Category Archives: Arts, Culture & Entertainment

100 grand years of glory

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence

Lucknow :

The premises of Bengali Club are blessed. This Durga puja, the Club will mark 100 years of its association with the deity.

Elaborate celebrations would mark the momentous occasion for the Club which is the most sought after in the city during puja celebrations. One of the things that make Bengali Club unique is the platform over which Goddess Durga’s deity is installed.

“The kathamo (base) to install the deity has been here since 1914, when the tradition of puja started here,” says Arun Banerjee, the club’s general secretary. The kathamo is made of sakhu wood and has been repaired only twice in the past 100 years. Due to this connection, people feel the deity’s presence throughout the year.

Besides, this is the only pandal where the Durga idol is made on the same premises. From the bamboo skeleton to the clay structure to chiselling of contours and filling the idol with colourful expressions and draping the deity in accessories, the soil of Bengali Club sees the deity coming alive.

“The work begins about two months before the Puja and we work for more than eight hours every day,” says Niloy Pal, the chief artist who has been making idols for Bengali Club for 10 years.

Mother Durga never comes alone. Her children, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Ganesh and Kartikeya always accompany her. In most pandals, the idols are made separately and then brought together on the day of praan pratishtha.

“On our premises, they come and go together. Only a few puja samitis have kept this tradition alive till now,” says Manindra Nath Pal (Mantu Dada), the eldest and oldest member of Bengali Club.

The puja samiti has kept some age-old traditions such as sindur khela and darpan visarjan alive even now. One of the most interesting ones includes making the idol with a portion of clay from the doorstep of a prostitute. “Our artisans ensure that this message of social inclusion continues to be given even now,” claims Banerjee.

“It suggests inclusion of otherwise ostracised members of society. It is believed that this soil is virtuous because people visiting ‘houses of vice’ leave their virtues outside the door, making the soil here pure. Besides being a fertility ritual, the tradition is seen as a way to purge prostitutes of their “sins”. Finally, it is a way to honour ‘courtesans’ traditionally famed for their proficiency in the arts,” describes, Swapan Paul, an artisan who has closely studied puja and its rituals.

The Bengali Club has also picked up the best thing from Lucknow – its Ganga-Jamuni tehzib. Muslims play an important role in organizing the puja.

Journey of faith:

1901: Atul Krishna Sinha comes to Lucknow for a job and sets up an institution promoting Bengali art and culture. It was called Bengali Youngmen’s Association and operated as a small group of like-minded people from a house in Sundarbagh and then from Shivaji Marg.

1914: The club procures the Hewett Road property and formally starts The Bengali Club. The association started organizing Durga Puja and other cultural events there.

1929: The Bengali Club and Bengali Youngmen’s Association merge and get registered under the Societies Act.

1938: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose comes to the club and expresses happiness over the effort.

1964: The Club Starts the tradition of Mahalaya, the characteristic singing of Chandipaath.

Immortal stories

THE TOUCH OF TAGORE: In the early 1930s, Rabindranath Tagore came to Lucknow and visited his friend AP Sen, the president of Bengali Club. Poetry was the common thread between them. Tagore, who was slated to visit the Bengali Club but could not, also wrote a poem called Ashirwad for his friend.

BLESSED BY BOSE: The place has been touched by Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose. He visited the club as president of the Congress Committee in 1938. He spoke to them about the freedom struggle and appreciated the effort of the locals in preserving cultural roots.

TAKING PUJA TO COMMON DOMAIN: The city owes the tradition of Durga puja to Bengali Club. The present committees may be seen as offshoots of the Club. Till 1980, idols for all puja samitis were made on the premises of the Bengali Club. “It was an awesome sight to see dozens of Durga idols incarnating for a mega celebration,” recalls, Arup Sanyal, one of the oldest Club members.

THE DEVOUT PM: Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee regularly visited Bengali Club including the time when he was PM. “When his security started clearing the crowd as per protocol, Vajpayee intervened and said everyone was equal in the eyes of the deity and went in as a commoner,” recalls, Arun Banerjee, who escorted him as general secretary.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Lucknow / by Shailvee Sharda, TNN / September 04th, 2014

Firag Gorakhpuri remembered

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Gorakhpur:

Birth anniversary celebrations of Urdu poet Firaq Gorakhpuri were held at several places in the city on Thursday.

