899. Built in the Gothic style, the bridge runs parallel to the existing road bridge and the new railway bridge. It measures 225 metres in length and has 56 piers. The bridge was closed and decommissioned for traffic after the last metre-gauge train crossed it on January 17, 2007. In October last year, the railway authorities visited the bridge and announced that it would be developed and conserved as a heritage structure given its historicity.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/railways-intach-in-talks-for-restoration-of-kabini-bridge/article35805423.ece, August 9, 2021

A trader reconstructs façade of his building in Shahjahanabad in the image of Jaipur’s Hawa Mahal. NDMC asks him to dismantle structure. Questions arise over rules. A Chandni Chowk-based trader has sparked a controversy with his decision to reconstruct the façade of his old building in the national capital’s Shahjahanabad area in the image of Jaipur’s iconic Hawa Mahal. The trader, Ankit Keyal, rebuilt the façade entirely new, inviting flak towards the local administration for allowing the trader to violate the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2041. The MPD guidelines allow for restoration of façades, but not for new construction. The building stands on the 1.3 km pedestrian stretch between the Lahori Gate of Red Fort and Fatehpuri Masjid in the walled city of Shahjahanabad. This stretch had been completed by the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC) and the Public Works Department (PWD) of the Delhi government in June, under the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment, which seeks to beautify the old city in the national capital.

On 5 August, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) instructed the trader to dismantle the new structure within 48 hours. However, he hasn’t moved to do so yet, according to the administration even as Keyal told The Indian Express that he has started the dismantling process. “We have been told that the owner is going to dismantle it so we are giving him some time. Else we will demolish it. At this point, we don’t even have police support due to preparations for 15 August,” the office of deputy commissioner, Sadar Paharganj Zone, NDMC, told ThePrint in a statement. A senior NDMC official said the owner was given permission to repair the façade two years ago. However there was “no talk about new construction”. The incident first came to prominence on 3 August when Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor tweeted about the façade, praising it as the “start” of the beautification of old buildings in the area. After Keyal was asked to dismantle the structure, Kapoor called it a “sad decision” of the NDMC, alleging the administration made the move under pressure of a “few complaints”.

What the experts say?

Local trade bodies and experts pointed to lack of clarity in rules for the move, adding that such redevelopment shouldn’t be allowed when there is already a redevelopment project ongoing in Shahjahanabad. Sanjay Bhargava, president of Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal president, said: “Such measures can’t be taken without political patronage. If permission was given for repair construction, then how come no one even noticed when an entire new structure was coming up? This is absolutely ridiculous.”

He added: “It is like the street outside Golden Temple wherein we say Taj Mahal has come up… When the Shahjahanabad redevelopment project has already been categorised as a heritage site, how can one have a building that looks like another site?”

Heritage experts are also apprehensive of the development.

Annabel Lopez, project consultant, Delhi chapter on INTACH, said that the notified heritage properties in Delhi have regulations to control the limits of acceptable change. “The rest of the fabric of the walled city of Shahjahanabad will be allowed to develop in conformity with the guidelines defined in ‘Section 19.4.2.4 Plots with non-heritage buildings in Shahjahanabad of the draft MPD 2041’,” Lopez said. INTACH Delhi Chapter has made recommendations for this section of the MPD, including “façade control on streets with a large concentration of heritage buildings”. Chandni Chowk is one such street where façade control should be exercised to help retain the historic character of the walled city, said Lopez. According to minutes of a meeting held on 29 December 2020, chaired by PWD Minister Satyender Jain, “the proposal for Facade Restoration of Buildings of Redevelopment of Chandni Chowk was to be taken up immediately by PWD for expeditious implementation”.

This could have brought clarity to the situation that has arisen now. However, eight months down the line, the proposal is yet to be taken up. Speaking on this, Nitin Panigrahi, deputy general manager, project and administration, SRDC, said: “The appointment of consultant for facade restoration of buildings is expected to be completed within a fortnight. Thereafter, the detailed project report may be prepared in respect of buildings after examining remnants of facade and heritage elements associated with it, which can also be sourced from old photographs, historical archives, writings etc.”

https://theprint.in/india/hawa-mahal-in-chandni-chowk-sparks-row-over-violation-of-delhi-master-plan/712561/, August 9, 2021

Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU), excavating the Porpanaikottai archaeological site in Pudukottai district, identified an ancient brick-canal structure on Thursday. A portion of the canal identified about two-feet below the surface is touted to be from the Sangam era as archaeological evidence pertaining to that period were previously identified in the same site. On the 13th day of excavation being conducted by the excavation director Ela Iniyan, an assistant professor in the archaeology department, the 10-member team identified a brick canal. The 32-cm-long and 23-cm-wide structure is considered to have served as a feeder of a moat. Based on the studies conducted so far, archaeologists said that Porpanaikottai situated about 11 km from Pudukkottai town had a soil-cum-brick fort.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had granted TNOU the approval for the field excavation that began on July 30. “This is the first incident of identifying a habitat-based archaeological structure in Pudukkottai district. So far, we have identified Sangam era age stone inscriptions and earthen pot remains during surface-level studies,” A Manikandan, founder of Pudukkottai archaeological research forum said. TNOU has dug five excavation pits on the site and the university has sanctioned a sum of Rs 1 lakh for the excavation. Archaeologists said that they could ascertain the period to which the canal structure belonged to only after exploring further. Archaeologists said that further study through the support of ground-penetrating radar may reveal more facts about the remains of the brick canal structure found.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/trichy/canal-structure-found-at-porpanaikottai-site/articleshow/85286016.cms, August 10, 2021

The US may well have “E pluribus unum” as its motto, Latin for “Out of many, one”, but the Indian subcontinent is arguably the largest melting pot of the world. Waves of outsiders came to India, but instead of veni vedi vici, in Julius Caesar’s famous words, it has been a case of veni vedi mansi. They came, they saw and they stayed in India, blending into the glorious melting pot that is the subcontinent. Two new books published in 2021 delve into the fascinating story of how India and Indians evolved over the centuries, building upon and impacted by domestic and migrant influences. Wanderers, Kings, Merchants – The Story of India Through Its Languages by Peggy Mohan focuses on linguistics and the study of languages, including early Sanskrit, the rise of Urdu and language formation in the Northeast of India.

