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Restore Heritage Structures Says Royal Descendant Of Vijayanagar

Exclusive interview with Krishna Devaraya of Anegundi Samsthanam

Krishna Devaraya is the 19th descendant of Anegundi Samsthanam and Vijayanagar rulers from the Aravidu dynasty. He has done enormous conservation work to ensure that future generations are made aware of royal traditions, culture and legends. One of his exemplary works was to restore the 250-year-old dilapidated Heere Deewan Mansion at Anegundi in Hospet Taluk. This Mansion has now been restored to its original splendour, thanks to his passion and firm resolve to restore heritage. Krishna Devaraya was in Mysuru recently to inaugurate the dolls exhibition organised by Ramsons Kala Pratishtana as part of Dasara festivities. Star of Mysore spoke to him about the glory of Dasara and also the importance of heritage. Excerpts:

Star of Mysore (SOM): Can you tell us about Dasara celebrations in Vijayanagar Empire? We have heard a lot about the Mahanavami Dibba. How is Dasara celebrated there now and on what scale?

Krishna Devaraya: Dasara at the Mahanavami Dibba was perhaps the grandest celebration in mediaeval India in terms of pomp and splendour. Every traveller describes it in great detail — especially about it being a grand spectacle which was unparalleled. At present, there is no public festival of Dasara at the Mahanavami Dibba. Though it is wished that the Dibba be used for its main purpose in the future — the celebration of Dasara. In Anegundi, the celebration of Dasara still continues on a very small scale.

SOM: How do you see the Dasara celebrations of the Government when compared to the grandeur, pomp and glory of the Dasara of the Kings and Queens?

Krishna Devaraya: The primary difference is the nature of the festival. The royal Dasara used to be a religious affair whereas Dasara is mostly a secular affair now with the head of the State not performing any major ritual worship of Devi. Also, earlier Dasara used to involve various games related to physical prowess — wrestling, archery, etc., and was a place for the men to display their achievements.

It has lost the ‘vira’ component almost completely now. Garadi Manes used to train wrestlers, especially for wrestling competitions during Dasara. Today, the Garadi Manes themselves are going into oblivion due to a lack of patronage. Whereas the Royal Dasara was about worship of Devi and patronage for various traditional artists, sports, etc., the Government celebration is more about a spectacle for tourist consumption.

SOM: Is there any major difference between the Dasara celebrations of Vijayanagar rulers and Mysore Wadiyars?

Krishna Devaraya: On the ritual front, they are one and the same. Dasara celebration was earlier restricted to the independent emperor in Southern India. As per shastras, worshipping Devi in this fashion in Sharad Navaratri is akin to performing an Ashvamedha yajna. The emperor used to perform the Dasara festival and his vassals would visit him to pay homage.

Also, seemollaanghana (cros-sing one’s border) to attack the enemy used to be done after Dasara celebrations. When Mysore Samsthana started their own Dasara, it was done to show that they have become independent rulers on their own after the fall of the Vijayanagar Empire. The rituals were followed rigorously. Only the scale of the celebration would be smaller as Mysore was but a fraction of the size of the erstwhile Vijayanagar Empire.

SOM: Does the royal family of Vijayanagar have any connection with the royal family of Mysore Wadiyars? If so, can you elaborate?

Krishna Devaraya: There are no marital relations with the Mysore family as far as I know. It is stated that the ruler of Srirangapatna was the father-in-law of Sri Krishna Raya and was given a position of pride during Dasara festivities — said so by Domingo Paes, who was a traveller from Portuguese India. But no other such relationship is mentioned after that generation.

SOM: You are the 19th descendant of Anegundi Samsthanam and Vijayanagar rulers and you have restored the Heere Deewan Mansion to its original splendour. This is a much-appreciated step at a time when of late people are forgetting their heritage. What do you have to say when it comes to preserving our heritage?

Krishna Devaraya: Firstly, heritage should not be destroyed. We have seen how the 1,000-pillared mandapa in Tirumala was destroyed by the Government in the name of development. If you cannot maintain something, at the very least, do not destroy it. Secondly, the budget allocation for the preservation of heritage in India is very low compared to the number of heritage structures we have.

