Eco-friendly, “green” Ganesha Idols for the Festival

Here’s an announcement I got via Hasiru Usiru:

Those who want unbaked, uncoloured Ganesha vigrahams of the size that can be dissolved at home in a bucket of water and poured back to join your garden soil, can contact

3419177 or 9342303247

or email Chandra Ravikumar at

chandraravikumar@hotmail.com

Here’s an announcement I got via Hasiru Usiru:

Those who want unbaked, uncoloured Ganesha vigrahams of the size that can be dissolved at home in a bucket of water and poured back to join your garden soil, can contact

3419177 or 9342303247

or email Chandra Ravikumar at

chandraravikumar@hotmail.com

Earlier this week(April 13 and 14), the Bangalore Metro Rail corporation (BMRCL) has demolished over 500 feet of Lalbagh’s wall and cut down 5 eucalyptus trees inside Lalbagh. BMRCL proposes to have a Metro station inside Lalbagh itself – Bangalore’s distinctive botanical garden!

Lalbagh is protected by a separate, stringent law. In a highly undemocratic move, the Karnataka Government changed the law by moving an ordinance to acquire Lalbagh land for the Metro, rather than prefer a debate over the changed law, in the Assembly. The opposition has also failed to protest this undemocratic move.

Lalbagh and Lakshman Rao Park on R.V.Road, (also called the AC Road, Nanda Road ), both major landmarks and heritage of Bangalore are being destroyed for the Metro. This when the High Court is hearing PIL over alternatives in Metro alignment.

What seems like a minor portion of Lalbagh gone today will surely lead to greater portion of the park being taken away to create parking zones and malls that the Metro plans at its stations.

When they sought clearance, Metro authorities claimed trees on Nanda Road will be pruned, and not felled. Now they want to cut 323 trees on Nanda Road(R.V.Road) alone.

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Ranga Ugadi ‘09 at Ranga Shankara on Sunday, Mar 22

Highlights:

a. Two full-length plays from outside Bangalore will perform for the first time at Ranga Shankara
b. Rangayana will bring their well acclaimed production of Mahesh Elkunchwar’s “Chirabandi Wade”. T B Dam Kannada Sangha brings Jayant Kaikini’s “Jothegiruvanu Chandira”.
c. Yakshagana comes to the Ranga Shankara stage for the first time.
d. Vidwan R Paramashivan, who is among the oldest living exponents of Kannada Nataka Sangeetha leads the Theatre Songs category

Ranga Ugadi ‘09 at Ranga Shankara on Sunday, Mar 22

Highlights:

a. Two full-length plays from outside Bangalore will perform for the first time at Ranga Shankara
b. Rangayana will bring their well acclaimed production of Mahesh Elkunchwar’s “Chirabandi Wade”. T B Dam Kannada Sangha brings Jayant Kaikini’s “Jothegiruvanu Chandira”.
c. Yakshagana comes to the Ranga Shankara stage for the first time.
d. Vidwan R Paramashivan, who is among the oldest living exponents of Kannada Nataka Sangeetha leads the Theatre Songs category
e. Two young prodigies present a flute recital
f. Manavi Kala Tanda, an all women team present the “Tamate Nruthya” — a unique group dance
g. The entire Kannada theatre fraternity will come together to sing theatre songs
h. Exquisite Kannadiga cuisine at the Ranga Shankara cafe
i. Day long programme — starts at 11:15 AM and goes up to 10 PM, on Sunday, March 22.

Ranga Shankara
36/2, 8th Cross
J P Nagar, II Phase
Bangalore – 560 078
P: 080-26493982 / 26592777
E: rstheatre@gmail.com
W: www.rangashankara.org

Ranga Chitra, a day of film screenings on travelling theatre, is scheduled to be held at Ranga Shankara on 4 November at 2.00 pm and 7.30 pm. The screenings are a part of the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival ‘08 which pays tribute to Company Theatre, which dominated the Indian stage in the early part of the 20th Century.

Six films will be screened as part of Ranga Chitra including Naveen Kishore’s Performing the Goddess: The Chapal Bhaduri Story; Ariane Mnouckine’s Molière; M S Sathyu’s Gubbi Company; K Madhusudhanan’s Maya Bazaar – The Survival of a 120-year-old Theatre Family and Anand Gupt’s The Role of Theatre Brochures. Envisaged as theatrical journeys with the repertory companies, five of the selected films examine the life and art of traveling actors in France and across India (in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Karnataka and West Bengal). One film showcases one of the most durable artifacts of what is truly an ephemeral art: the theatre brochure.