Meanwhile, Indians: A Brief History of A Civilization by Namit Arora takes us on a journey through the history of India by visiting six places including Dholavira, Nagarjunakonda, Nalanda, Khajuraho, Hampi and Varanasi. He also includes several chapters about visitors to India including Megasthenes, Faxian, Xuanzang, Alberuni and Marco Polo. The theme of these well-researched books aligns with the findings of research papers across various scientific disciplines by reputable scientists, that at some time in the first half of the second millennium BC, descendants of Steppe pastoralists entered South Asia from the north. These migrants blended with the local population and provided somewhere in the neighborhood of 30% of the gene pool of the Indian population today.

They also brought proto-Sanskrit, an Indo-European language, into the sub-continent and this language eventually blended with local languages to create today’s polyglot India. Prof David Reich, the famous geneticist and author of Who We Are and How We Got Here (2018), believes there were multiple ‘collisions’ that formed the present day Indian population – including the most recent mixture of people in the Indus Valley civilisation cline with people from the northern latitudes, carrying Steppe ancestry, after the decline of the mature Indus Valley civilisation around 4,000-2,000 years ago. This hypothesis is often called the Aryan migration theory (AMT), to contrast it with the indigenous Aryans theory (IAT) and the ‘Out of India’ theory (OIT). OIT proponents posit – without any genetic, archaeological or linguistic evidence – that Vedic and Puranic culture originated in India, and that Aryans from the hoary past are strictly indigenous to the Indian subcontinent.

Further, they claim that Indo-European languages radiated out of India, and deny any global roots for this family of languages. A frequent strawman approach by OIT proponents is to mislabel the AMT as the IAT, and cast these theories as an attempt by Westerners from the time of Max Mueller to make Indian culture subordinate to a superior culture brought over by fair-skinned invaders. This argument about an invasion has also been used by others to justify claims about various caste groupings, and the evils of the caste system. Making matters worse, the Nazis, out of their ignorance and fanaticism, stigmatised the very term “Aryan” forever, creating the myth of a “master race”. For some, OIT is important to defend the claim that “undoubtedly, therefore, we … have been in undisputed and undisturbed possession of this land for over eight or even ten thousand years before the land was invaded by any foreign race,” as written by M.S. Golwalkar in We or Our Nationhood Defined (1938).

“The ‘Out of India’ theory was motivated by bad politics rather than by good scholarship,” Namit Arora has said, adding that the “controversy” about Aryan migration was never an honest disagreement among scholars. He adds that the massive weight of evidence from linguistics, philology, and archaeology has long favored what’s now being proven or refined by population archaeogenetics. The nationalists have spared no efforts to raise generalised doubts about scholarly papers and research about the AMT without offering any cogent argument based on facts, and research grounded in the scientific method. It’s easier to question theories proposed by thoughtful researchers which always come with caveats. Meanwhile, OIT proponents fail to offer any logical and scientific evidence for their claims, and rely solely on questioning AMT and offering up anecdotal evidence based on religious texts and oral traditions that cannot stand up to scientific scrutiny. It is pertinent to note that the authors of the scientific papers that support AMT are not “biased” Western researchers out to demean India’s history, but belong to Indian archaeological and genetic research centers – including Deccan College, Pune; Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow; Amity Institute of Biotechnology Noida; and CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.

A 2013 paper in Cell entitled “Genetic Evidence for Recent Population Mixture in India,” by David Reich et al, emphatically states, based on genetic evidence, that most Indians descend from a mixture of two genetically divergent populations, called ancestral north Indians, related to Central Asians, Middle Easterners, Caucasians and Europeans; and ancestral south Indians (ASI), not closely related to groups outside the subcontinent. Archaeological and linguistic studies provide further support for these genetic findings about Indians being a blend of at least two very distinct populations. A subsequent paper, also in Cell, by Vasant Shinde et al in 2019, entitled “Ancient Harappan Genome Lacks Ancestry from Steppe Pastoralists or Iranian Farmers,” became fodder for the nationalist propaganda machine because it was mistakenly viewed as evidence against AMT.

The fact that the Indus Valley civilisation, which predates the Steppe people’s migration, did not have any ancestry from Steppe pastoralists does not prove in any sense that there was no migration. In fact, the same paper also states that “a natural route for Indo-European languages to have spread into South Asia is from Eastern Europe via Central Asia in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE, a chain of transmission that did occur as has been documented in detail with ancient DNA.” Articles in Indian media misrepresented the paper and included headlines, such as “New DNA study challenges Aryan invasion theory”, quoting Shinde as saying that the paper “demolishes the hypothesis about mass human migration during Harappan time” – a true statement which does not contradict AMT happening at a later date, leaving aside the mislabeling of migration as “invasion”. Later, another paper in Science published in 2019, entitled “The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia”, provided further evidence in support of the migration of Yamnaya Steppe pastoralist ancestry into India.

The paper found that “Steppe ancestry … integrated further south in the first half of the second millennium BCE, contributing up to 30% of the ancestry of modern groups in South Asia.” After the decline of the Indus Valley civilisation, the local population in the Indian subcontinent intermixed with northwestern groups with Steppe ancestry to form the “ancestral north Indians”. And they also mixed with southeastern groups to form the “ancestral south Indians”. Steppe pastoralists migrating from Russia mixed with people of the Indus valley civilisation to contribute to Ancient North Indians while the Ancient South Indians derived their ancestry primarily from Indus valley populations. Credit: Narasimhan et al, 2018. In his book, Namit Arora points out that Harappan seals never showed horses; equine imagery only appears in the subcontinent after the collapse of the Indus Valley civilisation. This would suggest that the horse culture must have arrived along with the Aryans from Central Asia.

The language and religion of these migrants brought over proto-Sanskrit and proto-Vedas, and Vedic gods such as Indra, Mitra, and Varuna and fire worship, which is similar to the practices of their Aryan brethren in Iran. They blended in with the local population and with local religious practices, with gods like Shiva-Parvati and Ganesha. In Wanderers, Kings, Merchants, Peggy Mohan delves into the sounds and structures of the Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages, and notes that the Sanskrit of the Vedas did not originally have retroflex consonants. Drawing on the work of University of Michigan linguist Madhav Deshpande, it would appear that “proto-Sanskrit” evolved by incorporating elements of local Indian languages.