Members of Chitragupt Sabha garlanded the statue of Firaq Gorakhpuri in Daudpur and also organized a seminar in the evening in the conference hall of Chitragupt Mandir.

Social worker Ashok Srivastava garlanded the statue of Firaq. A seminar and a mushaira were also held.

Raghupati Sahai, known by his pen name, Firaq Gorakhpuri, was born on August 28, 1896 in Miyan Bazaar area in Gorakhpur. Azim Farooqi, a research scholar of Urdu, said: “People remember Firaq as a great Urdu poet but very few know that he was a freedom fighter too. He left his position of deputy collector and became member of Congress and went jail in 1920 along with Jawaharlal Nehru. He also contested in election with Shibbon Lal Saxena Party in 1952 against Mahant Digvijay Nath, the then head priest of Gorakhnath temple.”

Chitragupt Sabha president Atul Srivastava said: “Bahut pehle se un qadmon ki ahat jaan lete hain, Tujhe ai zindagi hum door se pehchan lete hain. Firaq Gorakhpur was a genius and great poet. Firaq Sahab is known for Urdu poetry but he was also English lecturer in Allahabad University. He passed ICS examination but resigned and joined freedom struggle. He was awarded Gyanpeeth Award, Sahitya Academy Award and Padam Bhushan Award in 1969 for his creation ‘Gule Nagma’.”

Pravir Arya of Madan Mohan Malviya Technical University said: “He was a prolific writer of Urdu and English. He added Gorakhpur in his name. We can proudly say that we belong to the place where Firaq used to live. He gave an international recognition to Gorakhpur.”

Speaking on the style of Firaq’s writing, poet Mohammad Husain Qayal said: “Firaq was an institution in himself. He has command over Urdu, Persian, Hindi and English. He was a great poet but a loner as his personal grief is reflected in his poetries. He had a troubled married life and his children also died.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / by Arjumand Bano, TNN / August 28th, 2014

Octogenarian makes dictionary of bacronyms

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Records, All, World Opinion

Agra :

For octogenarian BD Bhargava, playing with words is a passion. This toothless and frail, yet dynamic man has created what he calls the world’s first and only dictionary of bacronyms. According to Wikipedia, a bacronym is “a specially constructed acronym created to fit an existing word.”

Bhargava, who is a resident of Kamla Nagar, has more than 4,000 bacronyms in his collection. The man who runs several blogs which are being followed by many teachers and students, is now planning to take his magical world of ‘words’ a step ahead.

“After playing much with words, I am playing with pictures these days. I think picture speak much more than words. This is the reason why I am inculcating graphics and pictures in my bacronyms blog and it is more attractive and easy to grasp now,” he added.

Talking about the term backronym, Bhargava said it comes from a combination of the words “back” and “acronym,” because bacronyms are essentially acronyms in reverse. While acronyms list just the initial letter of a word phrase (e.g., “FBI”), a bacronym takes the letters of a word, and makes a word phrase using those letters.

“There are two necessary things about bacronyms. The first is that the word phrase should explain the meaning of the original word. The second is that the words must start with the letters of the original word in a sequential order. For example, EAR = Earliest Audio Receiver,” he said.

Talking about the idea behind creation of his bacronym dictionary, Bhargava said he got this idea from a book ‘crazy english’ by Richard Ledrerand. “The book was magical and hit my heart. It made me think that we have a lot to play with words. And I started playing with them. Initially, I worked on small sentences but my wife and kids motivated me to go ahead with what I started, somewhere in 1996 and since then I am making bacronyms,” he added.

His son-in-law created websites for Bhargawa and later, he also started writing his own blog which has caught the attention of academicians.

The octogenarian said he had delivered special lectures in schools and institutes based in New Delhi and even abroad, but has not yet been approached by schools of his own town. “I want to share this with school kids, its fun and easy to learn,” said Bhargava.

