Navrang India

Srirangam. Sri Padham ThangigalThe Hindu

In the Hindu temples of South India, in particular Vishnu temples of Tamil Nadu, probably you would have seen fairly well-built men, with considerable ease, carry the procession deities around in a well-decorated palanquin on their shoulders often accompanied with all the paraphernalia including musicians and drum players. Sri Padham Thangigal are the men from the Brahmin Vaishnavite community, who do their duty with utmost devotion and dedication often driven by the love for the presiding deities.

Srirangam temple, Tamil Nadu. trichy.com

Often referred to as Sri Padham Thangigal ‘walk’, it is an important temple ritual believed to have been introduced by saint Sri. Ramanuja way long back centuries ago. It is a unique way of carrying the revered deities around the temple premises, etc. There is no Hindu temple in south India that does not have a procession of deities as part of temple festivals!! Not all Vishnu temples have this team of sturdy men. Exceptions being the Srirangam temple and Sri Parthasarathy Swami temple in Triplicane, Chennai. Normally, the deity is taken out on festive occasions on ‘wheels’ and this is true of most of the Divya Desam shrines in Tamil Nadu.

Sri patham thangigal. Ranganathar temple iSrirangam prtraveller.blogspot.com

In the hoary temple of Sri Ranganathar, Srirangam, TN, the procession deity (Utchavar) of Lord Namperumal (Vishnu) is carried in a traditional way and this rare tradition has been around for about 1000 long years. While on duty, the Sri Patham Thangis of Srirangam wear a coloured turban to establish their tradition and carry the deity on their shoulders through the entire length of the procession. The amazing fact is the men never place the palanquin on the stool, for a brief respite during long walk.

Carrying the perumal on the shoulder is believed to be a great  Kainkaryam (devotional task) and no less people than  Uthama Nambi, Parasara/Veda Vyasa Bhattar, Annangar Swamy and Rangachar in the 19th century engaged themselves in this devotional duty. The carriers followed an order while carrying the deities.  The presiding deity Sri Ranganathar is quite well-known for his impressive gait and the tradition has it the Sri Patham Thangis of Srirangam must maintain the gait and bring out the grandeur and majesty of Lord's walk. There are different walks of the lord called Voyyali, Simha Gathi and Sarpa Gathi. In the past Sri Patham Thangis had to practise these walks barefoot for long hours  in the hot sun on the Manal Veli - sandy ground in the eastern side of the temple. It is to be noted, you need good physical as well as mental endurance to get involved in this traditional devotional ritual. This kind of rigorous training is a must for the chosen men to perform the divine task with dedication. A prospective aspirant can not join the Srirangam temple group. The aspirant has to prove his capability and worth first at the  Kamalavalli Nachiyar temple in Woraiyur, Tiruchy. If done well, he can join the group of Sri Padham Thangi of Srirangam temple.

With the temple having come under the management of the HR & CE, an arm of the Tamil Nadu government, in the last several decades, the appointment of  Sri Padham Thangi is vested with the officials, a fact that countless devotees deplore. Many men have been Sri Padham Thangi for a few decades and their family members take pride in the devotional task done by them during the festival time. Among the festivities, Poochatru Utsavam is one of the toughest for the Sri Patham Thangis. The duty involves standing on the the Manal Veli Mandapam and carrying the ‘heavy’ Lord on their shoulders. Without losing either their composure or showing any signs of fatigue, they stand on their feet, carrying Namperumal on their shoulders. The 10-day Utsavam for Perumal is followed by a week-long Utsavam for Thayar (Goddess), at the end of which, all most all of them may carry a bruise on their shoulder.

