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30-year-old home in Jayanagar testifies to the strength of mud

Amazing Feats, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Science & Technology

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Open your eyes to alternative, energy-efficient technologies

It could be anyone who could be part of this training. From farmers of Anekal wishing to build their own home, to a mason from Uttarakhand or an IT professional trying to understand the effectiveness of using mud.

Starting on Thursday, Gramavidya will conduct a three-day training programme on ‘Alternative and energy-efficient building technologies’ at the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Housing Corporation Koushalya Shaale, Kengeri.

“A cross-section of those interested gather from across the country for the sessions — consisting of lectures, audiovisual presentations, hands-on training and interactive open-house discussions,” says M.R. Yogananda, who has a doctorate in Civil Engineering from IISc., who spearheads the training. Gramavidya, a non-profit society, promoted by a group of professionals and academicians, disseminates building technologies for sustainable livelihoods. The experts are pioneers in construction methods, who have popularised cost-effective technology throughout the country in renowned constructions like the Auroville.

“We need to disseminate as much information as possible. After all, even professionals who pass out of engineering colleges seem to be uninformed about constructions that are quake-resistant. Energy-intensive beam and column structures are not everything. Interactive sessions can re-invent forgotten vernacular approaches,” says Mr. Yogananda, who is also the consulting engineer of Mrinmayee, offering research and lab-testing facilities for stabilised mud-blocks.

In the mid-1980’s Mr. Yogananda’s house in Jayanagar, built with stabilised mud blocks, became a curious model for people to “wait and test it out in all seasons” as the fear of going in for mud construction was mocked at. No sooner, the house was projected as India’s example of mud revival at the Festival of France in HUDCO’s national seminar. “My house is nearly 30-years-old now, and can go on for generations with its earthy sheen,” says Mr. Yogananda.

For details, 26582970 / 94489 26442 / gramavidya@gmail.com

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Bangalore / by Ranjani Govind / Bangalore – August 21st, 2014

Treat for Art

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

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Jaganmohan Palace is one of the Palaces located in Mysore city. The Palace was constructed by Krishnaraja Wadiyar III in 1861 and was the home for the Royal family after the Mysore Palace was burnt down in a fire accident. It has now been converted into an art gallery and a function hall. The Palace is one of the seven Palaces of the Royal City of Mysore and one of the most beautiful contributions of the Wadiyars to the City.

The huge pavilion in front of the Palace was used for holding meetings of the Representative Assembly and the Convocations of the University of Mysore. The installation of Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV took place in this pavilion in 1902 and was attended by Lord Curzon, the then Viceroy and Governor General of India. The Art Gallery houses the prestigious collection of paintings of Raja Ravi Varma, a great artist of Thiruvananthapuram, who had carried out an assignment for Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV in 1904.

In 1915, the Palace was converted into an art gallery, which was later renamed in 1955 in the name of Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, as the Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery. Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar converted the Palace into a trust and opened it for public viewing.

The Palace is built in traditional Hindu style and has three stories. In 1900, an external facade with a hall behind it was added to the Palace. This facade has three entrances and the entablature has religious motifs and miniature temples crafted on it. The walls of the interiors are painted with murals. These mural paintings which follow the traditional style of the Mysore School of painting depict the Dasara scene and the canvas depicting the sequence of the Jumbo Savari stretches across three walls. This mural is the earliest known picture of the Mysore Dasara and has been painted using vegetable dyes. A family tree of the Wadiyars tracing the lineage of the royal family is also painted on a wall. Two wooden displaying Dashavatara, the ten incarnations of Lord Vishnu is also present in the Palace.

The art gallery contains one of the largest collection of artefacts in South India. Most of these artefacts are paintings, prominent among which are those by Raja Ravi Varma, some of which demonstrate scenes from the Hindu epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. The collection of paintings in the gallery exceed 2000 in number and these belong to different Indian styles of painting like Mysore, Mughal and Shantiniketan. 16 paintings of Raja Ravi Varma were donated to the gallery by Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar. Another important painting present here is the ‘Lady with the Lamp’ which was painted by the artist Haldenkar and is placed in a dark room where it is the only exhibit. This is to give an illusion that the glow of the lamp is illuminating the face of the woman. Some other painters whose works are exhibited here include Nikolai Roerich, Svetoslav Roerich and Rabindranath Tagore. Other exhibits here include weapons of war, musical instruments, sculptures, brass-ware, antiques coins and currencies. Some other uni

que artefacts exhibited here is a French Clock which has a mechanism in which a parade by miniature soldiers is displayed every hour; beating drums mark the seconds and a bugle marks the minute. Paintings made on a grain of rice which can be viewed only through a magnifier are also displayed here.

Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery has collection of several Indian artists and Western artists as well. While, the paintings of Raja Ravi Verma is a delight to art connoisseurs there are also few paintings from western artistes which comes a huge surprise for the visitors.

‘Crucifixion’ by P.P. Rubens and miniature paintings by L.Gunov introduces visitors to the western paintings. The art gallery also houses many Mysore Style Paintings that are visual treat to watch.

A new hall was built in 2003 because there was insufficient space available to exhibit all the paintings. The original paintings of Raja Ravi Varma which are over 100 years old were restored by the Regional Conservation Laboratory (RCL). Syrendri, Victory of Meganath and Malabar Lady were some of the paintings of Ravi Varma that were restored. Even the murals on the walls had been damaged because of water seepage and these were also restored by RCL. The auditorium of Jaganmohan Mohan Palace is also used by organisations for the conducting cultural programmes.

The Jaganmohan Palace is being maintained by Sri Jayachamarajendra Art Gallery Trust which has been working continuously to maintaining the building as well as the artefacts. —VNS

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 16th, 2014

Murthy scions look at social change

Business & Economy

Bangalore :

The Murty siblings have something in common, beyond sharing a famous surname. Rohan Murty and sister Akshata Murty are emerging as ideapreneurs, focusing on business and socially-driven innovation.

Rohan, son of Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy and a junior fellow at Society of Fellows at Harvard University, has extended his sabbatical from Harvard and is looking at some “exciting ideas” in India. Akshata is funding social innovation through Stanford University.

“I am staying put for a few months since Harvard has agree d to hold my position open until January. I have time to decide what I’ll do next. I have a few exciting ideas I’m working on by myself,” he said. Akshata and Rohan own 1.41% and 1.38% in Infosys that translates into Rs 2,920 crore and Rs 2,864 crore respectively.

Murty took leave from Harvard to work as his father’s executive assistant when the Infosys board requested Murthy to return from retirement and lead the company for a second time last year. In the past, Rohan has written several academic papers, including one about an algorithm called Satya that he and two colleagues developed. It allows spectrum owners to sell or sub-lease unused or under-utilized spectrum in a seamless way, ensuring there’s no interference to the owner’s own operation.

Some sources said he’s actively involved in Murthy’s family office Catamaran Ventures which has offices in the US and the UK. More recently, e-commerce behemoth Amazon and Catamaran Ventures floated a joint venture to help small and medium businesses join the online bandwagon. Catamaran holds a majority 51% stake in the venture, Taurus Business and Trade Services.

Catamaran Ventures, a Rs 600 crore fund launched in 2010, has invested in companies like Hector Beverages, Ace Creative Learning, Healthsprings and NRB Bearings in India. More recently, Catamaran Ventures UK bought a stake in UK-based Hallmarq Veterinary Imaging that offers commercial magnetic resonance imaging systems to diagnose equine lameness.

Akshata and her husband Rishi Sunak, who are directors in Catamaran Ventures UK, are supporting social ventures.

Murty and Sunak, who did their MBA from Stanford, have made a substantial gift to support the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business that offers social innovation fellowships to help individuals launch social ventures. Their contribution will fund the centre’s Social Innovation Fellowship programme.

“I come from a family of entrepreneurs – my mother on the social side through the foundation and my father on the corporate side. I was raised with a view that entrepreneurship can change people’s lives,” Akshata was quoted as saying in an article on the Stanford Graduate School of Business website. She’s on the board of trustees of Claremont McKenna College in California and also the founder and CEO of Akshata Designs that produces con temporary women’s clothing.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India /Home> by Shilpa Phadnis, TNN  / August 17th, 2014

Kamalamma Sharada Prasad passes away

Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders

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Mysore :

Kamalamma Sharada Prasad (92), freedom fighter and wife of veteran journalist and Information Adviser to Mrs. Indira Gandhi and two other Prime Ministers, late H.Y. Sharada Prasad, passed away at a private hospital in New Delhi on Aug. 11 at 6.30 am.

