Category Archives: Travel & Tourism

Afghan architecture in sandstone

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Mandu, MADHYA PRADESH :

A section of Rani Roopmati Pavilion | Photo Credit: mail
A section of Rani Roopmati Pavilion | Photo Credit: mail

Roopmati Pavilion is perched regally on the edge of a 365m precipice overlooking the Nimar Valley and to the south of the Baz Bahadur Palace in Mandu, Madhya Pradesh. A look by Chitra Ramaswamy

Among the plethora of monuments that dot the landscape of the historical city of Mandu in Madhya Pradesh, is the Roopmati Pavilion, an ode to love. The sandstone structure is perched regally on the edge of a 365m precipice overlooking the Nimar Valley and to the south of the Baz Bahadur Palace. It stands as testimony to the legendary tragic love story of Baz Bahadur, the mid-16th century Sultan of Mandu, a great musician, and his queen, Rani Roopmati, a singer of repute.

We traverse a broad, winding pathway to come upon a flight of stairs that brings us to the 16th century monument. The 72m high fort, Roopmati Pavilion, the southern-most monument in the city, is a magnificent expression of Afghan architecture in sandstone. It is evident that the monument underwent construction in phases during different time periods. The original design, sans pavilions, was built as an observation post for the royal army as a low, large hall with a pair of rooms on each side and a heavy sloping base. A symbol of their undying love, it was later transformed into the abode of Roopmati with a western side extension along the plinth. It was extended so as to enable the queen, who fervently worshipped the Narmada, to see the river and perform religious rites without stepping out of the fort.

The basement of the pavilion is characterised by corridors that have several arched openings along their width. The western ledge has a large reservoir from which rainwater collected during the monsoons would be channelled from the roof of the structure to a tank below by means of conduits.

However, it is the pavilions on the terrace of the original block that we access via spiral stairs, a later addition, which lends the structure its distinctive allure. The square-based pavilions are crowned with hemispherical domes that are fluted on the interior and exterior. We are treated to a visual delight as we climb a flight of steps to reach the pavilion top. Nature’s enchantment leaves us mesmerised as lush forests, plateaus, valleys and vast stretches of far away hills stretch before us.

Twin-storeyed palace

The Baz Bahadur Palace, closeby, lies on the hill-slope to the east of Rewa Kund and is set in the midst of picturesque verdure. Tall, sleek arches welcome us at the entrance to the twin-storeyed palace which is accessed by well laid, broad steps with landings at intervals. In its days of glory, an aqueduct ran on top of the arches, transporting water from Rewa Kund, the adjoining tank, to the pool in the palace courtyard. The water would be drawn upwards by Persian wheels that were powered by animals.

An inscription in Persian on the arch states that the palace was built in 1508 by Nasir-ud-Din. Incidentally, Nasir-ud-Din Shah Khilji, the Sultan of Malwa, is credited with designing this aesthetic structure which underwent repairs and renovations during the period of Baz Bahadur. Big courtyards and high terraces are distinct aspects of the palace that is an aesthetic blend of Mughal and Rajput architectural styles.

Halls and rooms with arched gates skirt the huge courtyard which is adorned by a stunning cistern with crystal clear water in the centre. The palace terrace is further adorned with a couple of chhatris or elevated domed pavilions. One of the big rooms, that even today has astounding natural acoustics, served as the music and dance hall of the palace.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Homes & Gardens / May 11th, 2018

Hubballi mosque sets an example

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Karnataka (under research project), Travel & Tourism,

Hubballi, KARNATAKA :

Special occasion: Authorities of the Hubballi mosque organised the programme on Sunday in association with Sadbhavana Vedike Karnataka. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Special occasion: Authorities of the Hubballi mosque organised the programme on Sunday in association with Sadbhavana Vedike Karnataka. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Masjid-e-Usman Ghani throws open its doors for Hindus for Id party

Masjid-e-Usman Ghani, located at Vijayanagar here, witnessed a special Id party on Sunday as authorities of the mosque had invited members of the Hindu community for the occasion.