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Mangaluru: Vertex Workspace bags Best Innovative Enterprise Award-2022 at Nitte- KBL MSME Conclave

The Vertex Workspace represented by Mahesh shetty, Gurudatta Shenoy and Mangaldeep received the “Best Innovative Enterprise Award-2022” at AIC Nitte Incubation Centre (supported by NITI Aayog) in association with Karnataka Bank at the one-day Nitte-KBL MSME Conclave and Business Excellence Award Ceremony 2022 on Saturday, September 24t at Hotel Ocean Pearl here.

The third edition of AIC Nitte – KBL Micro and Small Enterprise (MSME) Conclave 2022 ceremony was inaugurated by Vishal Hegde, pro-chancellor, Nitte (Deemed to be University) and Balachandra Y V, chief operating officer of Karnataka Bank . CA K Ullas Kamath, founder, UK & Co. and CA S S Nayak, past chairman, ICAI were the chief guests for the program. Dr A P Anchar, chief executive officer of AIC Nitte was the Keynote speaker. This event aims to bring together MSMEs, the investors, the ministry of MSME, financial institutions, policy Makers, and other Industry leaders to discuss the various strategies for enhancing the competitiveness of MSMEs. The conclave rewarded MSMEs with outstanding achievements through innovation, leadership, dedication, and commitment.

Later, in a ceremony held in the evening, the awards were presented by Mahabaleshwar M S, MD & CEO, Karnataka Bank and Dr Satheesh Kumar Bhandary, vice chancellor, Nitte (Deemed to be University).

Vertex Workspace was recognised as the Best Innovative Enterprise – Service for providing Managed workspace for taking up challenges to transform the corporate landscape of Mangaluru from entrepreneurs to the large corporates for setting up their offices and workspace for businesses.

Vertex has been committed to building activities by boosting the productivity of the local startups and corporate community.

Mangaluru girl Rudra Rajeev finishes 2nd in Karnataka State Under 11 Girls Fide Rated Chess Champion

Rudra Rajeev, a 11-year-old girl hailing from city finished runner-up at the Karnataka State Under 11 Girls Fide Rated Chess Championship 2022. Rudra has been selected for the National Championship at Gurugram, Haryana.

Rudra had an unbeaten run in 8 rounds scoring 6 wins and 2 draws and tied for the first place along with Sidhi Rao from Bangaluru. Rudra was adjudged second on tie-breaks.

Rudra is a class 6 student of Lourdes Central School, Bejai and daughter of Nisha and Rajeev residing at Kadri.

Kadaba: Young agriculturist invents ‘tree cycle’ to climb areca nut tree

Areca nut farmers in Dakshina Kannada district are facing labour problems in order to pluck the areca nut crop from the top of the tree.

As both works of spraying pesticide and harvesting the crop happens simultaneously, labour shortage is felt by the farmers.

Bhaskar, a young agriculturist of Charvaka in Kadaba taluk, has invented an equipment that helps him to climb the areca nut tree by himself. The equipment is very simple and can be used by men as well as women. It is handy for spraying the pesticide to the crop as well as harvesting it from the tree.

This tree cycle is made of iron rods. One can climb the tree by locking the equipment to the arecanut tree. This equipment can be used with both hands and legs.

Bhaskar gave up studies after fifth standard due to various reasons and took up agriculture. As he also owns areca nut farm, he is aware of labour shortage.

Usually the labourers prefer large scale farmers as they get more income and evade going to small farmers like Bhaskar. This results in loss of crop also for the small farmer as the pesticide is not sprayed on time.

Bhaskar began using this equipment three years ago, but did many modifications and now successfully using the same for spraying the pesticide and removing the crop from the tree.

Bhaskar has sold the equipment to many areca nut farmers at a cost of Rs 6,500 per piece. He trains the farmer at his farm itself before handing over the equipment.

Bhaskar said that the present equipment can be used to climb only areca nut and he will develop it so that it can be used for climbing coconut trees also.

Mangaluru: SDM college student Samuel Simson wins silver in South India level shooting

Samuel Simson, a first year LLB student of SDM Law College here won the silver medal in shotgun trap shooting South India Zone level held in Hyderabad and also qualified for National level upcoming event soon. He is the only first shooter from Dakshina Kannada district to have won the silver medal in the state level as well as South India level age of only 19 years.

He is the son of Royprakash Simson and Cheryl Simson, owner of Simson Gun House Bajpe.

Samuel said, “Due to term exams, without practice I could manage to participate in the competition and win the medal, All the credit should go to my father because he supported me.”.