Sri Patham Thangigal, Srirangam. Sanskrit Literature - WordPress.com

There is a voluntary group called the Srirangam Vethal Group that has 200 volunteers. They do an yeomen service to god by way of giving support to the official ‘Sri Patham Thangis’ of the temple, especially during the long street procession of the lord and also during the annual Brahmotsavam in Chitirai. The annual Panguni trip to near-by Jeeya Puram town and Woraiyur is an interesting one in which hundreds of them take turns to carry the lord Vishnu on the shoulder. During Brahmotchavam, East Chitirai Street of Srirangam will be over crowded with thousands of devotees. The impressive visual feat is the way the Sri Patham Thangis carry the Lord, atop the Golden Horse Vahana, at great speed. They do it diagonally one way and then the other in a zig-zag motion, forward and back. The peculiar feat may last around 15 minutes making the audience spell-binding.

That traditional Vaishnavites were not carrying the Lord on street processions was a sad story. Now things have changed owing to some dedicated HR & CE senior officials and the old tradition has seen a revival and there are 150 ‘Sri Patham Thangis associated with this age old tradition. Most of them are employed in corporate companies and they do this service to god without any monetary benefits; it is purely for their spiritual fulfilment. Driven by pure love and devotion, men who come from traditional families of Sri Patham Thangis carry the lord on their shoulders 300 days in a year and it is good to see such age old tradition is not broken and keeps going with rejuvenated enthusiasm.

https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/what-are-temples-without-processions/article21215922.ece

http://prtraveller.blogspot.com/2017/12/sri-patham-thangis-srirangam.html

Chinsurah , WB. location map . Maps of India

The west Bengal region, being a productive and fertile place attracted the attention of the other European explorers other than the English. The French and the Dutch wanted to establish their supremacy here, but they were no match for the Machiavellian English pioneers who had later established their hegemony here. The European pioneers needed churches for their spiritual needs and thus many Dutch churches came up in West Bengal in the early 19th century. The towns of Hoogley and Chinsurah were part of Portuguese settlement long before the arrival of other pioneers from Europe.

The Chinsurah Church, located in the heart of the Chinsurah town is an interesting one. Founded in 1825, it was earlier called the Free Church and belonged to UCNI (United Church of North India) before the church union took over under the management of the CNI. In the 17th century, Chinsurah was a Dutch settlement and had a factory in 1656 and later a garrison in 1759. However, in 1825, the Dutch ceded many of their possession in India to the British, in exchange for the British possessions in Sumatra. In this dutch settlement there were three churches to cater to the European community and to spread the Gospel of Christ: The Dutch Church (High Church) does not exist now and Mohosin College Chinsurah was operating from a portion of the land; Chinsurah Church (Free Church), now has become the CNI Church; and Armenian Church (near Magultuli Lane, Chinsurah), which still exists and is being well maintained.

West Bengal: Dutch cemetry, Chinsurah Church.

As for the Chinsurah Church, it received financial aid from England only in the early stages. The Church saw its growth under the first priest, Rev. W. H. Michael John (served up to 1848), followed by other priests like Rev. W. S. Mickey, Rev. Elenter Miller, Rev. J. S. Beaumont. Since the natives -Bengalis formed a large group, it was decided to have a Bengali priest. In 1871, the Rev. P. K. Chatterjee became the first Bengali priest priest and at the same time he was a teaching staff at the famous Chinsurah Duff School, that was founded by the popular missionary Rev. Alexander Duff. The church has two parts, one is for the library and the other being exclusively for worship and prayer. As the congregation grew larger, Rev. S. C. Dey removed the partition and the entire main church portion came to be used for church services. At the entrance of the church on the right hand side was a big cannon, which was handed over to the Government in 1963.
Behind the Chinsurah Emambara hospital, close to the river Ganges, lies the mission property with a pond and a two storied building enclosed in a huge compound. It was bought by the Government for a small sum of Rs. 6,500. Way back in the past, some of the priests and evangelists, both male and female, lived in that mission house. Presently, the Chinsurah Child Development Project is functioning in the mission house. The project is under the Diocese of Calcutta, sponsored by an organisation called Compassion.