Further, Deshpande’s linguistic research suggests that the developments are a result of convergence and not of forcible subversion, which is significant since it indicates that the social relationship between Indo-Aryan and Dravidian speakers in early India was one of equality, rather than “Indo-Aryan invaders suppressing an indigenous Dravidian population and forcing it to learn their language”. Meanwhile, genetics research into the origins of the Yamnaya or Proto-Indo-European culture continues to march forward. A recent paper, published in April 2021 in the journal Cell, suggests that proto-Greek and Indo-European languages originated in Anatolia or the Pontic-Caspian Steppe region.

All evidence and research therefore points to India being the world’s largest, if not first, melting pot, with both the genetic pool and the languages and culture resulting from a blend of migrants over time with preexisting indigenous populations. E pluribus unum is the reality in both the world’s oldest and largest democracies.

Ram Kelkar is a Chicago-based columnist who works for a privately held investment firm.

https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/into-not-out-of-india-has-been-one-of-the-worlds-largest-melting-pots/, August 11, 2021

According to officials, the recovered coins belong to the period of fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. A resident of Jaunti village in Kanjhawala tehsil of Northwest Delhi district has stumbled upon a hoard of ‘Mughal-era’ metal coins during excavation on his land. The coins were discovered a few days ago but the matter was brought to the notice of the area sub-divisional magistrate only on Monday. According to officials, the recovered coins belong to the period of fifth Mughal emperor Shah Jahan.“Coins dating to Shah Jahan’s era found by a local during excavation of his land in Kanjhawala tehsil and verified by ex-ASI area historian! Various structures from the Mughal era exist here including in Jaunti Shikargarh. The history buff in me is happily intrigued,” said Saumya Sharma, sub-divisional magistrate of Kanjhawala. The antique coins may soon be sent to an expert agency like Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for examination and also to carry out a study to ‘decipher the coins’.

The officials aware of the development refused to divulge further details. Jaunti village, located on Delhi-Haryana border, is known for a 17th century heritage site — a Shikargah (hunting lodge) built by Shah Jahan. The village was also the epicentre of the Green Revolution in 1960s. The archaeology department of Delhi government had plans to restore the historical structure in 2018, however, the proposal is still on the papers. An official of the ASI said that the agency is not aware of such development. In September 2018, the agency had found 254 copper coins during the conservation of Khirki Masjid, a 14th-century mosque in South Delhi. The coins were buried just 20cm below ground of the historic Khirki mosque.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/delhi/2021/aug/10/delhi-villager-unearths-mughal-era-coins-from-his-land-2342682.html, August 11, 2021

At the base of a lush green hillock, a channel of water gurgles as it flows out of a reservoir, an 8th century engineering marvel deep in the heart of Telangana. Young men jump into the channel to cool themselves in the hot afternoon. It is the water from the Ramappa lake that made the black soil of the Deccan plateau fertile, resulting in the prosperity of the region. It still flows down the valley between paddy fields and tall banyan trees. As I walk along the channel that skirts the western entrance of the Ramappa temple, its white dome comes into view. Inscribed recently as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, the temple in Palampet, once defaced by vandals and trophy hunters (a 20th century photograph shows the dome covered in vegetation), is enjoying its spotlight in the sun nearly 807 years after it was built.

The UNESCO tag is a new lease of life to this exquisite proof of medieval architecture and skill. Outside the temple is an inscription in Telugu that describes Racherla Senapati Rudrayya, a general of the Kakatiya rulers of Warangal, who commissioned the lake and the temple, which took 40 years for completion in the 13th century. The Kakatiyas, after breaking free from Chalukyan overlordship, ruled much of central India, right up to the eastern seaboard, between the 12th and 14th centuries. From the temple’s eastern entrance, one can see sculptures of dancing girls on both sides. On December 13, 1916, when Ghulam Yazdani of the Nizam’s Archaeology Department travelled on the cart track from Mulugu to Palampet village to see the famed temple, he found these two sculptures below the platform.

“It is reported that they were removed from the structure by one of the district officers, who wanted to carry them home to decorate his house,” writes Yazdani, who stepped in and stopped this vandalism. Over the course of restoration, they were placed back in position. While one looks like as if it was never dislodged, the other sculpture of the girl dancing with a snake on her head appears reconstructed. Flanking the entrance arch are 30 medallions carved in black basalt, showing women in dance poses and playing musical instruments. It appears like a lattice screen through which the grand idol of Shiva can be viewed. Dance guru Nataraja Ramakrishna used the dance poses carved in this temple to revive Perini Sivatandavam, a Kakatiya-era warrior dance form performed by men.

Exquisite craftsmanship

In contrast to the softer sandstone used for in the temples of Khajuraho, or the carvings of chlorite, laterite and khondarite in the Sun Temple in Konark, Ramappa’s sculptures are carved of black basalt, one of the hardest stones to work with. “The ornamentation of the central pillars and the architrave above them is rich. Subtle and fine like exquisite filigree work in gold or silver. Indeed, in the hands of the sculptors, the hard black basalt virtually attained the softness of wax and the polish of a clean mirror,” wrote former Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao while describing the beauty of the temple in 1966. It was a period when the temple and the vast area surrounding it used to be a picnic spot for people living in the nearby villages and towns. Now that the temple has made it to the World Heritage list, the crowds are back.

Mesmerised by the craftsmanship and skill that created these intricate black basalt and sandstone carvings, the tourists are posting photographs and videos galore. You are also getting to hear new stories about the musical pillars, the Kakatiyas’ Egyptian connect, the idol being perpetually bathed in sunlight during daytime and, of course, about the wish fulfilment property of the temple. And although it is said that Venetian traveller Marco Polo visited the temple, in reality, he travelled only till the Motupalli harbour on the East coast. The temple is neither named after the presiding deity, Rudreshwara, nor the general who commissioned the project, but, uniquely in India, after the sculptor who built it.