“It is very tough in Mangaluru for the shooters because we don’t have any firing ranges in our district. Hence I requested my father to open one shooting academy in here since he is a leading gun dealer in the country,” he added.

Mangaluru: The man who prepares the hides for Dasara Tiger dancers

The Dasara celebration in Dakshina Kannada is a few days away and the tiger dance is an integral part of the festivities. Tiger dance is the culture of the coastal belt exhibited during Dasara. Compared to earlier days, the tiger dance troupes are on the rise in the district especially in Mangaluru. In Mangaluru alone, up to 100 troupes are there who perform tiger dance during Dasara celebration.

There are numerous people’s struggles behind every tiger dance troupe to be successful during theDasara celebration. Meanwhile, as a preparation for the celebrations, a tailor named Vishwanath is stitching short trousers for tiger dance troupes during Dasara. Vishwanath has been involved in this profession for 30 years and has an experience of over 35 years in the tailoring profession.

Vishwanath hails from Alape and owns Sunil Tailors at Car street near Ramakanthi theatre. Tailoring was taught to him by his master Raghavendra. After the master passed away, he took up this profession and started stitching short trousers for tiger dance troupes in Mangaluru.

Vishwanath says, “During the initial days of my profession, only two-three tiger dance troupes existed which included Kalicharan Friends and Shiva Friends. Today it has increased to about 40-50 tiger dance troupes, each with a team of 50 members.

“I start stitching short trousers 15 days prior to Dasara when every member of tiger dance troupes comes to shop and gives their measurements. The present condition is that I have sleepless nights. The cloth cutting will be done till 2 AM and I wake up at 4 AM again to get back to stitching the short trousers. I have six additional tailors in different places with whom I share the cloth cutting job and also velvet material for stitching. Generally, no one is ready to take the responsibility of cutting the cloth material as I have to do it by myself and it’s a big commitment to handover short trousers to the tiger dance troupes within the deadline during Dasara celebrations. Biruver Kudla Tiger Dance Troupe is one of the biggest troupes this year with over 100 members in it,” says Vishwanath.

Tales of war: Family members share stories of Mysore Lancers from Battle of Haifa

The Mysore Lancers, which were a personal force of the then Maharaja of Mysuru, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, played a key role in the liberation of Haifa

Every year, on September 23, Haifa Day is commemorated by the Indian Army to remember the two Indian cavalry brigades who fought under British General Edmund Allenby to liberate the Israeli city Haifa from the Turkish–German forces in 1918, during World War I.

The Mysore Lancers, which were a personal force of the then Maharaja of Mysore, Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar, and headed by his brother-in-law Colonel Desraj Urs, also played a key role in rescuing Abdul Baha, the spiritual leader of the Bahai community.

In this spirit, The Mysore Lancers’ Heritage Foundation has organised a two-day celebration of the 104th Haifa Day in the city on Friday.

Ahead of these celebrations, The Hindu spoke to the descendants of those who fought in the Haifa battle. From a newly married soldier’s wish to come back to his young wife, to the struggle for food and water in the desert, some interesting stories were uncovered in the conversations.

Parashuram Singh was a sepoy in the Mysore Lancers and was deployed to the Haifa War just three months after his wedding. When he was injured, he was mistaken to be dead and was pushed into a pile of dead bodies, said Anupama Singh, his brother’s daughter-in-law.

Continuing the story, she said: “He had a picture of goddess Chamundeshwari in his pocket. As he was scared, he took it in his hand and prayed to her to send him back home safely as his wife was waiting for him. Soon after, someone noticed that his hands were moving and pulled him aside and got him medical help. He safely came back home after that.”

Ms. Singh also said that the battalion had the ritual of visiting Gundu Muneshwara temple in R.T. Nagar before marching off to war.

In Pandu Ranga Rao’s family, four people were in the Mysore Lancers. His grandfather Chander Rao Sindhe (Jamedar), his two younger brothers Krishan Rao Sindhe and Govind Rao Sindhe and his son-in-law Mahadev Rao Bhonsle (Dafedar) left home in 1914 for World War I and came back only in 1919–20.

“In 1917, Govind Rao got injured and a few bullets went into his legs and chest. He had to come back from there. Apart from this, I have also heard a few other stories from my grandmother. While traveling during the war, their ships used to get attacked by whales. To divert these whales, they used to keep stock of fodder bags in the ships. I have also heard that it was very tough to fight in the desert. Sometimes, as there was no water available, the warriors urinated in bottles and drunk it,” Mr. Rao narrated.