Yet another feature of this historical church is its own burial ground that has the graves of Dutch people who lived and died at Chinsurah. Even this day the Chinsurah Church is receiving funds in the form of grants from the Danish Government through the Diocese of Calcutta. Native Christian community members of the Chinsurah Church and of the adjacent area use this burial ground.

An out-station church at Triveni called Triveni Tissues Congregation is functioning under the direction of the Chinsurah Church. Sunday service is held in the residences of various members by rotation and this being due to lack of proper building. The people of Triveni Tissues never fail to attend major festivals at Chinsurah Church. The credit goes to Rev. Samar Bairagi (retired Bishop), former pastor of the Chinsurah Church (1961 – 1970) who started the English service once a month. This was of great help to those who were not familiar with Bengali. All English speaking near-by factory workers attended the English service with their families. Please note: I find it difficult to get a true picture of this historical Dutch church!!
Chinsurah Church,Chinsurah http://cnicalcutta.org

The Dutch Cemetery at Chinsur dutchcemeterybengal.com

The Dutch Cemetery at Chinsurh ahalamy.com

The historical fact is the Dutch had already built a settlement at Chinsurah, West Bengal and had been engaging in trade activities for sometime long before the arrival of the British who settled down in Sutanuti (now part of Kolkata city) right across the bank of the Hooghly river. Later the British with their typical administrative skill, strategy and better military forces became a force to reckon with and dominated the mercantile trading activities. At one point, in 1823 the Dutch, unable to face the competition in the Indian subcontinent, finally ceded some of their valuable possessions to the British in return of the Sumatra island (Indonesia) back to them. But for a cemetery with about 191 graves, some with impressive masonry mausoleums, there are no remnants of their early settlement here. As for Serampore, WB one can see vast Danish heritage sites, proving their monopoly in this NE part of India before the arrival of the East India company to this place.

Dutch Cemetery Chinsurah YouTube

Much light is thrown on the Dutch East India company bythe Dutch anthropologist Bauke van der Pol.Besides, the Presidency University' has a website on the Dutch cemetery in Chinsurah and some Indian historians are working hard in tandem to improve the University's website with respect to our understanding of the Dutch heritage in Chinsurah that is yet to get international popularity. The European colonies are now giving due importance to their heritage sites that they had left behind way past centuries ago. Many of these heritage sites in West Bengal and across India are not well taken care of by the government for many reasons such as lack of interest, paucity of funds, pilferage, encroachment by certain unworthy people, etc.

However, in the past two decades or so the ASI, a government organization, responding to the appeal of countless heritage/monument lovers, is seriously taking steps to repair and restore the most important heritage sites back to old glory so that the next generation of our people will understand the actual history of the country.

The Dutch East India Company,The Geography of Transport Systems

The Dutch East India Company, the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC) is not as much well known as the British India company; the latter became a menace to the Indian natives as the English company was seriously engaged in grabbing Indian lands. But the Dutch company and the Dutch colonists did not have any imperial ambition in India. In the 17th to the 19th centuries through its settlements in coastal India, the Dutch company successfully managed the inter-continental trade with the trading post in Bengal and elsewhere in India. Yet another historical fact was the involvement of some key Dutch people in shaping the trade, polity and culture in the Indian subcontinent.

The Dutch East India Company DutchReview

Above image: The Dutch East India Company (VOC; Verenigde Oost-indische Compagnie), founded in 1602, is often regarded as the first true multinational corporation. It is believed to have been richer than Google, Miceosoft and Apple all put together. From the 17th to the 18th century trading companies such as VOC and its British counterpart- the East India Trading Company acted on behalf of European governments in Asia. As joint stock companies they were private mercantile traders guarantied trade monopoly in exchange of rights paid to their respective governments. They were more or less states by themselves with their own ships (military and merchant) and military forces with extraoridary powers. Their initial goal was to develop trade links for prized commodities such as pepper, etc. With the passage of time, they became increasingly involved in the control and development of their respective territories. Introducing his book, Bauke van der Pol said VOC was the first international symbol of a multinational company. VOC in 2002 celebrated its 400th anniversary. ...................

