My phobia

My previous KRS post here.

Although delayed, KRS is now full this year. And unlike any of my other visits, there was this lone Coracle with the 2 men this year.


Do you know this photo actually induces in me a sense of phobia. Lemme confess, I suffer from Aquaphobia, but then it isn't acute. A character in a Novel which I remember reading years ago, was phobic even with the water in the Bathtub! I definitely am better. But then, I tried learning to swim too years ago, and unfortunately the pool got shutdown coz a mere mortal got drowned! scaaaary...

And I remember writing about Water Sports in Goa previously. Gosh, how scared I was.....


And please don't ask me about my Cast Away experience (or even Titanic). I definitely loved the movie. But, the rapid pulse and before the end my nails had traveled nearer to the cuticle. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah....scaaaaaary.....

KRS and Brindivan Graden

KRS is associated with Mysore, as is Mysuru Dasara. I might have visited KRS over a hundred times. But, my blog never had a dedicated post. The pictures are a potpourri from various visits to the Dam.

Entrance to the Dam :


The reservoir :

The island :


When the catchment area is full and all 101 gates open




Inviting it really is...



Info on Brindavan Gardens here.

PS : I am sure the present audience have got used to SLR photographs, but these ain't of those from SLR days, but old P&S days.

Wellington Art Gallery, Mysore

Last Dec while I was away from work for Christmas vacation, spending the remaining PLs at Mysore, I visited Wellington. Although I had heard and read about the gallery before, I was not sure of what it had for display.

But, it actually stood there as an amazing structure, with quite good collection from all over the country. Later I found out that even the Lonely Planet spoke about Wellington Gallery in Mysore, as 'must visit'.

Why Wellington House?

This is named after Arthur Wellesley, the 1st Duke of Wellington who is said to have lived here when he was in political charge of Mysore from 1799 to 1801.


I remember seeing the Wellington House in London and even the Duke of Wellington square, and I have it mentioned in my London post too. Picked this photo from my London archive.


The Southern Regional Centre of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya, works from this heritage building popularly known as ‘Wellington House’. This is a central government initiative to preserve tribal and folk art. The main branch is housed at Bhopal.

The ground floor houses the National Folk Art Museum run by the Central Government and the first floor houses the Art Museum run by our State government. It kept me awed for the next 5hr. That’s definitely a lot of time for a Museum of that size, but at the end I was happy to have seen and registered every display. Another reason was that it’s a Museum completely dedicated to Art.

National Museum

It houses every form, from every corner of the country. The mighty Himalayas, the richness of eastern states, the Pathachitra, Phat, Warli, Madhubani and even the Thangka. Clothing and housing styles, musical instrument and what nots. Adding to that was a very friendly and a knowledgeable Curator. Photography was however prohibited, and I however could still photograph the tribal art works displayed in the compound outside. And here they are….


Title : Ayyannar Kovil
Community : Velar
Region : Pudukottai, Tamilnadu


Title : Iron mural depicting Ghotul
Community : Lohar
Region : Bastar, Chhattisgarh


Title : Gond Painting
Community :Mandal
Region : Madhya Pradesh


Title : Bhil Painting
Community :Jhabua
Region : Madhya Pradesh


Title : Simgha Festival
Community :Warli
Region : Thane, Maharashtra


Title : King Sailesh
Community : Prajapati
Region : Dharbanga, Bihar


Title : Ramayan Katha
Community :Kumbhar
Region : Subarnpur, Orissa


If you closely observe, you can see that the roofing tiles are created to have various creatures. This would surely be a perfect roofing for a Gazebo. :-)

Title : Manasa Kalash
Community :Kumbhakar
Region : Bankura, West Bengal


Title : Gramadev
Community : Kumhar
Region : Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh


Title : Lillari Kothi
Community :Gond
Region : Mandla, Madhya Pradesh


Title : Chittara Art
Community : Sagar
Region : Shimoga, Karnataka


Title : Gramadev
Community : Kumhar
Region : Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh


Title : Mendka Bihav
Community : Kumhar
Region : Bastar, Chhattisgarh


Title : Lillari Kothi
Community : Gond
Region : Mandla, Madhya Pradesh

Every work here was explained. The folk lore and folk art were pretty interesting. I was even gifted with an handbook. Seeing my interest and enthusiasm, the Curator took us to the workshop behind the Wellington House. It had some artists from around the country working on their creations. That was very pleasant indeed....It also has an attached shop where the artists creations were on sale. Since its direct-Artist-to-the-Customer, they are affordable, unique and definitely an appreciable initiative by the Government.

And then while I thanked the curator and decided to take leave, I was informed about the State Museum housed in the first floor.

Some bits about it….