The organisers said it was for the first time that an Id party was being held by inviting Hindu members on the mosque premises.

Mosque authorities, in association with Sadbhavana Vedike Karnataka ,  took this initiative to promote religious harmony and brotherhood in society.

Vedike secretary Akbar Ali Udupi said he was elated to see the Muslim community members opening the doors of a mosque for their brethren from the Hindu community. “It should have happened long back, but I am happy that it has happened no less than 70 years after Independence,” he said, and asserted that other mosques too should hold similar programmes.

He said the core essence of all religions was the same but they were presented in different ways. The prime reason for violence over religious issues was lack of proper knowledge about religions among their followers. Even those who resort to violence in the name of Islam do so because their knowledge of Islam was limited, he said. There were several examples in the life of Prophet Muhammed where he respected other religions and asked his followers to follow suit, Mr. Udupi said. Truthful knowledge of religion helps achieve peace and harmony, whereas unfair information of religion leads to disturbances in society. Therefore, every human being should strive to gain truthful knowledge of their respective religion in the larger interest of society, Mr. Udupi said.

Venkatesh Savadatti and Subhas Hosmani and others who were present on the occasion appreciated the move. They said division on religious lines was the creation of power-hungry politicians and common people should not fall prey to their devices.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Karnataka / by Staff Reporter / Hubballi – July 02nd, 2018

Former cricketer Azharuddin flags off ‘Save Lake Campaign’ at Hussain Sagar

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Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

AzharuddinMPOs02jul2018

Hyderabad :
A human chain with more than 6,000 students was formed around the Hussain Sagar in the city on Sunday as part of the “Save Lake Campaign ” organized by the Military College of Electronics and Mechanical Engineering (MCEME) Secunderabad.
Former Indian cricket captain Mohd Azharuddin  and Seema Singh , chairperson, Family Welfare Organisation, MCEME flagged off and participated in the 3.5 km Green Brigade Walk.
The programme was organized in connection with the annual Hyderabad Sailing Week. With the theme “Fit Hyderabad Swachh Hyderabad”, the green brigade walk was organized. Students from Army Public Schools, NCC cadets, army personnel, youth and general public participated in the walk from Sailing Club to Sanjeevaiah Park  to promote fitness and health awareness amongst the citizens of the twin-cities.

As part of the Swachh Bharat Campaign, participants undertook a cleanliness drive promoting ecological awareness.

IT minister K T Rama Rao will inaugurate the “Hyderabad Sailing Week” on July 3, 2018. During the Hyderabad Sailing Week, a national seminar on “Race Management” will be organized.

Major General TSA Narayanan, cice commodore, EME Sailing Association said Hyderabad was a popular destination for the sailing in the country. The wind conditions in June – July are most favorable in the Hussain Sagar Lake to hone the skills in boat handling and understanding wind shifts, he said.

This is a landmark year for the EME Sailing Association as this year the event has been accredited as the Yachting Association of India (YAI) National Ranking event where in the performance of the sailors will be ranked, which will give them points for selection into National Team. The eco friendly sports are getting popular day by day and 200 sailors from all over the country are expected to participate in this year’s event, he said.

Major Alok Kumar, honorary secretary, EME Sailing Association informed that the event will see the biggest congregation of sailors in the country. “Sailing is an eco friendly sport which requires immense technical skills to negotiate wind conditions and water. The concepts of sails and boat handling have undergone huge advancement, however the sport still retains the old world charm of explorers and discoverers who used their wind propelled boats to discover the world,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Hyderabad News / Ch. Sushil Rao / TNN / July 01st, 2018

The Nizams’ lost wheels

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, Transport, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , , , , ,

Hyderabad, TELANGANA :

NizamsCarsMPOs30jun2018

From missing White Steams to a recently found Duesenberg, a new coffee-table book — Automobiles of the Nizams — looks at the Hyderabad royal house’s expansive car collection

Once upon a time, Duesenbergs, Napiers, Rolls-Royces, White Steams and Hispano-Suizas were the playthings of the Nizams, the ruling family of Hyderabad. Then they disappeared. “There were 400 of them; I’ve been able to trace around 50. The others remain missing, scrapped, hidden or in private collections,” says Muhammad Luqman, a Hyderabad-born, Dubai-based banker and vintage car collector who has chronicled the royal wheels in his book, Automobiles of the Nizams. Containing never-before-seen photos, the tome tracks significant cars from production lines to palatial palaces. It is set to be released at the Pebble Beach Concours D’Elegance in California in August.