Two centuries have gone by since the Dutch formally ceded their settlements to the British, Chinsurah, close to Kolkata, once a Dutch settlement, is devoid of solid heritage sites that would prove its old glory. The Embassy of the Netherlands is embarking on certain heritage projects to highlight and preserve the importance of Chinsurah for both the Netherlands and India. The Dutch cemetery of Chinsurah is quite well-known and it has 190 Dutch and British tombs. Unfortunately, the Dutch legacy is unknown to the world and it needs to be brought to light. There are stories about women's education in India, the Dutch general who fought in the Maratha army, etc. The university website covers a brief history of the Dutch cemetery, Dutch buildings, the well known Dutch in this town of Chinsurah, etc. Of great help to the Dutch is the full list of the tombs in the cemetery and its map,

Now being maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India, the cemetery was once relocated and now every grave has a tombstone upon it. The list includes the names of Dutch governors but also those of European missionaries, the English painter, William Hodges and William Carey. The city of Cochin, Kerala and the Tarangampadi, Tamil Nadu are some of the other Dutch settlements.
https://www.telegraphindia.com/states/west-bengal/dutch-in-chinsurah-website/cid/1608503

bharatkalyan97.blogspot.com

In the state of Tamil Nadu in the last more than two decades the theft of countless Hindu temple idols, especially those made of Iymppon (five metals) has gone up unchecked and the recovery of stolen idols is a tough job because many of them are smuggled out of India by powerful smuggling syndicates that have contacts world over. As the public resentment and relentless loss of time-honored heritage artifacts have become so serious an issue, the Indian High court and Supreme court came down heavily on the state governments who control the Hindu temples for their laxity and negligence. The state governments, in particular, Tamil Nadu have not only increased the security arrangements at temples but also initiated the process to recover the stolen idols at any cost. The task forces set up by the government have succeeded in tracing back many of the idols of Gods that are adorning some of the museum etc., across the world.
The return of a 900-year-old statue of dancing Shiva stolen from the ancient Brihadeeswarar temple of Sripuranthan, TN is an interesting one. The sensational recovery created as much excitement as one would get watching a James Bond thriller.

The Dancing Shiva is a unique idol native to Chola Nadu. The cosmic dancer does a dual job by way of joyful dancing and beating tamaru (small drum) in his hand, symbolic of destruction of the universe on one side and creation of new lands and lives on the other. The dance is a perpetual one to sustain the universe and to keep all the natural processes going uninterrupted. In this role Lord Shiva does maintain a perfect balance between aggredation and degradation - creative and destructive natural forces acting on the universe.The dance of Shiva in Tillai (Chidambaram, TN) forms the motif for all the depictions of God Shiva. As you may know, it is the symbol of Indian culture and heritage.

What is so special about Sripuranthan Nataraja Idol? Like many Hindu idols of deities, this particular one is a valuable one because of its metal content and age. Idols of this kind belonging to Chola period fetch huge sums on the international markets. Some
money minded people who are neither patriotic nor attach cultural and ethical significance to objects of venration and worship
are the main culprits who entice the Indian thieves to lift the
age old idols of  Hindu gods from temples. One Subhash Kapoor,
the owner of an antique art gallery in New York was the brain
behind the  stealing of eight idols from the Brihadeeswarar
temple at Sripuranthan in 2008, 18 idols from the Varadharaja Perumal temple, and in 2010, 6 panchaloha idols from Chozeeshwarar temple at Vikiramangalam.

IndiaDivine.org

How come Kapoor and his gangs zoomed in on the Hindu temples of Ariyalur district (Udayarpalayam Taluk), TN? In this district among 463 ancient temples, 200 belong to the Chola period dated 9th to 10th century AD. The chola period idols are made of an alloy of 5 metals (panchaloha) or some times pure gold and silver. As these temples come under the government management, you can not expect better efficiency or serious attention from the officials as they are already burdened with the administration of thousands of temples across Tamil Nadu. Countless temples in small towns and villages have neither proper safevault for the idols nor regular maintenance of the temple and the idols. So, such poorly active temples have became easy targets for the local thieves who steal the idols for the metal content and secretly smuggle them out to overseas countries. They make a bundle in this illegal operation.
Subhash Kapoor, who owned an Indian art dealership called 'Art of the Past' in Manhattan, USA, had wide international contacts, supplying antique Indian artifacts.