A resident of Paschima Vihar in Delhi, she leaves behind two sons — Ravi Prasad, a Freelance Journalist (Defence) and Sanjeeva Prasad, Professor at IIT, Delhi.

According to H.Y. Mohan Ram, younger brother of Sharada Prasad who too resides in Delhi, many VIPs including Rahul Gandhi (AICC Vice-President), Kapila Vatsyayan (scholar of classical dance) and Sanjya Baru (political commentator) paid their last respects to Kamalamma.

Cremation took place the same day at 3 pm at the crematorium on Lodhi Road, Delhi.

Hailing from Mysore, Kamalamma had participated and was arrested in the Quit India movement of 1942. She was an official interpreter at the Mahatma Gandhi murder trial in 1948.

Kamalamma moved to Delhi in 1957, after marrying her college mate Sharada Prasad.

Speaking to SOM, their family friend Ratna Satyan, wife of noted photo-jounrnalist late T.S. Satyan and a resident of Saraswathipuram in city, said that T.S. Satyan and Sharada Prasad were close associates for over six decades since their college days at Maharaja’s College in Mysore where Kamalamma met her life partner and also while in Delhi. Whenever Sharada Prasad was in Mysore he used to call on the Satyans.

Late Satyan’s daughter Kalpana and son-in-law Gowtham Murthy, who reside in Delhi, too attended the funeral of Kamalamma.

Sharada Prasad’s younger sister Neeraja Achuta Rao, a vocalist, resides at Jayanagar in Mysore.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 13th, 2014

Obituary

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Mysore :

N. Rajanna (86), Retired LIC Officer and Kannada Novelist, passed away at his residence in Siddarthanagar here on Aug. 11.

He is survived by his wife S.R. Lalithamma, Retd. Head Mistress, two sons — R. Ashok Anand, Civil Engineer and Dr. R. Ashwini Anand, Interventional Cardiologist, Kentucky, USA — daughters-in-law and three grandchildren.

Born in 1928 at Dodda Ballapur, N. Rajanna lived in Mysore for the past 80 years and served LIC of India as a Development Officer for more than 3 decades besides scripting 11 Kannada novels, the most famous being ‘Vajradungura’ and ‘Daasi.’ While the former was translated into English as ‘The Diamond Ring’ by his Kannadiga fans in USA, the latter was translated to Hindi. He wrote his first novel ‘Ranga Mantapa’ when he was only 18 years.

Condoled: The LIC Pensioners Association, Mysore, has condoled Rajanna’s death.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 13th, 2014

The Singing and Bowing sisters of Mysore

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

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by Dr. Rama V Bennur

Though Mysore is known to be a seat of Vainikas, Violinists are making sound ! The cultural centre has a number of aspirants of Violin, who mostly are disciples of Vidwan H.K. Narasimhamurthy. Thus, the M.S.G. baani is spreading!

M.S. Bhaskar, son of H.K.N., is a violinist par excellence. Sindhu Suchetan and H.N. Smitha are the Violin duos, who are trained by H.K.N. They are also his wife Vidu. Rajalakshmi’s nieces. The talented sisters are equally good in vocal music too. They have received a number of accolades for singing as well as playing violin. They are in unison while playing, which was displayed recently (29.7.2014)in a concert sponsored by the Surabhi Ganakala Mandira Charitable Trust in city. The serene atmosphere at the Bidaram Krishnappa’s Prasanna Seeta Rama Mandira added to their enchanting bowing.

Vidwan G.S. Ramanujam (Mridanga) and Vidwan V.S. Ramesh (Ghata) enhanced the musical experience with their layavadya support. Sindhu and Smitha compliment each other with their synchronising strings. Be it a Kruthi or manodharma, their inclination, style and vibration are strikingly identical.There was a perfect balance between the compositions and the manodharma all through the concert. The very first phrase in their alapana would confirm the raga. The flawless bowing and the ‘gayaki style’ in their playing pleased all the music-lovers.