The temple rests on a foundation that uses sandbox technology, with red sandstone and black basalt used to construct the main temple, and light bricks used for the gopuram or cupola. The genius of the architect is seen in the idea to use modular chiselled blocks of sculptures that could be assembled on site in a particular order without any mortar. A verse inscribed outside the temple says, “In this exceedingly brilliant city, Rudra, who was a terror to rival warriors, performed the consecration of Rudreshwara. On top of the temple, shines distinctly a golden cupola, like the bright sun on the lofty peak of the eastern mountains, illuminating the space of the sky.” As I leave, the sun flashes and the temple’s white gopuram appears awash in gold, just as the poet described it.

https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/ramappa-temple-a-marvel-in-black-basalt/article35874809.ece, August 12, 2021

While carrying out the stabilization work of Kadavumbhagam at Mattancherry, two tombstones — which are said to be that of Jews settled in Kochi centuries ago — were excavated. The tombstones were shifted to Bastion Bungalow, a monument in Fort Kochi protected by the state archaeology department. It was while digging earth for erecting the pillar of a temporary roof to be constructed over the synagogue that the tombstones were . “One of the tombstones was unearthed on Thursday while we got the other one on Friday,” said an official with the state archaeology department. “We sent the images of the tombstones to Ophira Gamliel, an Israeli Indologist, who is working with the University of Glasgow, Scotland.

She translated the Hebrew inscriptions on the tombstones into English. According to her, one is that of Eliah, son of Tiferet, a who died on December 24,1598,” said Prof Karmachandran, a Jew historian. “The second one is that of Eliah, son of Gershon, who died on December 8, 1832. Unlike in the case of mosques and Christian churches, there would be no cemeteries attached to the synagogue. Then, these tombstones might have been brought to the synagogue area by some others. We need more studies to get such details,” Karmachandran said.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kochi/2-tombstones-unearthed-at-kadavumbhagam-synagogue/articleshow/85112604.cms, August 11, 2021

While several cultural aspects of the tribal societies remain a mystery, it is a well-known fact that tribals have lived in few of the most hostile environmental conditions on the planet. Consequently, they have gained immense knowledge about the development and management of the forest ecosystem. nternational Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples is celebrated every year on August 9. Estimates suggest that they comprise almost 300 million tribals globally, 150 million of whom belong from Asia alone. India boasts a population of 68 million tribals, representing 573 tribal communities.

While several cultural aspects of the tribal societies remain a mystery, it is a well-known fact that tribals have lived in few of the most hostile environmental conditions on the planet. Consequently, they have gained immense knowledge about the development and management of the forest ecosystem. This has later turned out to be beneficial for eco-restoration and maintaining a balance in the ecosystem. And one of the practices that have helped the tribals establish and maintain this balance is by fostering biodiversity. Here are four ways in which tribals have played a crucial role in maintaining the biodiversity of ecosystems, especially in India. Maintaining Biodiversity Through Traditional Practices In Agriculture While communities worldwide are increasingly shifting towards sustainable agricultural practices, the tribal societies seemed to have been the pioneers in the technique.

For instance, tribal communities like Irulas, Malayalis, and Muthuvas in Tamil Nadu cultivate conventional cultivars like millets, paddy, pulses, and vegetable crops. This choice of crops has been influenced by their dietary practices and their dependence on rain-fed irrigation. Thus, selecting and conserving the seeds from one season to the next has enabled them to sustain and remain self-reliant. But most importantly, several such crops are now cultivated and conserved only by tribal communities in southern India.

Use Of Wild Species As Food, Medicinal Herbs Compared to the urban population, the tribals usually consume all parts of edible plants. Thus, they depend on several wild species for bulbs, roots, seeds, tubers used for edible purposes. Simultaneously, they follow the rule of environmental conservation while harvesting these plants, establishing ecological prudence. For instance, tubers of plants such as Dioscorea spp. are harvested only when the vine's leaves have physiologically matured, turning yellow. The wild tubers are dug carefully to avoid damage to the associated species. Most tribes have elderly members who possess immense knowledge of medicinal plants for curing the diseased, which might be life-threatening. These plants are used solely or in combination with other herbs. Each tribe has its unique system of collecting plants and preparing medicines. Plant parts used for medicines are used at a specific time, either before fruiting or in any particular season.

The same plant might be used for different diseases: for instance, Calotropis Gigantea is used as a vermicide and chest pain. This results in the conservation of many plants, some of which are not even available outside a particular region. Maintaining Biodiversity Because Of Spirituality Most tribal communities conserve plants because of their faith in 'Magico' – a religious belief that plants are the habitats of Gods and Goddesses. This culture is dominant in the tribal pockets of Central India, such as the Balaghat, Dindori, and Mandala districts of Madhya Pradesh. It has also been observed in the Bilaspur and Kawardha districts of Chhattisgarh. Research indicates that plants have flowers that profoundly influence the religious beliefs of the tribals residing here. Their worship of trees has resulted in the cultivation of myriad species like Arjun, Basi, Indian Bael, Neem, and several others. In-situ Conservation In-situ conservation refers to the on-site (in the place of origin) conservation or the conservation of genetic resources in natural populations of plants. There is no limit to the impact created by this practice of the tribals.

Several virgin forests, flora, and fauna have been preserved in the sacred groves of tribals, which might have otherwise been disappeared from their natural ecosystem. The sacred groves refer to the natural forests in Central, North-East, and Peninsular India, where all kinds of human activities are prohibited. These groves are home to multiple unique species of trees. For instance, a giant Mango tree covered by the twiner of Tinospora sinensis and having a hanging stem that looks like an elephant trunk is present in the sacred grove of Maharashtra in the Western ghat.

https://thelogicalindian.com/trending/international-day-of-the-worlds-indigenous-peoples-30139?__cf_chl_managed_tk__=pmd_c91cbcb0ca45fe693bafa3d540ce29b788eecbdf-1628835872-0-gqNtZGzNAw2jcnBszQii, August 12, 2021

According to recent data of WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature), there are roughly 440,000 elephants left on the planet. The WWF also revealed that every year around 15,000 elephants are hunted by poachers. In addition to this, with increasing industrialisation and urbanisation, the habitats of elephants are disturbed leading to rise in man-elephant conflicts. It is not only our responsibility to take measures for their conservation but also create awareness about the possible ‘Elephant Extinction.’

