GENRE: Features

It isn’t often that one hears of a temple selling off its artefacts. Auction house Bid & Hammer announced recently that were going to auction items from one of Bangalore’s oldest Jain temples. The auction, enticingly titled the “Mystery of Chickpet”, will see items from the 90-year-old Shri Adinath Swetamber Jain temple in Chickpet being put on the block. The auction, to be held in the ITC Windsor on March 10th, will see some lavish treasures going under the hammer, such as several silver double doors each with elaborate repoussé (or relief) work, a viewing grill and two Dvarapalakas; a…

"Every day is women's day" said Manjula Devi P N, a JP Nagar 3rd phase resident, employee of Corporation Bank and a volunteer with the Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled. Living with polio, this post graduate, bureaucrat's wife and mother of two started spending time with the children and others at Samarthanam in 2004, having decided that she must give back something to society. She spends a few hours every week mentoring youth, reading to children or assisting them with their lessons.Keenly interested in the issues of the mentally challenged, she also helps in raising funds for Samarthanam by talking…

Instead of the focus being on the foremost brands in the world, this week, the focus is on the foremost art galleries in the city. Friday the 26th of February saw the inauguration of the five day long “Art Bengaluru 2010”- Bangalore’s contemporary art festival. Art Bengaluru was a five day program with an on going display of work from different galleries in UB city.The inaugurationWomen and high heels and men dressed in suits, browsed the three floors of UB city, wine in hand to see art from the best galleries in Bangalore. Each gallery had a small space to…

About 30 kms from the city, a little off Sarjapur Road is Ananya School, a unique institution for underprivileged children.  Ananya is a part of an effort to bring the benefits of long distance running to its students. Trained electronics engineer and now full time runner, Santhosh Padmanabhan (30) is the brain behind the programme. Padmanabhan is the founder of Runner’s High, a Bangalore-based organisation that aims to promote ultra running and integrate running as an activity into the curriculum of schools for underprivileged children  such as Ananya School. They also coach interested individuals for long distance runs and marathons.…

Whitefield - what kind of images would this name evoke? most likely IT - a glass and steel building, the Technology Park or maybe even the Sai Baba Ashram, anything but a village. Well, Whitefield or rather the old settlement of that name certainly qualifies as a village and a lost one at that.I first visited the old settlement more than a year ago in connection with another research project and was fascinated by its circular planning and wished to know more about its history. My starting point was of course, Lewis Rice's 1887 Mysore Gazette. In it he describes…

One fine morning (around 30 years ago), waiting at a bus stop in Madurai, Arjumand Fatehally saw a street child attempting to stick the top of a discarded cigarette box with her saliva – in an attempt to make something. Keenly observing her for a while, Fatehally sat down and tried to help the child make her 'toy'. Of course – she missed her bus. But she says she found her true passion in life - making crafts from 'waste'.Arjumand's enthusiasm, at the age of 79, to continue this work and share it with schools and galleries would put all…

He is a 5-year-old boy. Most days, he is happy playing by himself, with his bead string or colour blocks. Occasionally his gaze is fixed outside the window, lost in the light. He throws tantrums when his favourite toys are taken by his 2-year-old sister. He is happy when he hears music - anything from classical to Bollywood numbers. He cannot sense any approaching danger. He has no fears of heights or heat. When Shyamantak was 3.5 years old, he was diagnosed as autistic. His parents were counselled and trained to adapt to the child's world. He goes to a…

Janapada Loka located at around 43 kms from Bangalore will make for an ideal visit for those who are who are inquisitive about cultural heritage. Just hop onto a bus, ride on your bike or stop by on the way to Mysore and have a peek at this world steeped in culture and art. Janapada Loka is located on the Bangalore-Mysore highway at about 3 kms from Ramanagaram. Inside Lokamatha Mandira (clockwise from top left): Flower baskets, Bhumanni & Achambli Ritual baskets and storage boxes; Fruit Baskets and Granaries; Vegetable/fish Cutter; Baricoot traps and tools used to pluck areca nuts;…

Koramangala resident Suman Bolar, communications consultant and creator of the Foodtravelbangalore blog is a fairly new art enthusiast. Her passion for art started with a visit to the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC about five six years ago. Right Lines Gallery at Indiranagar. Pic: Reshmi Chakraborty. "I did not know that looking at the photograph of a painting and looking at the real thing on the wall were such completely different experiences," Suman says. That visit started an interest in art that has seen Suman and her husband visit galleries and develop much more than a fleeting interest…

Draped in a beautiful black-and-grey cotton saree, Vinatha Iyengar, 68, walks into Nightingales Elders’ Enrichment Centre (NEEC) at Malleswaram to attend a talk on ayurveda. Her grace is arresting and voice resonates with confidence as she reels off botanical names of medicinal plants. She has doubts, arguments, and also visible concern about the dwindling medicinal varieties. The NEEC members from all walks of life share a few laughs after the regular Friday talk. Pic: Savita Hiremath. But it was the same woman ravaged by depression following her husband’s death three years ago. A homeopath and acupuncturist, she used to be…