Category Archives: Travel

In Kerala village, MGR’s childhood home in ruins

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Leaders, Records, All, Travel

Children playing in front of the house of MGR at Vadavannur in Palakkad.
Children playing in front of the house of MGR at Vadavannur in Palakkad.

Though AIADMK leaders make the occasional pilgrimage, it is in a neglected state

While the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) continues to invoke M.G. Ramachandran’s popularity to boost its prospects every elections, the ancestral home of his mother in this village in Kerala, which the idol was emotionally attached to during his lifetime, is languishing in neglect.

The house, where MGR spent his childhood after relocating from his birthplace Kandy in Sri Lanka, now serves as an Anganwadi centre under the Kerala Social Welfare Department.

The small tiled house, which MGR frequently visited even when he was the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, still retains an old-world charm.

Located barely 12 km from Palakkad town, it was occupied by relatives of MGR’s mother Sathyabhama until a few years ago, and once they decided to shift to Palakkad, they leased it to the Anganwadi, citing the icon’s affection for children.

“The house is in ruins due to lack of repair. Though AIADMK leaders from Tamil Nadu make the occasional pilgrimage, it is in a neglected state. As it happens to be a private property, the Kerala Government too faces limitations in converting it into an MGR memorial,” said M. Pushpalatha, a part-time teacher at the Anganwadi centre.

Apart from an old image of MGR, pictures of Dravidian leader C.N. Annadurai and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa adorns its walls, as does an AIADMK calendar carrying messages from the Tamil Nadu Minister S.P. Velumani.

“MGR’s father Maruthur Gopala Menon, who hailed from the nearby Nalleppilly village, moved to Vadavannur after he retired as a magistrate in Kandy and stayed for some time in this house. After he died, MGR and his brother M.G. Chakrapani were taken by their mother to Kumbakonam, where the father’s elder brother lived. It was while living in Kumbakonam that both the brothers entered films,” said N. Mayil Swamy, the AIADMK candidate from Chittur constituency.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National / by K.A. Shaji / Vadavannur (Palakkad) – May 01st, 2016

Google honour for Kochi techies

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Travel, World Opinion

Wading through the plethora of recipes on the Internet for an easy-to-cook dish, six engineering graduates were led to their eureka moment.

It all began with the culinary dilemma of six young bachelors.

A screenshot from the video of the app.
A screenshot from the video of the app.

Wading through the plethora of recipes on the Internet for an easy-to-cook dish, six engineering graduates were led to their eureka moment. “How about forming a start-up and developing a recipe book app?”

A year later, the app named Recipe Book, refined by artificial intelligence with over six lakh recipes, is basking in the glory of being picked as the Editor’s choice in Google Play. “It is the first app from India to receive such an honour,” said authorities at the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) Startup Warehouse at Infopark, where the start-up is based.

Even as that recognition had barely sunk in, came another: “We have been told that our product will be featured in the prestigious Google I/O, an annual global event showcasing creative coders and their innovative products, to be held in California next month. A Google team is also on its way to profile our company,” Nikhil Dharman, one of the founding members of Recipe Book, told The Hindu.

The app, which boasts a million downloads in over 67 countries on Google Play Store, shot to the top in USA Google Play placements on April 14.

The integration of ‘snap n make,’ an artificial intelligence-driven smart feature, into the app in December seems to have won over the Google Play editorial board.

The features works on a highly imaginative level — take a snap of any food ingredient and the app identifies its diverse features, and a mere shake of the phone will list out all possible recipes using that ingredient.

“We are working on a more refined version of the feature, ,” said Bestin Jose, another founding member.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by M.P. Praveen / Kochi – April 29th, 2016

Agasthyamala gets UNESCO status

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The sustained campaign to include the Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve (ABR) in UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserves (BR) has eventually paid off.

The Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve was included at the International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere programme of UNESCO that concluded in Peru on March 19.

The ABR covers the Shendurney and Peppara wildlife sanctuaries and parts of the Neyyar sanctuary in Kerala and the Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu.

India has been campaigning for the inclusion of the reserve in the network for the past few years.

AgasthmalyaKERALA23mar2016

10 make it to the list

The Agasthyamala Biosphere Reserve was the only site considered from the country by the International Advisory Committee for Biosphere Reserves during the Paris session held last year. That time, the ABR was listed in the category of “nominations recommended for approval, pending the submission of specific information.”

With the addition of the ABR, 10 of the 18 biosphere reserves in the country have made it to the list.

The others are Nilgiri, Gulf of Mannar, Sunderban, Nanda Devi, Nokrek, Pachmarh, Similipal, Achanakmar-Amarkantak and Great Nicobar.

