Amaravati - a Talk and a Walk, R. Gopu, 4th Aug 2018


Tamil Heritage Trust
as a part of MADRAS DAY celebrations
presents
Amaravati - a Talk and a Walk
by
R Gopu
4th August 2018, Saturday 5:30 PM at Arkay Convention Center,
146/3 R.H.Road, OMS Lakshana (Above Shah Electronics), Mylapore, Chennai

The talk is followed by a Walk in Amaravati Gallery, Egmore Museum, Chennai on 5th August 2018 at 11 AM.

About the topic

The Amaravati gallery is one of the great treasures of the Madras Museum in Egmore. Sculptures, pillars, and fragments of a Buddhist stupa dating back to the second century BC, from an abandoned city of the Satavahana era, were brought to this museum in the middle of the nineteenth century, perhaps saving them from destruction and misuse. It is a mystery, that the Amaravati gallery, whose sculptural splendour is equal merit to Ajanta, in the middle of a massive city, easy to behold and easier to access, does not draw far bigger crowds. Perhaps the unfamiliarity of its themes and seemingly confusing compositions are a challenge to the lay public and connoisseur alike.

The art of Amaravati is not only astounding; it is of great artistic, religious, historical, epigraphical, and aesthetic value. It is the earliest lithic work any significance in the southern part of the Indian peninsula. Even this earliest attempt exhibits an astounding creative maturity and represents the perfection of the art of sculpture. The panels are among the finest examples of Buddhist art, few remains of which are still to be found in South India.

The sculptor possessed masterly knowledge of composition and an intuitive sense of balance and sequencing. For the first time, several techniques of artistic rendering such as lighter and deeper etching, differentiated planes, perspective and distance, and foreshortening are successfully introduced.

It is not possible to describe the variety of the panels or the various aspects listed above, in a single lecture. Or even a couple of hours of strolling through the gallery. But an introduction to its history and a brief explanation of a few selected panels may help.

Hence this talk at Tamil Heritage Trust and walk with the cooperation of the Madras Museum.

About the speaker

Rangarathnam Gopu, having been born and brought up in Chennai, obtained his BE in Computer Engineering from Arulmigu Kalasalingam College of Engineering (now a deemed university) in Srivilliputhur and an MS in Computer Science from the Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, USA. He then worked in the US, as a software engineer, mostly at Microsoft in Seattle; but also brief stints at MicroAge in Arizona and Decide.Com in California.

Bored of software, he returned to India to pursue a career in writing and screenwriting. But his interest turned to other directions, like Art, History, Music, Heritage, Astronomy, Evolution, Genetics, Economics etc., He reads, lectures writes and blogs on these subjects regularly.
He has been part of Tamil Heritage Trust close to a decade and his contributions to organising Monthly Talks, Pechchu Kachcheri, Site Seminar, Mallai Study Tours are immense and invaluable.  He has been part of Adyar and Cooum Cultural Mapping groups too.

He received Vedavalli Memorial Heritage Award for Services to Culture in 2016, instituted by Ramu Endowments associated with TAG group.

He is part of the group that founded the VarahaMihira Science Forum which has been conducting monthly lectures on science and scientists since August 2017. He delivered the forum’s first lecture, on French chemist Antoine Lavoisier and the Origin of Modern Chemistry.

Entry for the event is absolutely FREE; No registration required. The event will also be available on LIVE.

For further details, please visit http://www.tamilheritage.in & Tamil Heritage Trust

Tags: Video

சிங்காரச் சென்னையின் அதிசயப் பெண்மணிகள், நிவேதிதா லூயிஸ், 7 ஜூலை 2018


Tamil Heritage Trust
presents
Madras Muses: Wonder Women of Madras
(சிங்காரச் சென்னையின் அதிசயப் பெண்மணிகள்)
by
Nivedita Louis
7th July 2018, Saturday 5:30 PM at Arkay Chennai Convention Center,
146/3 R.H.Road, OMS Lakshana (Above Shah Electronics), Mylapore, Chennai

About the Topic:
The beginning of 20th Century saw a massive transformation in the lives of women of India and in particular Madras, who were not only getting exposed to modern education but getting and creating opportunities to excel in their chosen fields, like literature, arts and science. 

The talk is about the few trailblazing women of Madras who inspired and shaped the course of generations of women to come. The list is in no way, exhaustive.

Performing arts:

TP Rajalakshmi - the first actress of a South Indian talkie. TA Madhuram – pioneering comedienne of yesteryears, who regaled and mesmerized the talkie-goers  

Science:

Madras also boasts of several trailblazing women in the field of science, Janaki Ammal, who has a species of Magnolia named after her,  Anna Mani, meteorologist of renown, who rose up to the rank of Deputy Director General of India Meteorological Department. A Lalitha, India's first woman Engineer and Dr Muthulakshmi Reddy, perhaps the first woman to study in a men’s college, one of the first lady doctors of the Madras of British India and most significantly, first woman legislator of British India.