Pampa Urs, a fourth-generation descendant, has also heard several stories about her maternal ancestors taking part in the war. “My mother’s grandfather Colonel Chame Urs was leading a group in the war. His son-in-law Captain Lingaraj Urs died in the same war. After receiving all this information from my mother, due to my personal interests, I am further exploring evidence from that age and getting confirmations of these tales”.

While a wreath-laying ceremony will take place on Friday morning at the Mysore Lancers’ Memorial in J.C. Nagar, in the evening, a memorial lecture, and an exhibition of rare paintings and exploits of the Lancers will be organised at BMSCE auditorium in Basavangudi.

“The Baha’i community salutes the Indian Cavalry, who had fought valiantly to save Abdul Baha and the city of Haifa from the Ottoman empire,” said Dinesh Rao, secretary, State Baha’i Council of Karnataka.

Chalshiksha, India’s first education film festival, in Bengaluru this weekend

The festival will see independent filmmakers telling stories of innovative education practices as well as educators using cinema as a medium to teach

Come weekend, Bengaluru will witness Chalshiksha, a first-of-its-kind three-day residential film festival that will celebrate education in all its forms through the medium of films.

More than 35 independent films and documentaries will be screened at the festival organised by SchoolScape Centre for Educators and Project Nomad in association with Abheek Lifeversity. It will be held from September 23 to 25.

With the Union government’s new education policy soon to be implemented, teacher-educators believe it is time for education to be reviewed. Chalshiksha is attempting to do that through films, as the visual medium offers a fresh avenue for a relook at education and schooling.

Amukta Mahapatra, Director of SchoolScape, was part of an innovative programme some years ago called “Neel Bagh”, run by educationist David Horsburgh. “When Neel Bagh completed 50 years, Sourav Dutta, who runs Project Nomad, documented it but failed to find good avenues to showcase his work. When he approached me, I suggested that we screen it as part of this film festival,” she says. Dutta’s film David and his Neel Bagh will be screened on the first day of the festival.

Coming together of films and education

Chalshiksha will see independent filmmakers telling stories of innovative education practices as well as educators using cinema as a medium to document the field. The line-up includes both fiction and documentary films, on topics such as child labour, autism and educational initiatives.

While films on education are not given due importance in India, Mahapatra says given the didactic nature of many films, educators are also unsure how to use them effectively.

According to organisers, the event will seek to explore how filmmaking and education can go hand in hand and encourage filmmakers to make films around education, especially in India.

Mahapatra says they have been overwhelmed by the number of films received for the very first edition. “There are enough films being made on this field and we have more than what we can screen for this edition. So, we are making a repository that will be made available to the public soon.”

Open to public

To make the event truly democratic and inter-generational, the organisers have thrown it open to the public. Children, parents, teachers, school heads, filmmakers as well as educationists are expected to come together, blurring the lines of hierarchy.

The event will be attended by well-known names from the worlds of education and filmmaking, including Arvind Gupta, Deepa Dhanraj and Vijay Padaki.

Apart from film screenings, Chalshiksha will also feature plays, talks and open discussions. To make it an interactive experience for young ones, activities like yoga, bird watching, storytelling workshops, theatre games have been organised.

The residential event is being held at the Ecumenical Christian Centre in Whitefield and will have facilities to host participants who wish to stay onsite for the festival. Spot registrations are available too.

For more details about the event and to register, visit http://chalshiksha.schoolscape.org.

NLSIU medal winners secure jobs at London law firms

Medal winners share their experiences at the institution, challenges and impact of COVID-19 on their college life

The National Law School of India University (NLSIU) awarded gold medals to 48 graduates during the convocation across different programmes. Amongst them, three students from BA LLB (Honours) programme — Saurabh Gupta, Vrishank Singhania and Pallavi Khatri — received eight, seven and six gold medals respectively, the highest this year. Speaking to The Hindu after receiving their medals, the trio said that they were all going to London to work in law firms soon. They also shared their experiences at NLSIU, the challenges and the impact of COVID-19 on their college life.

Mr. Saurabh won the most number of medals, including the Basant Kumar Birla Medal for the II Rank Student. Hailing from Chandigarh, he described his experience at the top law school as “life changing”. “The journey has been full of ups and downs. It helped me grow as a person and helped me explore what I wanted to do in the future,” he said. After a Masters programme in University of Oxford and a two-year job at a law firm in London, he plans to practise law at the High Court in Chandigarh.