The BRs are designated for inclusion in the network by the International Coordinating Council after evaluating the nominations forwarded by the State through National MAB Committees.

Scientific expertise

The ABR would benefit from the shared scientific expertise of all the other members of the world network. The State is expected to work for the conservation of nature at the reserve while it fosters the sustainable development of its population, said a UNESCO official.

The ABR is situated at the southern-most end of the Western Ghats and spread over Kerala and Tamil Nadu and covers an area of 3,500 sq km at an altitude ranging from 100 metres to 1,868 metres above the Mean Sea Level.

Hotspot

The area falls in the Malabar rainforests and is one of the noted hotspot areas because of its position in the Western Ghats, according to the management plan of the reserve. It is estimated that more than 2,250 species of dicotyledonous plants are in the area and 29 are endemic to the region. Many plants are considered endangered too.

Researchers have noted that about 400 Red Listed Plants have been recorded from ABR. About 125 species of orchids and rare, endemic and threatened plants have been recorded from the reserve.

There are 669 biosphere reserves in as many as 120 countries

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by K. S. Sudhi / Kochi – March 22nd, 2016

Man to Go on Reminiscent Bicycle Tour Across State

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, Sports, Travel, World Opinion

Kozhikode  :

Twenty-five years after Jose Michael, a native of Nadakavu in Kozhikode, who travelled along with his friend from Kozhikode to Europe on a bicycle in the late 80’s, the 51-year-old will pedal from Thiruvananthapuram to Kasargod to reminisce about his bicycle days in Europe.

Setting out on a voyage to Europe in 1987, at the age of 26, he covered Greece, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Netherlands within a period of three years. “Though such trips are mostly planned, we had no planning at all. We had only one goal– to reach Europe. Initially, we really doubted if we could complete the mission. Memories from the trip are still fresh”, Jose recalls.

BookKERALA22ndmar2016Joseph penned the  duo’s experience during their  fun-filled voyage to the western world in his book titled, ‘Simple Sense’, which was published recently by Blue Berry publications.

In the travelogue, he has detailed the adventurous trip he took with his friend, Alex James, who was also from Kozhikode. “The book happened only because of my friend’s encouragement,” he said.

JoseMichaelKERALA22mar2016

In his twenties, Jose had a strong desire to settle in the western world. Although he knocked the doors of many embassies, he couldn’t achieve his goal.

Finally the idea struck him to get a bicycle and go on a world tour. The next challenge on his way was to find a sponsor and a companion for the voyage.

Rotary club of Calicut Midtown sponsored the mission titled ‘The Rotary friendship mission to Europe’.

During the trip, they had to encounter many physical and mental hardships. However, they fought the odds to reach the destination.  Jose also went on an all India tour on his bicycle in 1995.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / March 22nd, 2016

Kerala Photographer Wins Top Award

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

Kochi :

Thomas Vijayan bagged the ‘Wildlife Photographer of the Year – People’s Choice Award,’ constituted on the occasion of the 51st anniversary of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition conducted by the Natural History Museum, London.

Thomas Vijayan is the first Malayali and the fourth Indian to win the award.

LangurKERALA13jan2016

The award, which is regarded as the world’s most prestigious award in wildlife photography, is referred to the Oscar in  Wildlife Photography.

The award winning photograph is that of a common langur hanging on the tails of two others and swinging naturally as humans do. It was short-listed by nine expert juries from over 42,000 entries from across 96 countries.  “This image, captured at Kabini in Karnataka, is special in its own way as it was selected by the juries for the people to select,” said Vijayan.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / January 13th, 2016

Unesco award presented to Vadakkunnathan temple

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First time that the Award of Excellence is reaching a South Indian State

Unesco representative Moe Chiba with the Unesco Asia Pacific Award of Excellence at the Sree Vadakkunnathan temple in Thrissur on Friday.— PHOTO: K.K. Najeeb
Unesco representative Moe Chiba with the Unesco Asia Pacific Award of Excellence at the Sree Vadakkunnathan temple in Thrissur on Friday.— PHOTO: K.K. Najeeb

The Unesco Asia Pacific Award of Excellence was presented to Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple here on Friday.

Unesco representative Moe Chiba presented the award to Cochin Devaswom Board president M.P. Bhaskaran Nair.

“The holistic restoration of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple represents a milestone achievement in reviving a living religious heritage site using a combination of indigenous knowledge of vernacular building techniques and contemporary conservation practice,” Ms. Moe Chiba noted.

Even with inappropriate minor repairs and a century of exposure to monsoon rains, the project skilfully stabilised the wooden complex for use by local devotees and restored significant decorative works including murals, she noted.