Literature:

We have an educationally very accomplished Kamala Sathianathan, the first woman graduate of the Madras Presidency, who became the first editor of India's first women's magazine in English and ‘Jaganmohini’ Vai Mu Kothainayagi Ammal, who home-schooled after her marriage, authoring 115 Tamil novels, also wearing the mantle of first woman writer of detective novels in Tamil.

Social activism:

Ammu Swaminathan whose condition for marriage was 'shifting to Madras', one of the signatories to the Constitution of India and Durgabhai Deshmukh, a little girl who demanded Pandit Nehru buying a ticket to enter a Khadi exhibition, who established Andhra Mahila Sabha for the cause of empowerment and education of women.

About the Speaker:
Nivedita Louis, writer and historian, is currently writing a series “Muthal Pengal” in popular women’s magazine Aval Vikatan. As an ex-employee of Southern Railways, she likes to travel, explore and learn. She also works as a content curator, having recently curated an exhibition on Musical Instruments “Iyal Isai Museum Exhibition” for Government Museum, Chennai. She also conducts and curated walks of Poonamalle, Greenways Road, RK Salai etc., In one of the walks she stumbled upon fragments of an inscription of Rajendra Chola. She gave a talk on ‘Gujili literature’ at Madras Literary Society sometimes ago.

தலைப்பு பற்றி:
இருபதாம் நூற்றாண்டின் தொட்க்கம், இந்தியப் பெண்கள் மத்தியில் குறிப்பாக சென்னை வாழ் பெண்களிடம் பெரிய மாற்றங்களைக் கொண்டு வந்தது. பள்ளிக் கல்வியும், கல்லூரி படிப்பும் எட்ட ஆரம்பித்தன. பெண்கள் சுயசார்புடன் நின்று, கல்வி மற்றும் தொழில் ரீதியாக பல உச்சங்களைத் தொட முடிந்தது. சென்னையின் முன்னோடிகளாகவும் பெரும் சாதனையாளர்களாகவும் திகழ்ந்த ஒரு சில ஆளுமைகளைக் குறித்து திருமதி நிவேதிதா லூயிஸ் பேச இருக்கிறார்

தமிழின் முதல் பேசும் படத்தின் கதாநாயகியான தி ராஜலக்ஷ்மி, தமிழ் சினிமாவின் முதல் நகைச்சுவை நாயகியான டி..மதுரம், தழை மலர் என குறிக்கப்படும் மாக்னோலியா மலரின் ஒரு இனத்துக்குப் பெயர் தந்த தாவரவியல் வல்லுனர் ஜானகி அம்மாள், இந்தியாவின் முதல் பெண் பொறியியலாளர் லலிதா, பெண் உரிமைப் போராளியும், பிரிட்டிஷ் ஆட்சியில் இந்தியாவின் முதல் பெண் சட்ட மன்ற உறுப்பினராக இருந்த   டாக்டர் முத்துலட்சுமி ரெட்டி, தமிழின் முதல் பெண் துப்பறியும் கதை எழுத்தாளரான வை மு கோதைநாயகி என தமிழ் சமூகத்தின் சில முக்கியமான பெண் ஆளுமைகள் குறித்த உரையாக அமையும்.

பேச்சாளர் பற்றி:

நிவேதிதா லூயிஸ்,  எழுத்தாளர் மட்டுமல்ல ஒரு வரலாற்று வல்லுனரும் கூட. தற்போது அவள் விகடன் பத்திரிக்கையில்முதல் பெண்கள்’ என்னும் தலைப்பில் கட்டுரைகள் எழுதி வருகிறார். தென்னக ரயில்வே பணியிலிருந்து விருப்ப ஓய்வு பெற்றவர். பயணங்களில் ஈடுபாடு கொண்டவர். சில மாதங்களுக்கு முன்னர், சென்னை அருங்காட்சியகத்திற்காக இவர் வடிவமைத்த இசைக்கருவிகளின் காட்சி குறிப்பிடத்தக்கது, பூந்தமல்லி, ராதாகிருஷ்ணன் சாலை, பசுமை வழி சாலை போன்ற இடங்களில் பல மரபுவழி நடைப் பயணங்களை நடத்தி இருக்கிறார். பூந்தமல்லி மரபுவழி நடையின் போது ராஜேந்திர சோழர் காலத்து கல்வெட்டின் ஒரு துண்டு இவரால் கண்டெடுக்கப்பட்டது. மெட்ராஸ் லிட்டரரி சொசைட்டியில் குஜிலி இலக்கியம் பற்றி உரையாற்றியிருக்கிறார்.

Entry for the event is absolutely FREE; No registration required. The event will also be available on LIVE.