World Elephant Day

In order to raise awareness, and bring attention towards the plight of elephants, August 12th is observed as World Elephant Day every year. World Elephant Day is an international initiative co-founded by the Elephant Reintroduction Foundation and Patricia Sims, the Founding President of World Elephant Society. On this day, they encourage individuals and organizations around the world to work towards elephant conservation. On this day let us see how India Inc. is using their CSR energies for conservation of these gentle giants in the country.

Blue Dart

Blue Dart, India’s leading express logistics service provider has planted 1,03,170 trees in the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary along with its tree plantation partner, GrowTrees.com. A part of the Deutsche Post DHL (DPDHL) Group, the express logistics provider is driving this Green Campaign which will improve elephant habitats considerably and offset over 20,00,000 kgs of carbon per year on maturity. The trees planted include local tree species such as Tendu, Jackfruit, Bamboo, Mango, Shisham, Jamun, Karanj, and Guava. The Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, located in East Singhbhum, proves to be a haven that boosts one of the largest elephant populations in the country. With an undulating terrain that includes high hillocks, plateaus, deep valleys and open fields between hillocks, this sanctuary is known to be a paradise for elephants and provides a diverse habitat for flora and fauna. Situated in the catchment area of the river Subarnarekha, the sanctuary stretches over an area of 195 sq. km providing ample space for the elephants to peacefully coexist without any interference from human settlers.

An environment and animal enthusiast himself, Ketan Kulkarni, CMO & Head – Business Development, Blue Dart, says, “Blue Dart has always been an organization that takes every necessary step in ‘Connecting People, Improving Lives’. World Elephant Day brings into focus the African & Asian Elephants who we need to protect from poaching, habitat loss and human-elephant conflict. Keeping this in mind, we wanted to ensure that our tree plantations can contribute towards securing a future for this wondrous species by reducing human-elephant conflict, keeping elephants from entering and feeding on cropland, and approaching residential areas around forests in search of food.”

Muthoot Group

The Muthoot Group has collaborated with WWF-India for managing Human-Elephant Conflict and protecting elephant habitats. The company has donated 75,000 USD under its CSR mandate to protect elephants across six Indian states, namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, and the company’s home state of Kerala. The project for CSR in animal protection focuses on the development and training of anti-depredation squads across elephant attack-prone areas in these states. Funding for low-cost solar fences in villages and electric fencing around agricultural fields is also provided. Investment is also made on the use of advanced technology like infrared motion sensors that work on the concept of detecting activity (elephant) through sensors in the nearby areas and activating the alarms in return. In addition, the villagers are equipped with torch and searchlights to help them spot elephants and thus prevent damage to crops, property and life.

Pernod Ricard

Pernod Ricard India Foundation and WWF India have joined hands to conserve the Asian elephant through effective human-elephant conflict management in Assam. The project covers close to 150 villages in Kamrup, Sonitpur, Biswanath, and Nagaon districts. As part of the project, community members will be trained on effective situation management by developing a toolkit and forming anti-depredation squads, which would help them protect their property, crops, and lives. The project will build on WWF India’s experience on human-elephant conflict management in Assam, developed over the last two decades. These measures include the use of anti-depredation squads, innovative and low-cost fences, and diverse awareness raising measures. Some of these measures undertaken with the active participation of local communities and the Assam Forest Department have demonstrated the potential to ensure the safety and well-being of local communities and the endangered Asian elephant.

Volvo

Kodihalli Wildlife Range was added to the limits of Bannerghatta National Park with the idea to provide a safe corridor for wildlife, especially elephants, to move from one sanctuary to another. However, this part of the ‘Elephant Corridor’ turned a nightmare for villagers as rogue elephants, breaking away from their herds, often went on the rampage destroying thousands of acres of cultivations and gorging on carbohydrate-heavy crops such as Jowar, Maize and Banana. In order to resolve the issue, Volvo group, at the prompting of Prashanth Gowda, Forest Range Officer of Kodihalli, took it upon them to construct elephant proof trenches as part of their CSR activity. Gowda praised the group for their quick action by saying, “When we approached Volvo for support to erect Elephant Proof Trenches, little did we imagine they would come forward to help so fast. In no time, they got their machine and team on the job. Now we know why Volvo is a giant among corporates.” G V Rao, Director-CSR, Volvo Group India said, “At Volvo, Environmental care is our core value and we are always on mission mode when it comes to Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.

Also to be able to change lives of thousands in one go, was a mammoth moment. How could we let it pass?” Accepting the challenge, GV Rao swung into action. He first visited the Kodihalli Forest range along with CSR volunteers to gain first-hand knowledge from officials. That was followed with a recce by Volvo CE Team. Soon, a Volvo EC200D Excavator was put to action at the site – to create solid Elephant Proof Trenches along the Kadushivanhalli Beat Side – 3m-wide and 3m-deep – for a total targeted length of 6 km. Dimitrov Krishnan, Head of Volvo CE India adds, “We are proud to be associated with a project like this that will have a direct impact on the lives of villagers in the Kodihalli Forest Range. We hope that with this initiative, farmers can cultivate their lands peacefully and create a better & brighter tomorrow for themselves”

Grow-Trees.com

Grow-Trees.com is planting 6 million trees in Singhbhum Elephant Reserve, Jharkhand to repair fragmented migration routes, create sheltered and screened areas for elephants and expand habitats. To make this process collaborative, Grow-Trees.com also invited villagers from Laylam village to participate in the entire plantation activity and was able to generate around 490,000 workdays. Says the social organisation’s CEO and co-founder Bikrant Tiwary, “We are targeting areas which form a corridor for elephants that migrate from Odisha to West Bengal. Till now, we have planted a total of 6 million saplings and the restoration of the degraded areas included the planting of local tree species, weeding, and seeding apart from natural regeneration methods.” Bikrant explains that in these days of climate change, trees help in the natural regeneration of forests and on maturing, tend to absorb approximately 20 kilograms of carbon every year. More vegetation also provides improved food sources for elephants and reduces the existing human-elephant conflicts.