Good support system

The medal winners said that as much as the experience at NLSIU was enjoyable and highly academically beneficial, they underwent a lot of stress. “As we are a small, competitive college, it is quite stressful and is a high-pressure environment. It is a constant challenge as there are a lot of expectations, not just academically, but to perform in other areas as well. However, you learn to cope with it overtime and it gets better with a good support system”, said Mr. Vrishank from Hyderabad who was awarded the Indira Khaitan Medal for University First Rank and Sarala Birla Medal for the overall topper along with the Best Outgoing student medal.

He added that while he missed social interactions during the pandemic, academically, the virtual classes worked out well. “As there are a lot of activities like moot courts, debates and committees involved in law school, the COVID-19 period gave me the time to slow down and introspect and focus.,” he said. He is currently working with a Supreme Court Lawyer in Delhi and will work in London for two years after that. Upon his return to the country, he plans to have a career combination of litigation and academia in his future.

Ms. Pallavi from Chandigarh won the Kumari Devi Menon Memorial Medal for All-round Best Graduating Girl Student and Ms. Anuradha N. Memorial Medal for Best Outgoing Female Student along with four others. When asked about the challenges she faced as a woman in the University, she said “It was pretty similar to what women in face in the other areas of life. While NLSIU is a really open, progressive, liberal community, there are a few bad apples everywhere. From one or two people, you face a little bit of sexism and instances of unsavoury comments. But otherwise, professors and everyone else are very supportive. There are also many collectives in the university which work towards reducing prejudices in the college.”

She will soon be joining a magic circle firm in London where she will work as a commercial lawyer in the corporate department. She wants to have a business of her own in the future and is looking to build a safety net and get some exposure before that.

Legal aid trust

Ashwini O., who graduated from the LLM programme, secured the M/s. Sitaram Jindal Foundation Gold Medal for the Best Outgoing LL.M. Student hailing from marginalised background. In 2013, she graduated from the same law school in LLB and worked in the corporate sector thereafter.

A little while after that, she realised that her true interest lay in litigation and started her career in the field with Ravivarma Kumar, former Advocate General of the State. She practiced before the High Court of Karnataka. “I really enjoyed picking up causes, filing PILs and litigating. Then I felt the need to get back to academics and came back here”, she said.

Ms. Ashwini also runs her own legal aid trust — Dhwani Legal Trust where child rights and women’s rights are the main focus of work. “We work with domestic violence victims and also create legal awareness which providing legal aid.”

Open access digital repository of academic resources unveiled by Azim Premji University

It is the first-of-its-kind digital repository of academic resources translated from English to Indian languages

‘Anuvada Sampada,’ touted as a first-of-its-kind open access digital repository of academic resources translated from English to Indian languages, was unveiled by Azim Premji University here on Tuesday.

Aimed at making these resources freely and widely available to students, teachers, teacher educators, etc., across the country, the repository has close to 2,000 academic resources and growing and is currently available in Hindi and Kannada.

The translations repository was launched by the Vice Chancellor of Azim Premji University, Indu Prasad and seeks to address the paucity of high-quality academic resources in Indian languages at the graduate and post-graduate level. The initiative, said a release, will enable students, academics, and practitioners to mine, use and reuse academic resources in sciences, social sciences, humanities, and languages. The repository is also expected to help promote original writing, reading, deliberation and discourse in Hindi and Kannada.

“Non-availability of academic resources in Indian languages is a major constraint in expanding access to education and ensuring inclusion. We believe this initiative will help students engage more deeply with concepts and ideas currently available only in English, encourage nuanced debates, and develop perspectives in diverse contexts,” said Hriday Kant Dewan, who leads the initiative at Azim Premji University.

The repository includes select academic resources for postgraduate programmes in education and development, and undergraduate programmes in arts, sciences, and diploma courses. Besides these, there are select articles from journals, extracts or complete chapters from books, podcasts, short films, brief lectures, and panel discussions related to higher education.

Articles focused on various aspects of school education from different publications of Azim Premji University like Learning Curve, At Right Angles, I wonder.., and Pathshala, apart from books and research studies published by Azim Premji Foundation, form part of the collection, added the release.

The University is also in the process of seeking copyright permissions from various publishers to expand the number of open access academic readings on the site.

Anuvada Sampada is available at: https://anuvadasampada.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/.