NizamsCars02MPOs30jun2018

As we walk around the Chowmahalla Palace over the weekend — where some of these cars ferried the sixth Nizam, Mir Mahbub Ali Khan (1869-1911), and later his son, Mir Osman Ali Khan (1911-1948) — Luqman spins a fascinating yarn about the wealthy monarchs’ love affair with automobiles. The first to catch the motoring craze, he says, was Mahbub Ali. The story goes that to acquire one of the first Rolls-Royce Silver Ghosts, he roped in the services of the British Resident (an appointee of the British government), shelled out ₹25,000, and then got it modified to his taste. Painted yellow, as a sign of royalty, he ordered a crest shaped like the dastaar (traditional headgear) and metal work with a delicate lily pattern for the roof fringe. However, by the time the customisation on the Throne Car was completed, he passed away.

The Ghost chronicles

Last year, at Cartier’s Concours d’Elegance at Falaknuma Palace, his great-grandson, Prince Azmet Jah, sat in the Silver Ghost and reminisced about being driven around in Hyderabad. “This was a ceremonial car used on special occasions. The prince recalled how, to celebrate the golden jubilee of Osman Ali’s ascension in 1936, the courtiers wanted him to get a new car. But the Nizam, known for being frugal, asked the Railways (he had his own railway network) to spiff it up instead. They did so by adding horrible fenders,” says the author, who relied on the archival material at Chowmahalla Palace’s royal library for much of his research. “After being left to the elements, it was restored by Rana Manvendra Singh (one of the country’s foremost authorities on vintage vehicles) in 2012, with Cartier picking up the tab.” As we talk, I also spot a massive, newly-restored Wolesley beside the shiny Silver Ghost.

While the sixth Nizam bought cars in pairs and preferred the ultra-luxe versions, his son picked the simpler Humbers and Fords. Today, one of the 1933 Dodges used by Osman Ali is taken out for a spin every Sunday by Captain Kerman Pestonjee, a Hyderabad-based collector, who acquired it with a unique number plate: King Koti Hyd A. So does Luqman’s book overlap with Singh’s 2003 compendium, The Automobiles of the Maharajas, a sweeping history of Indian royalty and their tryst with cars? No, he replies, because his work is a micro history, with details about the vehicles and anecdotes about how the Nizams acquired them. “It has been my obsession for the past 30 years; this book is a culmination of the love story,” says Luqman, who houses his collection of 12 vintage cars, including a small 8 HP post-war Wolseley, in Hyderabad.

Disappearing act

One of the cars he has been able to trace is a Bentley. When Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited in the ’50s, he was photographed in the vehicle with the Hyderabad number plate intact. Nizam Mukarram Jah had also used it extensively and once, in the ’60s, crashed it near Visakhapatnam — into a cart carrying coconuts. “The glass was smashed, the radiator twisted out of shape, but the Nizam continued with his programme and went to Calcutta. When he relocated to Perth, he took the Bentley with him. I traced it to a collector there,” says the writer, who also traced a Duesenberg to General William Lyon’s collection in the US.

But the mystery of the missing 350 cars remains. How do large automobiles just disappear? Luqman explains that after the 1948 merger with India, Hyderabad’s royal family simply lost interest in the vehicles — till Nizam Mukarram Jah Bahadur, an outdoorsman who loved tinkering with engines, took charge. His biographer, John Zubrzycki, talks about Jah’s fascination with everything with wheels, including earth movers and heavy machinery. “One of the Jeeps he had, had mounted guns,” he says. An interesting story that could explain a few of the disappearances, involves an electrician. “About 10 years back, the family wanted to install an AC at their Chiran Palace. Once done, a grateful Nizam asked the technician for the fee. ‘I want that Jeep,’ he replied, and the generous prince obliged. Now the Jeep, with the 8386 number, has passed on to another Hyderabadi family,” concludes Luqman, who hopes that more stories about the Nizams and their cars will come out once his book hits the market.