https://thecsrjournal.in/elephant-conservation-csr-corporate-social-responsibility/, August 13, 2021

Lion Day 2021: Historically, lions have roamed from Gir forest in Gujarat to the Indo-Gangetic plains in Bihar. But their population decreased over the years. While the population of wild lions saw a catastrophic decline across the world, except for Africa, the mighty beasts have found a natural home in India. Their population has increased steadily in India, especially in Gir forest – the only wild population of lions outside Africa. As we observe World Lion Day on August 10, there couldn't be a better way to raise awareness about the conservation and sustainable solutions to save the global wild lion population, which has now reduced to only about 20,000. Lions are seen as the ultimate icons of pride, heritage, and power. But their existence has been troubled lately. Lions, listed as "vulnerable" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species, have lost a vast majority of their habitat -- and resultantly their population -- primarily because of conflict with humans, poaching, and trophy hunting. Seeing this rapid decrease in their population, a group of non-profits and tourism companies created World Lion Day to celebrate the animal and redirect the world's attention towards them. Organisations such as Panthera and National Geographic Society's Big Cats Initiative support World Lion Day.

History and significance

The Asiatic lions of India are a distant cousin of the much bigger African lions. Historically, they have roamed from Gir forest in Gujarat to the Indo-Gangetic plains in Bihar. But their population decreased over the years. If we dig deeper into our own history and heritage, we will find a number of paintings, scriptures, and several literary works dedicated to the majestic predator. Lions have been part of Indian's royal emblem and cultural identity. During Colonial rule, however, the British officers hunted lions and other animals on a large scale. This negatively impacted their population, distribution and habitat range. Being the "king of the jungle", lions help maintain ecological balance and biodiversity. They keep a check on the population of browsers and grazers and also keep the animal kingdom healthy by targeting the weakest members.

Lion population In India

After seeing a decline for some time, the Asiatic lion population has increased steadily in Gujarat's Gir forest and the larger Saurashtra protected region. Their population has gone up from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020. Several leaders and conservationists, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wished those who worked to achieve this turnaround. "The lion is majestic and courageous. India is proud to be home to the Asiatic Lion. On World Lion Day, I convey my greetings to all those passionate about lion conservation. It would make you happy that the last few years have seen a steady increase in India's lion population," PM Modi tweeted on World Lion Day.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/world-lion-day-2021-date-history-significance-and-population-of-lions-in-india-2506837, August 13, 2021

The Kashmir University and Indian National Trust for Art Culture Heritages (INTACH)-Kashmir chapter organised the first seminar on the historical significance of graveyards in Srinagar on Friday. The purpose of the seminar is to highlight the significance and cultural values of historical graveyards situated in Srinagar city. The seminar will help the younger generation to learn more about history, and such seminars will help the youngsters to enhance their knowledge of the historical background of the valley. Shabnam Bakshi, Scholar, Department of history, said, “This seminar is about the historical significance of graveyards. We had started the projects from the Sultanate period. It denotes how the change happened from the ancient period to the medieval. It also donates how changes happened in culture, language and political system.” “This seminar was about the earliest graveyards of Kashmir, dating back to Sultanate period – mostly 14th century and two graveyards of 15th century. This seminar was a study we had done on the sites. These stones in graves are repositories of information in terms of calligraphy, languages used on these graves, etc.

We also documented the design of these stones, ornamentation and kind of motives,” Mehran Qureshi, Organiser, said. Gulshan Majeed, a History professor at the university, said, “The study on graveyard is a huge topic and a lot of work needs to be done on this. The culture is almost 3,500 years back. The graveyards tell us about the people who remained in power. It specifies less about the common people. When we study about them, we will get to know about the history of people who lived here.” Quality journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce and despite all the hardships we still do it. Our reporters and editors are working overtime in Kashmir and beyond to cover what you care about, break big stories, and expose injustices that can change lives. Today more people are reading Kashmir Observer than ever, but only a handful are paying while advertising revenues are falling fast.

https://kashmirobserver.net/2021/08/21/ku-intach-organise-seminar-on-historical-significance-of-graveyards/?__cf_chl_managed_tk__=pmd_NMOhER3rHOXDVNTLL1TYdx94SoO5sKNSinCSgz98V7c-1630040623-0-gqNtZGzNAyWjcnBszQm9, August 21, 2021

In his talk, America in Chennai — Sites, Streets and Structures, archaeology consultant S Suresh presents the American connect to namma Madras. As a superpower, the United States of America’s geopolitical and socio-cultural impact can be easily observed in various countries, including India. However, you may be surprised to know that landmarks and sites with which you are familiar are historically linked to the USA. On Thursday, S Suresh, archaeology consultant and Tamil Nadu State Convener, INTACH, shared details of US-India connections that can be found in the landmarks of Chennai through his talk ‘America in Chennai - Sites, Streets and Structures’. The session was presented by the United States-India Educational Foundation, in collaboration with the US Consulate General Chennai and the International Centre - University of Madras to mark the 75th anniversary of the Fulbright Program, and Madras Week. “I stumbled upon many America-Tamil Nadu connections while researching for INTACH till 1996. When I went to the USA on a Fulbright fellowship, I was able to further explore these finds,” said Suresh. On a national level, he discovered that even archaeological policies are comparable when he was studying the Indian and American systems of historic preservation. “India’s first major archaeology law, the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act of 1904, was the inspiration for the Antiquities Act of 1906 in the USA. Several sections read alike. One can even get confused,” he shared, adding that this discovery was only possible through the archival records in DC. When it comes to Chennai, there are various structures such as the YMCA building, LIC building, and Royapuram Railway Station that either had a direct involvement of American nationals or were modelled after structures in the USA. Suresh detailed some of the most significant landmarks of the city that represent direct or indirect American impact.