Commenting on the hard work needed in making up bacronyms, he said it takes him three to four days to select the best possible words to form one such acronym. Adding relevant pictures is also an uphill task for Bhargava, who is unable to concentrate on computer screen due to his old age.

“Nothing is said now that hath not been said before. I am not being modest. Most of what we say (or write) has been said (or written) before. The only claim to originality that I would like to make is about bacronyms. They are my idea and my creation. I can claim that my dictionary with more than 4000 bacronyms is the world’s first and only dictionary of its kind,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / Ishita Mishra, TNN / August 31st, 2014

India, Japan sign MoU to develop Varanasi into ‘smart city’

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives / Environment, Nature, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Kyoto :

Varanasi, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi represents in the Lok Sabha, will be developed into a ‘smart city’ by using the experience of Kyoto, the ‘smart city’ of Japan, under a pact signed here on Saturday.

A partner city MoU was signed by Indian ambassador Deepa Wadhwa and Kyoto mayor Daisaka Kadokawa at a ceremony witnessed by Modi and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe.
japanvaranasiLUCKNOW31aug2014
The MoU, which was signed soon after Modi’s arrival here on a five-day visit, provides for cooperation in heritage conservation, city modernization and cooperation in the fields of art, culture and academics, external affairs ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin told reporters.

This will serve as framework for smart heritage city programme between the two countries, he added.

Kyoto, which is a he​ritage city with Buddhist culture, provides special symbolism to the visit as the Prime Minister has the vision of “rejuvenating” Indian cities.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> India / PTI / August 30th, 2014

AU prof deciphers Gupta dynasty inscription

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links / Pre-Independence

Allahabad :

A faculty member of the department of Ancient History of Allahabad University has managed to decipher and identify a rare 5th century copper plate inscription discovered in a village near Mahasthan in Bogra district of Bangladesh.

The 1,500-year-old single copper plate is the first of the Imperial Gupta dynasty (CE 320-550) to come to light in the past three decades and is expected to throw new light on the empire whose political and cultural history is mainly based on 58 published inscriptions engraved on stones, copper plates, iron pillar and clay tablets, besides 42 inscriptions.

The accomplishment of cracking the inscription has been achieved by D P Dubey, associate professor in the department of Ancient History. Dr Dubey said, “This is the 59th inscription of the dynasty and second copper plate charter of king Vainyagupta who reigned from CE 499-500 to CE 507-08. The inscription is engraved on both sides of a single sheet of copper, measuring 22.5 cm x 11cm and weighs 850 grams and there are 26 lines of writing on it.”

“A circular seal is attached to it, which bears the legend in two lines si (read shri) paramabhattaka Vainyaguptadhikaranasya. The language of the inscription is Sanskrit and the record dates back to the Gupta year 180 (which means CE 499-500) and supplies the day and month as 9th day of the month of Jyeshtha (May-June),” informed Dubey.

He further said that King Vainyagupta, who succeeded Gupta king Budhagupta (CE 476-77 to CE 499-500), was known from his Nalanda seal and his Gunaighar (Comilla district of Bangladesh) copper-plate grant of Gupta Era 188 was published in 1930. It is known that in GE 157, Budhaguta ascended the throne but his last date has been speculative because the date read as 180 on one of his coins is doubtful. This new inscription shows that Budhagupta was dead well before Jyeshtha month in GE 180.

Dubey also claimed that this is the only inscription or source referring to maladministration in the time of a Gupta king in the empire, particularly in North Bengal (modern Bangladesh) in GE 157. The high provincial officer named Mahamatra was not heard after the Maurya rule in Indian history and for the first time in Gupta history, his existence is now known again, otherwise he is unknown in the Gupta history.

This inscription is also important because of the fact that it refers to king Vainyagupta as paramabhattaraka, a titled used for Maharajadhiraja in the Gupta period. But many historians think that Vainyagupta of the Gunaighar grant and the Nalanda sealing are identical. However, the evidence from the present inscription puts this controversy at rest, said Dubey.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / Rajiv Mani, TNN / August 28th, 2014

Admin steps in to restore Moti Jheel

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Agra :

The district administration has initiated steps to restore the Moti Jheel that is located behind Fatehpur Sikri fort complex, following the directions from the central government.

