ARTS and CULTURE

Dasara or Navarathri is celebrated by different communities in different ways. In Bangalore, many families celebrate Gombe Habba (festival of dolls) by arranging dolls, new and old. This is also called bombe koorisodu, bombe kolus, bommala kolu, and the dolls are usually made of clay or wood, and nowadays with Plaster of Paris (PoP). The tradition has passed on from generation to generation, and is accompanied by a variety of customs, pujas, story-telling and food. Tableaux depicting a scene from Ramayana, created by Soumya Srikanth. Pic: Deepti Sarma. Patronised by the Mysore maharajas, and with a large number of doll…

The Bengaluru International Art Festival, a seven-day festival with art, music and cultural performances was held  between 7th and 19th September. Last Friday on 18th September,  Chowdiah Memorial Hall at Vylikaval was witness to dance and music performances.Mars, a performance choreographed by Sathya B G.Another scene from Mars.Intersections, a performance choreographed by Sathya B G.Chittara (patterns), a performance inspired by the morning 'Rangoli'. Choreographed by Mayuri Upadhyaya, the director of Nritarutya.A Sufi Music concert by Tochi Raina and group. ‹ › $(document).ready(function(){ $('.carousel .carousel-inner .item').first().attr('class', 'active item');}); ⊕

On 27th and 28th September 2009, Bangalore Cares, a non profit that acts as a bridge between the voluntary sector and the rest of society, is presenting "Sneha Sante" – an event that combines a charity bazaar and a programme of cultural events. With nearly 30 Bengaluru Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) participating, as well as local artistes lending their support, the first edition of Sneha Sante promises to be a colorful and fun event!The charity bazaar will have NGOs exhibiting a wide range of hand-crafted products: chocolates, cookies, toys, art works, embroidery, jewellery, apparel, books, diyas, cards, gift items and more.…

If there was one city in  the newly independent India that was a real moviegoer’s delight, it had to be Bangalore.  In the early ‘50s, cinema theatres in Bangalore used to  show films in many languages - Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Few years later, Malayalam and Bengali movies could also be seen in morning shows. In that sense Bangalore was probably the most cosmopolitan town in the country. Such a varied taste in films was a reflection of tolerant  and eclectic mindset  of the natives. May be this was also the way the foundation  for a pan-Indian city…

On Monday, 14th September, chief minister B S Yeddyurappa unveiled a mural depicting Karnataka’s celebrated past, multifaceted present and promising future, presented through a collage of diverse images creating an ascending visual narrative, at Vikas Soudha, annexe of the state secretariat. Shivakumar's murals. Pic: M S Gopal. The mural’s artist Shivakumar is a painter by training and honed his skills at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishat where he passed out in the year 2000. However, like many artists, he loves to experiment and loves to look beyond just painting to express his ideas. That’s probably why his design which uses metals,…

Does it sound strange, travelling to work by train every day from Bangalore to Mysore and vice versa? Well some of us do.  Those who do, live in a different world and also in a different time scale. Regular commuters may not remember the time when Kaveri Express was introduced. Pic: Pushpa Achanta Kaveri Express was introduced in September 1980, around 30 years ago. On the occasion of Kaveri Express' anniversary on 11th September, below is an excerpt from Specular. Specular was a weekly general interest magazine focusing on news and information about Karnataka, which was started by K N…

This audio programme traces Cubbon Park’s history, walks you through some famous and not-so-famous monuments and buildings in the park, and doles out general trivia that will make your next walk in the park more than just a walk in the park! Citizen Matters Podcasts Download Podcast What are Podcasts?Podcasts are audio files you can listen to whenever you want. You can subscribe to our podcast feed using a jukebox tool (like Apple's iTunes) so that your computer automatically downloads it when we release a new programme which you can then listen to on your computer or mp3 players.What is…

B L Rice, who was the director of Archeology in the Mysore state from 1884, described Vasantapura village in the 1887 Mysore Gazette as, “a village 5 miles south of Bangalore. Population 112. It is in no way remarkable but for an old temple of Vallabharaya Swami which is a favourite resort for native wedding parties from Bangalore”, and thus dismissed it.However, I decided it would be interesting to see how the place fared today given Bangalore’s exponential growth in all directions and so set out one day heading south on Kanakapura road past the Banashankari temple. I took the…

“Places I like”, a photo exhibition that captures the various facets of Bangalore is currently ongoing at Max Mueller Bhavan. It is an outcome of a 3-week workshop conducted in the city by German photographer Stefan Koppelkamm. The objective of the workshop is  to define the personal criteria that determine the “quality of life” in a city with  focus on ‘routine’ and ‘normal’ rather than the unusual. Many city-based amateur and professional photographers are participating in this exhibition. Eagle's eye of the exhibition. Pic: Venkatesan Perumal. “When I first got down at Bangalore’s Kalasipalyam bus stand, it was very unlike…

Traditional board games in India have been a major source of entertainment for many generations now. Even though still popular in some parts of the country, games of this kind are soon losing out to computer games and electronic gadgets among the urban middle class. In an attempt of reviving these traditional games, Kavade, a toy store based in Seshadripuram, organised a traditional board games tournament on the 25th and 26th of July, 2009. A Kavade volunteer helping participants with the rules. Pic: Deepti Sarma Sreeranjini GS, an ardent lover of traditional games, had founded Kavade earlier this year. Kavade…