Ranga Chitra will be screened in two sessions on 4 Nov (Session 1: 2:00 to 5:30 pm; Session 2: 7:30 pm to 10:30 pm). Admission to the film screenings is free. Entry passes are available at the Ranga Shankara ticket counter from 10 am – 12.30 pm and 5.00 – 7.30 pm (all days).

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Bangalore Gayana Samaja, K R Road, Basavanagudi, is holding the centenary celebrations of the great Carnatic musician, Semmangudi Dr R Srinivasa Iyer, with its 40th music conference being held from July 27 to August 3.

@65 6049 2120 8643, 2661 2244.

http://bcp.wikidot.com/city-walks:old-city-urban-space-event

BANGALORE CITY PROJECT PRESENTS
PAYTAY, KOTAY, KERAY, THOTA
AN OLD CITY URBAN SPACE EVENT
8.00–11:30 A.M. ON SUNDAY, 18 MAY 2008

Now that you have explored Gavipuram (the first BCP Urban Space Event, held on March 8, 2008) and the Whitefield heritage space (held on 26 April 2008), it’s time to delve deeper into the City’s history and culture – with the Old City Urban Space Event; a walk titled “Kotay, Paytay, Keray, Thota – Changing Geographies & Fragile Futures.”

The history of a place is writ large on its cultural landscape. Opportunities exploited, imaginations expressed/withheld, memories recollected and forgotten, injustice and inequality negotiated from different positions of power and powerlessness. The city is fraught with complex and not-always-pretty stories.

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With this picture of the creation of new life in the forest, I wish everyone a happy New Year!

It is only with the introduction of the “new calendar” that the “English” New Year started in January; before that, it was in April, when spring brings new life to Nature. Indeed, it was when old-fashioned people insisted on celebrating the New Year in April that others started teasing them, giving rise to the practice of April Fools’ Day!

Karnataka being the largest producer of silk in India continues to strive towards Silk production and marketing. The Silk Mark Expo 2008 an exhibition was held by Silk Board in Kanteerava stadium showcases varieties of silk-ware and even the useful information about silk production.

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Every year, I drop by at a friend’s house near Malleswaram, to see her Dassara display of dolls. A couple of days ago, I found Prabha sitting by her collection wondering how she would lower the curtains on “Bommai Kollu”, now that the 9-day festival was over. “The process takes me a good four hours,” she said, explaining that each doll had to be individually wrapped in soft liners and snug paper rolls and then placed inside a specially created trunk. “Every year, this is one job that gives us mixed feelings,” she mused. (I can understand that, because for a little more than a week, the display gets pride of place at home. It’s a feeling of visual euphoria that’s hard to describe.)

Prabha Venugopal’s display had more dolls than I could count at one stretch. There was a Pongal set, Dasha Avatara, Kall Alagar Utsavam, Krishna dancing with the Gopikas (Rasleela); a set of Ram, Sita, Lakshman and Hanuman; a wedding collection and several individual displays that included Siva, Parvati, Durga; Lord Srinivas with Sridevi and Bhoodevi.

She actually had tears in her eyes when she exchanged glances with her husband and daughter, who helped her showpiece a collection that has taken them years to put together. The dolls would now have to go back into their wraps.
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During the Ganesha Festival time, one can find very competitive Kolam Festivals in the bylanes and streets of Bangalore. Kolams ( roughly translated as ‘designs’ ) are a symbol of auspiciousness. Hindus believe that the geometrical patterns & designs applied – mostly with a mixture of rice flour ( & nowadays, white crushed stone powder and/or glass ) – at the entrance to a home is an invitation to Goddess Lakshmi into one’s home and to drive away evil spirits.

Here are some pics of one such Kolam Festival held in a street off Narayana Pillai Street in the Cantonment Area of Bangalore.

BTW, this festival brings to mind the fantastic Kolam competitions that are held annually in the open spaces, street corners and the Mada Streets around the world famous Mylapore Sri Kapaleeswarar Temple in Chennai. I wish I had taken some pics of them during my short stay over there!
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