The project is aimed at rediscovering the beauty of this Mughal lake by preventing encroachments and settlements around it. The union tourism ministry wants the water body to be restored near the Unesco heritage site (Sikri fort complex) so as to promote tourism in the area.

Speaking on this aspect, district magistrate Pankaj Kumar said, “The Moti Jheel is a massive project. So, in the meantime we plan to build a pond nearby the fort. The biggest obstacles that would make the task of reviving the Jheel quite difficult, are the settlements and farm lands, surrounding it.”

“The work for constructing the pond will start in the next 15 to 20 days. As far as the Jheel is concerned, we have two options – either we compensate the villagers and ask them to vacate the land or convince them for the same. We are looking in to the matter,” Kumar added.

Sources said kumar recently conducted an inspection of the area along with a team of revenue and irrigation department officials to identify the area, where once this lake existed. The officials were asked to demarcate the lake area with the help of old maps. They were also directed to file a report on the size and appropriate depth of the lake.

The project has been gathering dust for the last two years, but revived once again during the visit of union tourism minister Shripad Naik, who instructed the ASI and the local administration to look into the feasibility of restoring the Moti Jheel.

An ASI official said, “It is the responsibility of the administration to restore the lake. There are historical evidences about the Jheel and about its tributaries. No doubt, it will take time to acquire land before restoration work can starts.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Agra / Aditya Dev, TNN / August 25th, 2014

British era police records to be preserved

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links / Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion

Allahabad :

The Allahabad police has found police records of British era in which casts of Urdu alphabets were used to lodge FIRs as well as maintain records. Now, these records would be preserved for posterity with help from historians and experts of Allahabad museum.

The records, dating back to 1896, reveal that the Britishers had laid emphasis on maintaining history of each and every case systematically in Conviction Registers (CR).

Interestingly, every case registered in a CR had its serial number along with name of convict and number of history-sheet, percentage and caste, place and date of conviction, offence category, punishment awarded, place of crime committed outside village and remarks.

Apart from this, the records had other details also like notes on crime in the village with special references to fractions, land or water dispute, presence of criminal tribes or gang, occurrence of obstructions or damage to railway line within the village, special outbreaks of crime in the village.

SSP, Allahabad, Deepak Kumar said, “After collecting the old police records from different police stations, we have decided to preserve them technically and scientifically. Maintenance of records revealed that the Britishers were keen to compile special references to fraction village wise, land or water disputes as well as damage to railway line within a village.”

Interestingly, the police authorities have decided to consult Allahabad Museum experts and eminent historians to know more about the records and how to preserve them scientifically.

The records also indicated that in British era, ‘gopniya patrikas’ (secret reports) were being prepared regarding public movements, i.e., dharna, demonstration and violence in which a senior police officer also put his remark. The main record was known as conviction register and contained details of criminal cases along with all details.

The Britishers had maintained area wise Village Crime Note Books (VCNBs) like Chowk, Colonelganj, Civil Lines. Each VCNB was divided into five sections. The conviction register was the main part of VCNB while other details were compiled in different sections. The Britishers also had a list of names of respectable persons (area wise), licenced arms holders, people of a particular caste, religion along with religious places.

The British era cops used to take pains to gather and note down all inputs about the people and the area under their jurisdiction and the seniors were putting the remarks once or twice in a year.

The police have also found the notes wherein special remarks were put regarding a particular incident. For instance, a paper wherein an inspector rank police officer had on August 8,1966 noted down his remark regarding an incident of public agitation over power crisis was also found.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / Kapil Dixit, TNN / August 21st, 2014

Sound of Buddha’s teachings to see light of the day soon

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Varanasi :

Good days are ahead for Sarnath, the place where Lord Buddha delivered his first sermon after attaining enlightment. The UP Tourism department is planning to launch a sound and light show in the backdrop of Dhamekha Stupa. The Archaeological Survey of India too has given its nod in principle to the project.

In 2002-03, Union ministry of tourism had sanctioned Rs 352 lakh for a project based on Lord Buddha’s life that was to come up at the proposed Buddha Theme Park. Indian Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC) was assigned the project and in 2003-04, the fund for the light and sound show too was sanctioned. Sources claimed that despite floating repeated tenders, ITDC failed to attract bidders. A team of ITDC experts visited Buddha Theme Park in May 2011. However, the project continued to linger on.