Automobiles of the Nizams, planned as the first of a multi-volume series, is published by Oxford Printing Press.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Life & Style> Luxury / by Serish Nanisetti / June 29th, 2018

Bidar’s officers who became beacons for the entire State

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Education, Karnataka (under research project), Leaders, Travel & Tourism,

Bidar, KARNATAKA :

Ordinary people continue to talk about the work of Moudgil, Gupta,Jaffer, Tewari, Singh, and Ghosh even today

Bidar district is fortunate to get good officers known for their out-of-the-box thinking. Munish Moudgil, Harsh Gupta, P.C. Jaffer, Anurag Tewari, Naveen Raj Singh and Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, to name a few, were not only good administrators leading the bureaucratic apparatus but also people-friendly officers who ordinary folk continue to talk about even many years after they have been transferred.

That many of their unique experiments in the district have grabbed the attention of the political class in Bengaluru who, in turn, adopted them for the entire State considering their effectiveness in improving governance is testimony for their outstanding performance.

When Naveen Raj Singh was Bidar Zilla Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) between 2003 and 2005, the district witnessed a successful experiment of watershed development through arch-check-dams. A civil engineering graduate, Mr. Singh studied the pressure enduring logic behind Idukki Dam, a double curvature arch dam constructed across the Periyar in a narrow gorge between two granite hills in Kerala, and built the first-ever inclined-buttress check-dam, as it was called, in Bidar applying the same logic.

Considering the reduction of construction costs by half as compared to conventional check-dams and increased life expectancy to around 100 years, the arch-check-dams proved to be a successful model in watershed development at affordable costs. The experiment impressed the State government which issued standing directions to all district to adopt the Bidar model for building smaller check-dams.

Munish Moudgil, who served as Deputy Commissioner in the district between 2005 and 2007, was the man who not only forced the mighty to respect and adhere to the law of the land but also significantly contributed to improving the administration. An M.Tech graduate from IIT Bombay, Moudgil was the one who first conceived the idea of time-bound public grievance redressal system.

He began to hold Jana Spandana, a people-meeting programme, on Tuesdays to address public grievances and put a mechanism in place to see that every grievance is addressed within a stipulated time.

Then, all the other department heads also followed him. Impressed by the initiative, the government adopted it for the entire State under a new name, Sakala.

Then came Harsh Gupta. During his tenure as Deputy Commissioner between 2007 and 2010, Bidar saw multi-front development. He put men on task to identify and protect 96 little-known monuments of historical importance. It was during his tenure that around 1,100 acres of public land encroached upon by private parties returned to government’s possession. His groundwork is undeniable in the famous Bidriware getting geographical indication (GI) tag as he was the one who roped in Cauvery Handicrafts Emporium to train Bidri artisans and get their work globally recognised.

Education was P.C. Jaffer’s cup of tea. During his tenure as Deputy Commissioner between 2012 and 2015, he introduced a series of programmes for improving the education scenario in the district. He selected one efficient teacher from each one of the 1,350 government primary schools and get them trained in English teaching training. Experts from English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, with whom he entered into an agreement, trained teachers in two sessions with multimedia teaching tools.

Mr. Jaffer conducted a series of career counselling programmes for spreading awareness on UPSC examinations in the backward district. In one of his important initiatives, he conducted a preliminary test for those aspiring for civil services and selected 12 students — eight males and four females, whom he sent to Delhi for higher-level coaching. Two of them cracked the UPSC exams. His efforts to improve the district’s performance in SSLC and PUC examinations were unlimited.

