Category: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

** Chola-era temple in Velachery grabs government’s attention

The dilapidated Vasudevaperumal temple is said to be 1,000 years old

Work to clean the precincts of Sri Vasudevaperumal temple at Ram Nagar in Velachery will be expedited. A large part of the temple is covered with thick layer of dirt.

Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments P. Sekarbabu said on Wednesday that officials had been asked to dig out documents and any information relating to the temple.

He said he had visited the temple, which was said to be around 1,000 years old, on the request of the South Chennai Member of Parliament Thamizhachi Thangapandian, who had asked the officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation to clean up the premises.

** India to display relics of St. Ketevan

A part of them were gifted to Georgia on July 10; another part remains in Goa.

Almost 400 years after she was murdered in present day Iran, relics of St. Queen Ketevan that were found in Goa in 2005 are likely to be put on display in India as well as her native Georgia, according to Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials.

Queen Ketevan was killed in 1624 in Shiraz for not converting to Islam and parts of her remains were brought to Goa by Augustinian monks. Revered as a martyr, her relics remained lost till 2005 as the St. Augustine Church collapsed in 1842, another official said. A DNA analysis by the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, confirmed their authenticity in 2013.

** A family repertory: The contribution of the Alkazi and Padamsee clans to Indian theatre

The Alkazi and Padamsee clans have played, and continue to play, an extraordinary role in the history of modern Indian theatre

“Oh god, it’s a page turner!” That was the cry from various family members on reading the first draft of Feisal Alkazi’s family memoirs published earlier this year. Titled Enter Stage Right — The Alkazi/Padamsee Family Memoir (Speaking Tiger, 2021), it is an irresistible, exciting read. The narrative details are gripping, the pace exciting, and viewing the times described in the book of the two families in pre- and post-Independence India through the lens of Feisal allows us to enter a world that we can relate to from stories that our parents and grandparents told us of the times they lived through.

** Diamonds in India’s stepwells

These architectural beauties are the inspiration for Titan Zoya’s new Samāvé collection

Climb down winding steps made of diamonds into a well of Indian craftsmanship — on your fingers! Who knew that our earthy stepwells could inspire a new twist in the world of diamond jewellery?

Zoya, the diamond boutique from the House of Tata, has come up with a setting inspired by these architectural wonders found in the arid western states of India, which, they claim, is the first of its kind worldwide.

The intricate and challenging ‘Zoya Baoli Setting’ is patent pending.

** Records of freedom fighters to be digitised to mark 75 years of Independence: Minister

Precaution will be taken to save records during demolition for Central Vista project, says Kishan Reddy.

Culture Minister G. Kishan Reddy on Monday said the National Archives’ records related to freedom fighters would be digitised within a year as a part of the commemoration of 75 years of Independence next year.

Mr. Reddy, who took over the Culture and Tourism Ministries after the Cabinet reshuffle last week, visited the National Archives on Monday morning. After his visit, he told media that the National Archives of India, which houses over 18 crore pages, 64,000 volumes and 1.2 lakh maps, had started the digitisation process, but it would take a long time to complete.

“The records of the freedom movement and freedom fighters would be digitised in the coming year as a part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav,” he said, referring to the year-long series of activities leading up to Independence Day 2022.

** Jaishankar hands over relics of 17th century Georgian Queen St. Ketevan to Georgia

Her relics were found in 2005 at the St. Augustine Convent in Old Goa, on the basis of medieval Portuguese records

In heeding to a long-standing request of Georgia, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Friday handed over to the country the holy relics of 17th century Georgian Queen St. Ketevan nearly 16 years after they were found in Goa.

The relics are believed to have been brought to Goa in 1627 and interred in St. Augustine Complex.

He is also scheduled to unveil the newly-installed statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Tbilisi.

** This English professor has a penchant to make films

Meet Jerrin Chandan, whose Kannada short film, titled ‘Aase,’ has made it to the semi finals at the Festival Del Cinema di Cefalu, Italy

Jerrin Chandan is the head of the English Department at St. Joseph’s Evening College, Bengaluru. Chandan, a voracious reader, has a passion for films.

** Didi Contractor, champion of low-waste buildings, is no more

The self-taught architect, who worked for more than three decades in Kangra Valley, Himachal Pradesh, gave a contemporary edge to traditional materials such as mud, bamboo and slate.

Delia ‘Didi’ Contractor was an artist, designer and a self-taught architect. For over three decades, she worked in Kangra valley, Himachal Pradesh, promoting the need to live and build sustainably. She died on July 5 due to age-related ailments at her home in Sidhbari. She was 91.

With over 15 homes and numerous public projects, Didi’s name has been synonymous with designing low-waste buildings.

The only child of a German father and American mother, who were engaged in the influential Bauhaus movement, Didi made India her home in 1951, when she married the late Narayan Ramji Contractor. Through her husband’s friend, Maharana Bhagwant Singh Mewar, the Maharana of Udaipur, she had the opportunity to decorate the Lake Palace Hotel in 1961.

** Maharashtra government planning to appoint ‘Marathi language officers’ to increase use of state language

Desai told the Legislative Council that the Maharashtra Official Languages Act was passed in 1964 but there was no required clarity in that legislation.https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.470.1_en.html#goog_1931237162https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.470.1_en.html#goog_1322026593https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.470.1_en.html#goog_385010724https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.470.1_en.html#goog_583228511https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.470.1_en.html#goog_2092469718

“To bring about the clarity, to increase the scope of the act, and to ensure that there should not be a disregard for the Marathi language in the state, the need for amendment was felt,” he said.

Desai on Monday tabled the Maharashtra Official Languages (Amendment) Bill, 2021 of the Maharashtra Official Language Act.

The bill was passed in the Assembly and the Council.