# It does not have a Curator or even at least an informed person.

# Its dedicated to painting styles in Karnataka and specially Mysore Style Painting.

# It houses many works of artists from Mysore.

# A board at the entrance says, ‘Leave your footwear outside. You are entering a temple dedicated to Art’. You'll love the concept.

# Vishnu and Goddesses are more common in Mysore and Tanjore Style. But, here I saw some wonderful creation with Shiva as the Subject. They were definitely falling-in-love-stuff.

# Subhashini Devi a renowned artist from Mysore who lived in early 18th century has a good number of her works on display. As an artist evolve he/she is bound to create a style of their own. And its almost impossible to ape them.

Oil painting, Graphite, Charcoal and Mysore style. I was always jumping around and running around from one room to another. Photography is again prohibited here. I really have plans to observe, learn and reproduce some of them.

Recent update….

While I recently visited the place with another friend of mine (I wanted to show her what we had missed all these day being Mysoreans), I bumped into a team of tourists from Europe. They had tons of questions, while the people in the Museum were ignorant and did not even know basic English. And I were there to explain them every style and answer every question. After an interesting discussion, they profoundly thanked me and made an exit, while another family from Germany entered and I repeated, also exercising the residual Deutsch which I still remember.

But, its fascinating to know that tourists are aware and come in search of this place in Mysore and they know quite a lot about these styles, but disheartening that fellow Indian/Mysorean here isn’t aware of any of these. After this the authorities there invited me to drop-in anytime leisurely to sketch any work which interests me, since Photography is prohibited. You might see some amazing works at my Art blog soon. :-)

Bylakuppe - Golden Temple

I have generally seen people raise eye brows, when I say Golden Temple. There are 3 Golden Temples in our country.

1] The Golden Temple at Amritsar - The original one, only know to most people.
2] The Golden Temple at Sripuram - Inaugurated in 2007, built at a cost of 600cr.
3] The Golden Temple at Bylakuppe - The Namdroling Monastery.

During Dasara last year, the plan was to drive the kids down. Something easily accessible and out of the world would be Golden Temple.

Started the day leisurely. The Ring road is just 1km from my place which would later join the Hunsur road. The roads were empty and superb and it was a pleasant day. A good 75kms drive from Mysore -> Hunsur -> Periyapatna -> Bylekuppe. An arch welcomes you from the junction. As we drove 3kms to reach the Temple, we saw the entire Tibet there. Tailors, Florists, Schools, Banks, Groceries, Fruit and Vegetable vendors, Art and Music School. Finally spotted a building at a distance.


Origin
This whole area started out (and still is to some degree) as a refugee camp for Tibetan people escaping the events in there homeland. The settlements were established on land leased by the state government to accommodate some of the Tibetan refugees who came to resettle in India after 1959. And in 1961 they were resettled in South India in Bylakuppe in a series of Tibetan camps.

Colorful prayer flags all over the place, all the while I loved watching them flutter.

They have set up their country here. The practice agriculture to suffice their needs. During the 4km drive you would drive through corps and plantations. It is also contains a number of monasteries, nunneries and temples in all the major Tibetan Buddhist traditions.

There are myriad such structures and this caught my attention. They were a set of 5 and each had a prayer wheel housed inside.

You can see hundreds of monks around. However I was unable to make out if they were really busy or just walking around. I also find it impossible to read expressions on their face, as most times its just blank. Otherwise they are extremely kind and friendly. Their region is a safe abode for the needy and helpless. If you were to stop them with a question, you would get an answer in good Hindi or English or they would shy away with a wide smile. Although didn't find anyone speaking Kannada.

The Buddhist monastery houses a staggering 5000 monks. The temples that have been built are such inspiring that no words can make justice.


The temples we saw were jaw-droppingly amazing. Just look at these photos.


In the main building one can see three huge statues, all with gold cladding, with Buddha in the center, Guru Rinpoche on his left and Buddha Amitayus on his right.


We were free to walk about as we pleased. We found the blue cushions situated inside each temple. These are for guests to sit. We sat and listened to the monks chant their Mantra's while others played hornpipes, cymbals, huge drums and Conch shell. An unforgettable experience.


There were 2 other temples in the same complex.


All walls are beautifully painted.


I remember reading stories where young boys are forcibly conscripted into the Chinese army in their Teens. Who would later escape and cross border to Nepal and then India to settle with Tibetan Refugee Status. Well ours is a country of tolerance. It only later they get to complete their schooling/education and adapt to a Buddhist Monk lifestyle. Their excellent English language proves that Chinese influence is nil. :-)

Some experiments with my D60.




I photo gives me some the feeling of being at the Himalayas.


Happily taking a nap under a tree. :-)