Anurag Tewari, who succeeded Jaffer as Deputy Commissioner and worked between 2015 and 2017, was Bidar’s waterman. In collaboration with Team YUVA, a civil society group of professionals, he identified hundreds of public tanks and wells that were crying for dredging. The collective efforts paved way for the dredging of 100 tanks and 300 open-wells resulting in increased water storage and groundwater table recharge. In 2016, the then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who visited a lake in Aurad, locally known as Deshmukh Kere, which was freshly dredged, was so impressed that he extended the initiative to the entire State under the name of Kere Sanjeevini.

Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, during his tenure as the CEO of Bidar Zilla Panchayat, put a system in place for ensuring punctuality of teachers in government schools. The system inspired the Education Department to further develop it into an SMS-Based School Attendance Monitoring System and extend it to the entire State.

Anirudh Sravan P. is another promising officer that Bidar could expect the furtherance of the legacy from. Transferred as Deputy Commissioner of the district by Election Commission during the recent Assembly polls, he got recognised as people’s officer within a short period. It is his repeated visits to the district hospital that made it a patient-friendly hospital. Known for his style of working more from the field than from office, he is still talked about in the rural areas of Kalaburagi where he had meaningfully implemented MGNREGA as the CEO of Kalaburagi Zilla Panchayat.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Kumar Buradikatti / Kalaburagi – June 19th, 2018

Madras Inherited to unravel city’s architectural treasures

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , ,

Chennai, TAMIL NADU :

One of the projects taken up by the Triple O Studio
One of the projects taken up by the Triple O Studio

Any mention of Chennai’s architectural marvels instantly brings to mind large, red public structures built in the Indo-Saracenic architectural style. But, there is more to the city’s architectural history in its residential areas.

Madras Inherited, an initiative of a group of architects and volunteers, aims to unravel these hidden architectural gems through heritage walks and document the fast disappearing residential structures in the city.

Spearheaded by Triple O Studio, an architectural firm, Madras Inherited will focus on small residential buildings across the city that have gone unnoticed unlike public heritage structures. While Chennai has some of the finest Indo-Saracenic structures, it is also a confluence of many intriguing architectural styles that the group will research and map through a series of walks.

Tahaer Zoyab, architect and co-founder of Madras Inherited, said a project to document the old houses of Mylapore came as an eye-opener to the vanishing heritage in the city. “The character of the interior lanes is fast changing and we wanted to share the stories with people before residential buildings disappear and also document the rich legacy,” he said.

The team has so far documented architectural designs of about 50 houses in Mylapore. “We have traces of Neoclassical, Gothic and Art Deco styles in structures across the city. We can still find traditional vernacular architecture in some of the Agraharam houses of Mylapore, Tiruvanmiyur and Triplicane,” he said.

Classic example

George Town, one of the older settlements in the city, presents a classic example of a confluence of different styles. Dare House in Parrys Corner, for instance, is designed in the Art Deco style in which there is an emphasis on vertical lines and the distinct design of a ‘sunburst jaali’ for ventilation, Mr. Zoyab pointed out.

Such intricate details imbibed in residential and private building architecture will be documented and shared with heritage enthusiasts in the city. Madras Inherited will focus on cultural tourism and heritage education and management through a series of interactive events like photo walks in historical areas. The initiative will be launched on June 16 with a walk through the lanes of Royapettah, where participants will get to decode the architectural history of the area. The walk that starts at 6.30 a.m. will cost adults Rs. 700 and students Rs. 450. Participants get to take home a bag of custom-made souvenirs, ranging from coasters to bookmarks.

The locality has a range of styles from Agraharam houses, traces of Gothic design and Islamic-style houses. The proceeds from these walks will be used to fund the mapping and documentation of city’s heritage structures. There are plans to expand to areas like Periamet, Vepery and George Town after September.

For details on the walk, send an e-mail to mail@madrasinherited.in or contact +91-8939135048.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Tamil Nadu / by K. Lakshmi / Chennai – June 15th, 2018

Madin grounds witness mega prayer meet

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Malappuram, KERALA :

Sunni believers from different parts of the State attend an annual mega prayer gathering organised by the Madin Academy in Malappuram on Monday.
Sunni believers from different parts of the State attend an annual mega prayer gathering organised by the Madin Academy in Malappuram on Monday.