‘Neranammithi’, the opening Varna (Kaanada) in two speedsset the mood for the evening. A short sketch of Nata led to ‘Sarasiruhasanapriye’, a composition of Puliyuru Doreswami Ayyar. A moderate and crisp kalpanaswaras at ‘Saraswathi’ was attractive. They took up Natakuranji for a detailed delineation. One after the other, they breathed life to every phrase. Each sangathi carried the raga bhava that was pleasing to the ears. ‘Naachai Vidavakura’, a Keerthana by Mysore Vasudevacharya followed in perfect uniformity. A neraval at “Devadeva Sri Vasudeva mahadeva vinutha” was nothing but an extension of the raga. The competitive kalpanaswaras too adorned the kruthi.

Shyama Shastri’s composition ‘Kamakshi’ in Varali too carried the essence of the raga. Tyagaraja’s composition ‘Tana meedane’ (Bhooshavali) was presented with kalpanaswaras. The main raga of the day was Mukhari. Sindhu Suchetan, who began the alapana from the lower octave, got in to the mood of the raga even before entering the middle register. Smitha continued it in the higher octave from the tarashadja and expanded the raga. The delicate gamakas embellished the sancharas along with a stress on the dhaivatha in the arohana. They accentuated the jeeva swaras to bring the rasanubhava. This raga is known to evoke Karuna rasa or sorrow mood. Tyagaraja’s ‘Ksheenamai’ portrayed this perfectly.

The lyrics in charana – “Yadijesinajagannathudushiramuna” was selected for neraval and swaras. They played a Kannada Devaranam‘ Govinada ninna namave chanda’ and ended the concert with a Tillana by Lalgudi Jayaraman in Sindhu bhairavi. The Taniavartha included many interesting combination of beats. These young violinists, though from Mysore, are settled in Bangalore for a better prospectus. Their hard work and endurance will certainly take them a long way.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / August 11th, 2014

MYLISA to celebrate Librarians Day tomorrow

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, World Opinion

Mysore :

Mysore Librarians and Information Scientists Association (MyLISA) is celebrating the Librarians’ Day in a unique way. As a reach out activity of this year, the members of MyLISA visit schools and other institutions on August 12 and give a motivational lecture on ‘Reading Habits’ and ‘Library use’ to the children.

St. Joseph School, Jayalakshmipuram, Taralabalu Math School, T.K. Layout, Harividyalaya High School, Bogadi, Gangothri School, Manasagangtri, Sarada Vilas College, Krishnamurthy Puram, City Central Library, Sayyaji Rao Road, Good Shepard High School, JP Nagar, Sadhvidya High School, Ramavilas Road, Ideal Jawa Rotary School, JLB Road and other institutions are covered in the programme.

A manual on ‘Guide to setting up an open library in schools’ prepared exclusively for the day by Usha Mukunda, Bangalore, will also be circulated among these schools on August 12.

For more information, contact MyLISA Secretary and DOS Library & Information Science Associate Professor Dr. N.S. Harinarayana on Mob: 9741533380 or e-mail: ns.harinarayana@gmail.com

Librarians’ Day: It is Padmashree Dr. S.R.Ranganathan who brought professional status to librarianship in India. Born in Siyalli in in 1892, Ranganathan got educated in Mathematics and started his career as a lecturer in mathematics. In a dramatic turn of event in his career, he became university librarian at University of Madras in 1924. This was a blessing in disguise for Indian libraries. Unconvinced by the State of affairs in libraries in India, he got himself trained from University College, London. After coming back from there, he brought unparallel improvements in all facets of libraries. ‘Five laws of library science,’ ‘Prolegomena to library classification’ and ‘Colon classification’ are classics in library science education. His birth day August 12 is celebrated as “Librarians’ 

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 11th, 2014

Adivasis captivate audience with traditional dances

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

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Mysore :

As part of ‘Anantha Yatre’ to commemorate the International Day of World Indigenous People, Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS) has organised a four-day cultural programme presented by Adivasis from various parts of the country which commenced at the Platinum Jubilee Hall at JK Grounds here yesterday.

Tribal artistes from 11 States had converged to exhibit their talents in a true cultural exchange programme.

The programme began with ‘Pooja Kunita’ presented by Krishnegowda and troupe from Pandavapura with excellent synchronisation to the beating of percussion instruments.

Naga tribe from Nagaland presented ‘War Dance’ with the warriors celebrating the victory which was eye-catching.