Madras Museum

While the museum is home to a rare, solid gold American coin of 1852, the origins of the item are still unknown. It is believed that the Maharaja of Pudukkottai acquired it through his connections with American and British scholars in the 19th century, and ultimately belonged to the Madras Museum when it took over the Pudukottai Royal Museum. “I studied and presented this to the Rappahannock Coin Society in Virginia. Even there, people were astonished at how an American coin landed in an Indian museum in Chennai,” Suresh shared. Ice House (now Vivekananda House) In 1845, the Ice House was leased by the East India Company to Tudor Ice Company, founded by Frederic Tudor from Boston. Cut from ponds in Massachusetts, the ice was imported into Chennai and stored in the Ice House for the British elite to enjoy. While there were other ice houses around the nation, this is the only living one in this part of the world. Once the city learned how to make its ice, the building was acquired by local scholar Biligiri Iyengar, who hosted saint Swami Vivekananda after his western tour in 1897.

St Mary’s Church

St Mary’s Church is an Anglican church at Fort St George established in 1680. The first marriage performed here was that of Elihu Yale and Catherine Hynmers. Elihu, an officer of British East India Company, later went on to contribute to the Yale college in Connecticut, now Yale University. While there is a debate regarding the amount of his contribution, the institute was named so in honour of his benefaction.

DGP Building

According to Suresh, the Grand Central Station in New York shares a connection with the DGP building. In the 1970s, a 55-storey commercial tower was to be constructed over Grand Central but activists, including the national trust for historic preservation, actively fought this and won the case in the Supreme Court. Similarly in 1990s Chennai, when the Police department set out to build a skyscraper for modern police requirements in place of the DGP building, INTACH intervened, making it the first instance in the country where a historic building was saved by a local voluntary organisation.

The Theosophical Society, Adyar

The Theosophical Society was originally founded in New York by a Russian-American couple, Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott. However, on a trip to Chennai in 1880, the couple were struck by the picturesque Adyar river and thus, decided to shift the headquarters there instead.

Georgetown

Suresh noted the parallels between Georgetown in Chennai and Washington DC. They were established around the same time, though the one in the USA was named after George II and the one in Chennai, after George V. Their main thoroughfare accommodate restaurants, banks and are well-documented by the National Trusts of their respective countries. Both areas were terminal points for the cities’ trams, however, the tracks in Chennai are now uprooted.

https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2021/aug/21/usa-on-the-streets-of-chennai-2347545.html, August 21, 2021

In an attempt to explore and learn about the significance of Madurai’s Theosophical Society on West perumal Maistry Street, INTACH Madurai chapter organised a short heritage walk to it from New College House on Sunday evening. Former president of Theosophical Society R. Krishnamoorthy began the walk by explaining how the hotel at the starting point got its name. He said, “Before the 1950s, the building used to be the hostel for Madura College students. Even after the hostel was shifted, the place continued to be called as College House.” On reaching the Theosophical Society, Mr. Krishnamoorthy pointed to the participants that the building was 120 years old. “One of the main objectives of the Theosophical society was to achieve universal brotherhood, without barriers in terms of race, creed, caste, sex or colour. In Madurai, the society was founded by the sincere efforts of S. Subramania Iyer in 1883,” he added. The Theosophical Society is also home to a library that has books on a wide variety of subjects ranging from astronomy to religion to science. This was INTACH Madurai’s second heritage walk for the calendar year. Its convener P. Rajesh Kanna said that they would help the society in carrying out its activities.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/heritage-walk-taken-to-theosophical-society/article36049283.ece?__cf_chl_captcha_tk__=pmd_zv0a5QuoEwh_yugClLXvkVWYiHOegx8ovIL6ViAWB50-1630040635-0-gqNtZGzNAyWjcnBszRgR, August 22, 2021

The fourth episode of ‘Art of the Week’ series presents a collection of portraits by veteran artist Ramdas L. K. Shevgoor. The display was unveiled by the artist in the presence of art patron M. Prashanth Shet of SL Shet Jewellers & Diamond House, artist Vishnudas Kamath Shevgoor, Kasturi Balakrishna Pai and Jyothi Alva of Kodialguthu Heritage House on Saturday, 21 August 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at Kodialguthu Center for Art & Culture, G.G. Road, Ballalbagh, Mangaloluru. ‘Art of the Week’ series is organised by S Cube Art Gallery jointly with Art Kanara Trust and Mind Craft Studios. The paintings will continue to be on display till Saturday, 28th August 2021 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Subhas Chandra Basu, convener, INTACH Mangalore Chapter anchored the programme. Ramdas L. K. Shevgoor hails from a family of reputed artists. He was inspired to take up art as a profession by his artist father Late L. K. Shevgoor, who was a stalwart in the field and is recognized as the first commercial artist of Mangalore. Ramdas L. K. Shevgoor enrolled into Sir J. J. School of Art in 1960 and acquired a diploma in Applied Arts from Madhav Satwalekar’s Bombay Art Institute. He studied fine arts under a well-known artist, teacher and founder of Mumbai’s Nutan Kala Mandir, G. S. Dandavatimath. His multifaceted talent spans across wide spectrum like lifelike portraiture, acrylic and watercolour, commercial graphic design and architectural line drawings. Being an expert in portraiture, he has done thousands of portraits of eminent personalities and affluent families. His works can be seen in schools, colleges, wedding halls, temples, churches and universities in and around the region. His younger brother Vishnudas Shevgoor was a reputed commercial graphic designer and is presently grooming young talents at his LK Shevgoor School of art in the city.

https://www.mangalorean.com/art-of-the-week-series-4-portraits-by-ramdas-l-k-shevgoor-at-kodialguthu-center-for-art-culture/, August 26, 2021

Pots of various sizes and shapes are among the interesting findings unearthed at Keeladi and its neighbouring villages of Konthagai, Agaram and Manalur. Among the recent interesting findings is an extremely big storage jar. Dr R Sivanantham, commissioner of Tamil Nadu state archaeology department and site director of the Keeladi excavation, said that the storage jar was found at a depth of 348cm in Keeladi. It is a red slipped ware having an inturned rim. The neck less rim was exposed. The portion below the rim has a banded thick rope design. This thick banded rope design is enclosed by grooves on top and bottom. He said a set of two banded rope designs imitate the same but it is relatively thinner. The northern portion of the jar was exposed. The south-western part of the rim was crumbled due to pressure from above. Two centimeters is the thickness of the rim, and the external diameter of the rim is 34 cm and the internal diameter 30 cm, he said.