In 2013, Union tourism minister Subodhkant Sahay and deputy secretary Vishal Gagan held a meeting with officials of ITDC and UP Tourism in Varanasi to discuss the delay in the project. Later, the ministry withdrew the funds from ITDC and returned it to the state government so that it could materialise the project.

After ITDC had delayed the project by decade, the UP Tourism department decided to shift the site to Dhamekha Stupa. Regional tourism officer Ravindra Mishra said that ASI had in principle agreed to allow the show near Dhamekha Stupa.

On the call of the ASI, Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) experts conducted a study to know the affect of sound and light show on the monuments including Dhamekha Stupa. Initially the team provided a brief report making it clear that there would be no harm to Sarnath monuments from this project.

Mishra said that the ASI demanded detailed study, so the IIT-BHU report was being revised and would be ready in a day or two. The UP Tourism headquarters would forward it to the Union government, through state government. As per the rough estimate prepared by the electricity division of Rajkiya Nirman Nigam (RNN), the cost of the new sound and light show project at Sarnath could go up to Rs 8 crore, said sources.

Officials of UP Tourism stopped pursuing the issue. Mishra said that the district administration and the tourism department had decided to go for fresh project. This time, officials also decided to change the venue and start the sound and light show near Dhamekha Stupa as this site is visited by pilgrims and tourists coming to Sarnath. The project will be forwarded to the state government to ensure that it is sanctioned in the current financial year, he added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / Rajeev Dishit, TNN / August 05th, 2014

Colourful tableaux mark ‘Dadhijkando’ fair

Arts, Culture & Entertainment

Allahabad :

The glitzy ‘Dadhijkando’ fair, first in the series of six held on every weekend, started with the display of best of Indian culture and tradition by around two dozens socio-religious tableaux at Salori here on Saturday.

The fair, traditionally organised from the sixth day of Janmashtami, were started with tableaux based on the several episodes from the life of Lord Krishna.

The first in the series was Lord Krishna and Baldau sitting atop an elephant followed by tableau procession which started late in the evening and was continued till going into press.

The procession after passing through Chandpur-Salori, Teliarganj, Rasoolabad was scheduled to conclude at the same place. The localities through which tableaux passed were decked up with colourful lighting patterns and cut-out of Lord Krishna.

Earlier, the procession started with president of Salori Mela Committee Brahma Prakash along with local leaders and administrative officials offering worship at Salori temple.

As per the tradition of depicting socio-economic state of affairs along with that depicting life sketch of Lord Krishna, tableaux on ‘corruption’ were also taken out. Similarly, tableaux ‘Kraishna-Baldau’, ‘Kalia-Mardan’, ‘Raas-leela’ were highly appreciated by visitors. The decked up tableaux were also given cash prize and shield by the organizing committee on the basis of the lightings and topic selected.

On Sunday, Sulemsarai would host the Dadhikando fair. The sixth-day ‘Shasti’ celebrations was also held at Kunj Bihari Lal Agarwal Athithi Bhawan where tableaux depicting the Lord Krishna and devotional programmes were held.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Allahabad / TNN / August 24th, 2014

Tributes paid to Shehnai maestro

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Records, All

Varanasi:

Rich tributes were paid to Shehnai maestro Bharat Ratna Late Ustad Bismmillah Khan on his 8th death anniversary observed at Dargah-e-Fatman on Thursday.

A music lover and a fan of Ustad, Narendra Gupta from Delhi, paid tributes to him by reading Sunderkand of Ramcharitmanas and Hanuman Chalisa beside his grave. Gupta visits the city every year on birth and death anniversary of Ustad. Some music lovers also paid a musical tribute to him on the occasion.

They were disappointed to see that the grave of Ustad could not take a shape of a maqbara yet, and a music academy after his name also seemed to be a distant dream. A series of promises were made by the government after the death of Shehnai maestro but none of them have been fulfilled yet.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Varanasi / TNN / August 22nd, 2014