Addressing the function, Devaswom Minister V.S. Sivakumar noted that the Award of Excellence for the conservation efforts of the majestic Vadakkunnathan temple was an honour for the State’s authentic style of architecture. Three hundred artisans worked for a decade for the conservation work.

The award comprises a brass plaque. ‘Award of Excellence’ certificates were presented to important stakeholders, master craftsmen and contributors to the project. The Unesco established Asia Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation to promote conservation of heritage in Asia and the Pacific in 2000.

The award recognises private efforts and also public private initiatives in conserving structures of heritage value.

Since the inception of the awards, India has received the Award of Excellence four times till date.

The honour for Vadakkunnathan temple conservation is the first time that the ‘Award of Excellence’ is reaching a south Indian State.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had been working on the conservation of the temple kitchen, the murals, the wood carvings and the south and west gopurams (gateways) since 1997.

In 2005, the Director General, ASI Delhi, gave permission to Venugopalaswamy Kainkaryam Trust (VGKT), Chennai, the donors, for its overall conservation, as per ASI norms.

“Hindu temples are designed and renovated in such a way that the temple is considered a human body, with life and energy.

“The complex systems of vasthu and tantrasastra are followed to restore and revive the energy and life of the temple lost due to age. Thus the conservation process involved both physical and metaphysical efforts,” said architect M.M. Vinod Kumar, who coordinated the conservation work.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / Staff Reporter / Thrissur – December 05th, 2015

A museum for dance enthusiasts

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel

Thiruvananthapuram  :

A national dance museum, claimed to be the first in the country, will be inaugurated on Friday.

Located on two acres in Vattiyoorkavu, the Rs 12-crore Guru Gopinath National Dance Museum (GGNDM) will showcase the evolution, heritage and diversity of dance forms in India and abroad.

Promoted by Guru Gopinath Natanagramam, an institution under the department of culture, the museum has been named after Kathakali maestro Dr Guru Gopinath (Guruji).

“Our plan is to bring all information regarding dance in India and abroad under one umbrella,” said James Sunny, Natanagramam secretary.

The 42,000-square feet museum on three floors would have 10 galleries displaying paintings, statuettes, costumes, photographs, Indian musical instruments. An audio-visual presentation of various dance forms and a digital library, too, would be available.

“The costumes were purchased from professional dance costume makers in different parts of the country. As a tribute, we have devoted a gallery to Guruji, which will have his rare photographs and a 500-kg bronze statue,” said Yohesh Shrinivasan, chief designer.

A 5D theatre would be set up in the second phase. “Performances by foreign and Indian artists will be organized,” said T Venu Kumar, executive officer of Guru Gopinath Natanagramam.

He added that the museum would have avenues for research on various dance forms. Wax statues, too, would be displayed.

The central government had allocated a grant of Rs 6 crore for the museum. While the state government chipped in with Rs 5 crore, the Guru Gopinath Natanagramam contributed Rs 1 crore.

A 20-foot-high statue of sage Bharata would be an added attraction at the museum campus.

source:  http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / October 01st, 2015

A spiritual backwash from the sixties

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Travel

From the travel log of ISKCON founder Abhay Charan De during his stopover.
An artist’s impression of Abhay Charan De boarding the ship M.V. Jaladuta.
An artist’s impression of Abhay Charan De boarding the ship M.V. Jaladuta.

Fifty years ago, Abhay Charan De, a young man who was actively involved in Mahatma Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience movement, inspired by the teachings of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, agreed to his mentor’s request to spread Hindu culture to the Western world. He set sail on August 13, 1965, as the lone cabin passenger onboard M.V. Jaladuta, a cargo ship bound for the United States.

With a complimentary ticket courtesy Sumati Morarjee, owner of Scindia Steam Navigation Company, a two-month tourist visa and Rs. 40 in hand, embarked on the rigorous journey. On August 22, the ship anchored at Kochi. Abhay Charan De stayed at Mattancherry as the guest of the shipping agents, Jairam & Sons. Abhay Charan De in his diary records his Kochi stopover. “The dock is peculiar,” he writes, “because it is by nature full of small islands. Some of the islands are full with nice hutments formerly known as British Island.”

Abhay Charan De saw his books that had arrived from Bombay in five boxes loaded into the ship in the evening. He then went around Mattancherry and Ernakulam. “Out of the group of islands, two big islands joined by an iron overbridge are known as Kochi and Ernakulam.