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/madurai/large-storage-jar-unearthed-in-keeladi/articleshow/85640649.cms, August 26, 2021

Leather puppets are the hallmark of art and craft of Andhra Pradesh. Intimately linked to the state’s unique traditional folk and cultural expression, also known as “Tholu Bommalata” (dance of leather dolls) one of the oldest surviving shadow puppet theatres in the world, fashioned of translucent coloured leather, projected on a small screen.

As soon as lights go off, a loud voice, along with classical music, booms and different characters leap onto white screen. The latest show of Tholu Bommalata has begun. Deeply connected with spiritual beliefs and cultural practices, this shadow puppetry mainly depicts narratives from epics like the Mahabharata and Ramayana, blending them with local customs, social issues and passing culture from one generation to another to keep this form alive.

Traditional techniques of leather puppetry

Leather puppets are made from goatskin that is transformed into a translucent parchment through an arduous process of washing and cleaning. After it is completely clean, the hide is marked out with the outlines of the figures of the puppets, punching holes in between, as the numerous little windows create a sparkling effect when held against light, adding to the beauty and attraction of the show. The outlines are then marked with black ink using a bamboo nib. After this, the leather is coloured in vibrant hues such as red, green, yellow and more. To make the puppets, individual parts or organs of the puppet, like legs, arms or head, are cut and then stitched together. The puppet is then mounted on sticks and bound with ropes to facilitate free movement. An average puppet takes up to four days to complete and a considerable amount of talent as well.

The origins

As was usual with folk arts, this art was also patronised and believed to have originated in 200 BC during the rule of Satavahana dynasty. Thanks to royal patronage, the art and artisans flourished across peninsular India, from Maharashtra to Odisha and southwards to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

However, over the centuries, with changes in rulers and their tastes, the art suffered and survived only in various pockets in different states. Today, the main centres of this art are located in Andhra Pradesh, though the art is also found in most other states of eastern and southern India.

Nimmalakunta, a small village in Anantpur district, is considered to be home of Tholu Bommalata as the art has been handed down for generations and the practice continues even today and almost every household practices it as part of their culture as well as the principal source of livelihood. “We have been practicing this art form for more than seven generations. My father told me that his grandparents, also engaged in the art, migrated from Maharashtra to Andhra Pradesh, to earning and settled here. I have also picked up this art, but I end up spending day and night to complete a simple puppet and most of the times, as there are not too many buyers always around, I get only little money,” Kandey Anjanappa, a well-known artist, who hails from Nimmalakunta, tells Media India Group.

Folk art on verge of becoming folk tale

With the advent of other media of entertainment and specially since the arrival of the internet and the boom in smartphones over the past decade. As a result, today there has been a sharp decline and the artists complain that there are few people who are interested in this art and even fewer buyers, making it very difficult, or even impossible, to make it their sole source of income. “It’s only the festival or temple occasions, when people remember us. We don’t even get two bookings in a month as it seems that people today prefer to get their entertainment from films and their smartphones rather than their culture and heritage,” says Kandey. Kandey is not the only one to blame technology and modern entertainment for the fate of the leather puppetry art. “All the upcoming technology is gradually a major reason for fading away of cultural and traditional art forms as unfortunately people in India don’t value their rich culture and heritage,” says Vinati Bhatt, artist and founder of Folk by Discovery of India, a New Delhi based NGO that has been working to revive and indeed promote traditional arts and crafts of India. Bhatt has been teaching children different kinds of folk arts for over two decades. She says that India has a large number of art forms, both tangible like painting and puppetry or intangible like storytelling. All these have been used for thousands of years to pass the knowledge of Indian epics, music, dances, local legends and other jewels of Indian heritage, through the generations, she adds. “Folks arts have rendered a great service in spreading knowledge to everyone, word of mouth was expressed in interesting manner with the help of music when there was no other mode or today’s technologies,” Bhatt tells Media India Group. However, she despairs that this immense wealth of culture and heritage is threatened as nowadays, people don’t even spend one or two hours to watch any kind of cultural folk activities.

“And as a result, there are many art forms which are depleted, many are still on the edge of extinction because there is no patronization,” cautions Bhatt, adding that people have stopped respecting our traditional knowledge, heritage and arts and craft. “People think they are over exposed, that is the reason they never value to learn these kinds of art forms, we should blame ourselves for not putting any efforts to learn any folk arts and crafts,” says Bhatt. She says that as a result of this widespread neglect, most of the artists have been pushed to limits of desperation. “It is a kind of desperate attempt to survive. I have seen a lot of artists who struggle to sell their handmade products at a cheap rate as people don’t value the efforts behind this and many other art and craft,” tells Bhatt. As they themselves struggle to survive, the artists are not keen that their own children follow them on this career path. “This lack of appreciation, neglect and the struggle to survive are the reasons nowadays most artists are firmly against their children learning this art form as a means of livelihood,” says Bhatt. To revive the art and to help the artisans survive and find new markets for their talent, Bhatt has begun to get them to make household goods like lamps, paintings and wall hangings as well as modern puppets which are popularly used in interior designing nowadays. With a rich repertoire of over 150 such items to be made, the Tholu Bommalata artisans have now found a way to showcase their talent to the world and earn a livelihood as well as respect of art lovers.

Fortunately, the original art form of Tholu Bommalata, the shadow puppetry, has continued to survive in rural areas of several states like Odisha, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Kandey says that after decades of neglect, the government seems to be finally coming to the aid of the artisans by organising exhibitions and also by helping them export their work. “It is a huge process to complete a single puppet and then often we would end up spending twice as much time in finding a buyer. For us, sometimes even domestic exhibitions don’t work out as we have to pay to participate and the sale is not so high. But exports are important and there the government’s help has been crucial,” says Kandey, who has participated, thanks to support from the Indian government, in various exhibitions in Germany, United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates.

https://mediaindia.eu/culture/tholu-bommalata-shadow-puppetry-art-of-andhra-pradesh/, August 24, 2021