Thousands of Sunni believers from different parts of the State attended an annual mega prayer gathering organised by the Madin Academy here on Monday night.

Although the organisers had cut down the size of the programme by shifting the stage into the Madin Grand Mosque and reducing the publicity for the event in view of the Nipah virus scare, there was no decrease in the turnout of the orthodox Sunnis who reached the Swalat Nagar for the blessings of Lailathul Qadr. Lailathul Qadr or “the night of decree” is the holiest night of the year for Muslims across the world.

According to the Koran, Lailathul Qadr is “better than a thousand months”. In his special message to the people, Madin Academy chairman Sayed Ibrahim Khaleel Bukhari Thangal exhorted the mahals and the community to give extra stress on cleanliness and hygiene.

All India Jamiyyathul Ulama general secretary Kanthapuram A.P. Aboobacker Musliar inaugurated the function. Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama president E. Sulaiman Musliar presided. Mr. Bukhari led various prayers such as Thouba, Tahleel and Swalat.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / Malappuram – June 12th, 2018

Iconic mosque welcomes women for iftar

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Kolkata, WEST BENGAL :

Women have lunch at Tipu Sultan Mosque.
Women have lunch at Tipu Sultan Mosque.

Kolkata  :

The iconic Tipu Sultan Mosque has, for the first time in its 184-year history, opened its doors for women this Ramzan.

The Esplanade landmark has arranged for iftar and evening prayers for women under a temporary shamiana inside its premises, lending a crucial support system that lets them leave home for shopping in the city’s famed central commercial area without worrying about how and where to break their fast and get some shelter from the sun and, right now, the rains.

The shamiana, with adequate lighting, fans and water, has proved to be a huge relief for women working in offices in the central business district, with the masjid authorities providing the iftari comprising fruits, chhola, sweets and sherbet.

“You do not even have to get your own iftari. We will provide it. Just reach the mosque minutes before iftar and take your seat,” Prince Anwar Ali Shah, the mosque’s mutwali (caretaker) and great-grandson of Prince Gholam Mohammad, Tipu Sultan’s eldest son, said.

The Esplanade landmark has arranged for iftar and evening prayers for women under a temporary shamiana inside its premises, lending a crucial support system ...
The Esplanade landmark has arranged for iftar and evening prayers for women under a temporary shamiana inside its premises, lending a crucial support system …

The mosque was built in 1834 by Prince Gholam Mohammad, when was in exile in Kolkata.

“A lot of women come to Esplanade from far-flung areas for shopping during Ramzan and do not have any proper place to go to when it is time for iftar. Many are forced to break their fast on the road and forgo their evening prayers,” Shah said, explaining the rationale behind the decision.

Women devotees have welcomed the change. Park Circus resident Asma Momin had come to Esplanade to buy essentials on Tuesday. “I was not carrying any food at all,” she said. “The shamiana and the iftari were a godsend,” she added.

Sabrina Yasmin had come to Dharamtala from nearby Wellesley but was caught in the rain; for her, the shamiana provided the much-needed shelter. “It is a great decision and shows the mosque authorities’ inclination to change with the times,” she said. Around 150 women partake of iftar at the Tipu Sultan Mosque daily.

Fasting during Ramzan is one of the five obligatory pillars of Islam, along with the declaration of faith, the namaz, the Haj pilgrimage and giving zakat (an Islamic levy). The conclusion of Ramzan heralds the arrival of Eid, the biggest Muslim festival.

source: http:///www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Kolkata News / by Zeeshan Javed / TNN / June 13th, 2018

Vintage Car Collector In Kodagu Dies As Tree Branch Falls On Him

Arts, Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Karnataka (under research project), Sports, Travel & Tourism, World Opinion, , , , , ,

Nellihudikeri Village, Siddapur (Kodagu Distrct), KARNATAKA :

AhmedKuttiMPOs12jun2018

Madikeri:

A farmer and a vintage car collector died after a tree branch fell on him at Nellihudikeri village near Siddapura in Kodagu district yesterday.