The iron overbridge was constructed by the Britishers very nicely along with railway lines. The railways line is extended up to the Port. There are many flourishing foreign firms and banks. It is Sunday and the bazar was closed. I saw a peculiar kind of plantain that is available in this part of the country. The island known as Kochi is not an up-to-date city. The roads are like narrow lanes. The parts of the city where the foreigners reside are well situated. The buildings, factories, etc. all big, are well maintained. The Mohamedan quarters are separate from the Hindu quarters like in the other Indian cities.” His diary makes a mention of Ernakulam, which he found to be ‘up-to-date.’ “There is a nice park on the bank of the gulf and it is named Subhas Bose Park. It is good that Subhas Babu is popular in this part of the country. I saw the Kerala High Court and the public buildings, the High Court being situated in Ernakulam it appears that the city is the capital of Kerala.”

The movement he started, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), from a small shop space spread across the world.

This year marks the Golden Jubilee of Abhay Charan De’s, (who later became popular as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) visit to Kochi. The organisation will celebrate this historic visit with various programmes at TDM Hall, Ernakulam, on October 10, from 5 p.m. onwards.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by K. Pradeep / October 04th, 2015

Showcasing the many moods of Madayippara

About Kerala, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Green Initiatives & Environment, Nature, Travel

Kannur :

Madayippara is not just a photographer’s delight or a treasure trove of biodiversity. The laterite plateau, which changes its moods and colours according to seasons, is also a specimen as to how indiscriminate industrial activities could spell doom for a place and damage its ecology and biodiversity.

The exhibition of photographs of Madayippara and the news clippings about the place, makes a difference because it captivates not only the beauty of the place but also its history, heritage and the environmental threats it faces.

“When we hear about the place, the first picture that we get is of the bed of grass and flowers, as also the migratory birds that visit here on transit,” said P K Krishnan Master, chairman of Environmental Conservation Group (ECG), Madayi, which organized the show.

“But the real picture comes to the fore when you visit the place, because the biodiversity there is facing serious threat from the China Clay factory as well as the indiscriminate vehicular traffic there.”

This exhibition is expected to sensitize people about the importance of protecting the place, said the organizers, because it is not just the beauty of the place which is covered in the show.

“When I embarked on this mission, my aim was to bring to life not just a few picture postcard images, because it has everything ranging from history, like the remains of the Jewish pond, and also the biodiversity that attracts many migratory birds,” said photojournalist Rojith Ravindran.

However, if some strict measures are not taken to prevent the environmental degradation of the place, the biodiversity and the migratory birds that visit the place would be a thing of the past, warn the environmental activists.

The exhibition, which would be on till Tuesday, was inaugurated by K M Shaji, MLA.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kozhikode / by P. Sudhakaran, TNN / September 28th, 2015

Kannur flew, way before its first airport

Business & Economy, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, Travel

Kannur :

Kannur is all set to take wings with authorities of the Kannur International Airport burning the midnight oil to ensure that commercial operations at the airport begin by mid-2016.

However, this will not be the region’s first brush with airline operations. Not many know that the first flight to the state had landed in this cantonment town – decades before the Kannur airport was conceptualized. The DH83 Fox Moth aircraft of Tata Airlines was the maiden flight of that operator to Kerala, under the patronage of Maharaja Chithira Thirunal, the last king of Travancore.

The operator started the service to Kerala on October 29, 1935, after the frequency of the Karachi-Madras flight, was increased to twice a week in 1934, according to the website of Tata. The weekly service between Bombay and Trivandrum had stops at Goa and Cannanore. Though Kannur was not a commercial stop, the small aircraft had to land here for refuelling. It was the time of the British reign and Kannur cantonment had an airstrip as the military headquarters here used to have several airmail from Bombay.

“The first passengers were JRD Tata’s colleague Jal Naoroji and the well-known Bombay merchant Seth Kanji Dwarkadas, the latter wearing a traditional dhoti, a long black dagalo coat and a small black cap,” the website says.

Seeing the flight was nothing short of a great spectacle and children in the town went as if they were going to watch a festival, remembered Captain Krishnan Nair in his autobiography ‘Krishna Leela’.

“It was in the Fort Ground that the aircraft landed… and even now that feeling of wonder is in my heart. The ‘Pushapakavimana’ we heard of in the epics is here in the Kannur Fort Ground, we said in mind. We kids shouted and some of us wanted to touch it. But since there were security personnel there we couldn’t,” wrote Captain Krishnan Nair in his autobiography ‘Krishna Leela’.

The flight put Kannur on India’s airline map though it had no airport, according to Madhu Kayarat a former employee with Peirce & Leslie, the ticketing agent for Tata’s air service.

“And if the information I got from my seniors at Peirce & Leslie is correct, the first flight had birthday greeting for the Maharaja from Lord Willingdon, the viceroy, and a copy of The Times of India, making the most prominent daily newspaper in the country available to a Malayali reader on the day of its printing,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kozhikode / by P. Sudhakaran, TNN / September 14th, 2015