Tribals from Telangana presented a traditional ‘Gousadi’ dance in special costumes.

Young adivasis from Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh presented ‘Thogal Jagoy’ and ‘Siyomi’ dances respectively which captivated the audience.

It was a unique programme where the audience had the opportunity to enjoy a cultural extravaganza from across the country.

The cultural programmes by the tribal and folk artistes of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and North Eastern States will be held everyday from 6 pm onwards at MMCAA auditorium in J.K. Grounds till Aug. 13.

Also, the workshop- cum-Demonstration on Tribal/Folk paintings of India that commenced on Aug. 9 at IGRMS, Southern Regional Centre (SRC), Wellington House on Irwin Road in city, will be held everyday between 10 am and 5.30 pm till Aug. 13.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 11th, 2014

Expo of awesome sculptures at Lankesh Art Gallery

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

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Mysore :

A three-day exhibition of sculptures organised jointly by Karnataka Shilpakala Academy and Mysore Art Gallery began at Lankesh Art Gallery in Rangayana premises here yesterday. The expo is open for public from 11 am to 6 pm till tomorrow.

The expo features unique and innovative sculptures like Goddess Saraswati holding a Veena, an elephant in a lying position and so on. The awesome exhibits are a boy walking on a tight rope and five of a family travelling on a scooter.

The sculpture material include iron, wood, wax and fibre glass.

Inaugurating the expo, CAVA Dean V.A. Deshpande said that sculpture could be traditional or contemporary but each had its own merit and should not be graded. He advised young sculptors to get inspiration from such exhibitions.

The expo has also put up a sale of books on sculpture brought out by Shilpakala Academy.

Interaction: An interaction on ‘Traditional and Contemporary Sculpture’ was also organised at Sriranga auditorium in Rangayana premises yesterday.

Sculptor Madwesh N. Pandurangi provided information on art of sculpting through a slide show.

Researcher M.N. Prabhakar, speaking on the occasion, said that temples in South India were a treasure of sculptures which should be reckoned and appreciated by people.

Academy Chairman Shambulingappa presided.

Mysore Art Gallery President L. Shivalingappa, Academy Registrar H.V. Indramma and others were present on the occasion.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 11th, 2014

Celebrating Independence Day the ‘ARTISTIC’ way

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

‘Head-Lines of Karnataka’ caricature show in city from tomorrow

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Mysore :

To commemorate the 68th Independence Day celebrations, ‘Head-Lines of Karnataka,’ a Caricature Show by Naveen Kumar, Caricature Artist, has been organised at Sri Kalaniketan Art Gallery in Vijayanagar 2nd Stage in Mysore from Aug. 12 to 17 between 10 am and 7.30 pm.

The show will be inaugurated by MLC G. Madhusudhan tomorrow at 11.30 am. Indian Institute of Anthropology Association Mysore Vice-President Dr. Subrahmanya Bharathi Konale, Journalist Amshi Prasannakumar and Hampi Kannada University Anthropology Asst. Professor Dr. L. Sreenivas will be the chief guests on the occasion.

About the artist: Born to Ananda Acharya and Parvathy couple with a traditional art background in 1979 at Puttur in Dakshina Kannada, Naveen took up Caricature as a hobby, which developed into a more prominent passion and interest.

“It all started by posting a friend’s caricature in Facebook and later went onto specialise as a Spot Event Caricature artist,” says Naveen, who has participated in many cartoon workshops and events and is a Member of Karnataka Cartoon Association.

The artist has done several spot caricature of well-known writers, poets and other personalities including former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa.

He has conducted caricature and water colour painting workshop at Manjeshwara, Kerala for school kids with Vishwaniketana Academy and has the credit of doing on-spot 36 caricature characters (full size) in 35 minutes on a A0 size paper at the workshop.

Naveen is interested in Photography and his 18 photos have been selected in National and International level competitions in a period of one year. He has also won many accolades and awards in company level competitions.

Naveen, who has completed his BFA (Fine Art) from CAVA, Mysore and worked as a Graphic Artist for leading newspapers, is currently working at HP, Bangalore and pursuing his MFA in painting at Sri Kalaniketana School of Art, Mysore. The artist can be contacted on Mob: 90083-91674 or e-mail: naveee@gmail.com

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> General News / August 11th, 2014