The deceased, 67-year-old P.C. Ahmed Kutti Haji, was working in his Mubarak Estate along with his son Ashraf at around 11.30 am. Due to heavy rain and wind, a branch of a banyan tree fell on Ahmed Kutti. He was immediately rushed to a hospital. But he succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. Kodagu Deputy Commissioner P.I. Sreevidya has announced Rs.5 lakh compensation to his family. She sent the cheque through the Tahsildar.

With his death, Kodagu has lost a collector of Vintage ‘beauties
With his death, Kodagu has lost a collector of Vintage ‘beauties

Ahmed Kutti Haji is a coffee planter and also an industrialist. He has a huge collection of vintage cars which he threw open to public. Collecting vintage cars was a hobby for Ahmed who has 86 of them and over 15 vintage petrol jeeps. Not to stop there, he also has 20 old two-wheelers, a 125-year-old bicycle and a 200-year-old bullock cart. The oldest car in the collection is 1925 model.

Normally vintage car collectors eye Bengaluru to add cars to their collection. Changing the trend, Ahmed focussed on old workshops in Kodagu and surrounding areas to hunt vintage ‘beauties.’ After picking them, Ahmed gave old cars a fresh coat of paint and tuned them to working condition.

Almost all foreign cars owned by Ahmed were manufactured between 1925 and 1965. Barring Dharmasthala, no other place in the State has such a wide collection of vintage cars.

With his death, Kodagu has lost a vintage automobile enthusiast.

source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> News /June 10th, 2018

Ensuring iftari for thousands, since 1839

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Lucknow, UTTAR PRADESH :

Lucknow :

It is 8am on Saturday and big black cauldrons that will slowly simmer dal in them have been put up on burning embers with the help of two strong men. For the past 179 years, the ritual has been repeated every Ramzan in the bawarchikhana (kitchen) within the premises of the Chhota Imambara.

While it is dal and tandoori roti that is cooked for three days, an Awadhi delicacy called ‘taley hue aaloo ka salan’ (fried potato curry) with roti follows for the next three. The cycle continues for the entire month of Ramzan, feeding around 600 poor people as their dinner the the entire month of Ramzan.

In the same kitchen, a different set of snacks is also prepared for the specific purpose of serving rozedars coming to offer prayers in 15 mosques under Husainabad & Allied Trust (HAT).

Around 2,500 people will receive a plate of gujhiya, phulka, chana, suhaal, dates, a fruit (preferably banana) along with bread-butter and cake outsourced from a bakery, thanks to a king’s commitment to the poor.

The third King of Awadh, Muhammad Ali Shah, had created the Husainabad Endowment Deed in 1839 to feed the poor. Since then, the two massive community kitchens within the Chhota Imambara have been following the tradition of sending out iftari to the 15 mosques under its umbrella.

Every Ramzan, by the end of the day, this kitchen would have fed over 3,000 mouths.

“A sum of around Rs 16 lakh is passed for the iftar and dinner services every year. Two separate dedicated teams of chefs and their assistants are engaged for it. Everyday, activity in the kitchens begins at 8am. By 4.30pm, we send out the first batch of iftar food for the mosques,” said Habibul Hasan, an official from HAT.

The 179-year-old Nawabi tradition saw a break only in 2015. During Ramzan that year, a movement against alleged corruption in the UP Shia Central Waqf Board being spearheaded by Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawad  had brought the tradition to a halt. Protesters had locked the entrances to both the Bada Imambara and Chhota Imambara, restricting all entry. Even the kitchens could not function.

However, people from the neighbourhood of the 15 mosques came together to fund the food. HAT had also roped in private bakeries. Even during the mourning months of Muharram, food is served from the traditional kitchens of the Imambara.

source: http:///www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News> Lucknow News / by Yusra Husain / TNN / May 21st, 2018