In 2006, on his visit to Tamil nadu, Kapoor established
a contact with a local leader of thieves and this gang stole Nataraja and Uma Mashewari, Vinayagar, Devi, Deepalaksmi, Chandrashekarar, Sampanthar and Krishnar idols from the dilapidated Brihadeeswarar temple at Sripuranthan.

As the Puja protocol is stopped long ago, with no visitors, the temple was in bad shape ridden with poisonous bugs, critters, etc. The thieves starting in 2006 broke open the temple on three occasions and stole the idols.To avoid suspicion, they glued the temple locks as if they were not tampered with. They made the original idols look like just replica and got clearance from the Indian custom officials to be sent to Kapoor in New York. Kapoor on his part, hoodwinked the US Customs officials and got a certificate from the Art Loss Register (ALR) stating that the Nataraja idol was not on the stolen artefact's register.

Following accusations of illegal dealing, Kapoor's gallery was raided by Homeland Security, USA and stolen artwork worth 100 million dollars was seized. Subhash Kapoor was arrested in Germany and extradited to India to face trial. As of 2016, he was in the Puzhal Central Prison, near Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. It is said his prison term will be maximum - 14 long years.

Mills of God. Wikipedia

QuoteHD.com

The theft of the priceless idols was discovered by the villagers only in 2008. The Archaeological Survey of India, Government of India arrived in the village and removed the idols from the temple for safekeeping. To speed up the investigation and to recover the lost age-old idols, a FIR (First Information Report - 133/2008) was filed at the Vikramangalam Police Station in this regard. The Economic Offences Wing of the Tamil Nadu Police released pictures of the missing idols on its website to warn the purchasers, museum, etc and the public.

Sripuranthan Nataraja idol. T amilnadu Tourism

The National Gallery of Australia (NGA) acquired the Nataraja idol from Kapoor and refused to return the idol. The Indian authorities armed with documents, photos, etc at last proved that NGA had an original idol and not a replica. To confirm this they compared the original picture of Nataraja being maintained at the French Institute of Pondicherry, India and the one on display there. The Government of India formally approached the Australian government requested the artwork to be returned, under the UNESCO convention on stolen antiquities. Based on the parts of the idols - 27 flames around the circle, Left leg pointing between the 3rd and 4th flame,

waist cloth of shiva merged with the 23rd and 24th flame, 3rd flame slightly damaged, 12th and13th flame damaged,17th flame damaged and flowing hair damaged.

In March 2016, the Natarajan idol was re-united with its consort Uma Parmeshwari, at the ASI Icon Centre, Kumbakonam, after nearly 8 years. In the wake of Kapor's arrest, many idols were retured to India by the museums across the world. In June 2016, the United States returned nearly 200 antiques to the Indian Government, in the presence of the visiting Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi at Washington DC. Indeed, a good gesture on their part. Quite interesting to note among the stolen items is the return of the antiques from the Chola period (850 AD to 1250 AD), The bronze idol of Tamil Shaivite poet Manikkavacakar Tamil Shaivite poet Manikkavacakar stolen from the Sivan Temple in Madras and the 1000 year old Sripuranthan Vinayagar which was displayed at the Toledo Museum of Art.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sripuranthan_Natarajan_Idol

In the late 18th century and early 19th century lots of Scottish people worked for the East India company and later for the British Crown. Many of them held positions of eminence in the government and wielded enormous power. To cater to a large section of scotts there existed only one church in Calcutta - St. Andrews Church or Kirk for the Scottish Presbyterians (1815). The division of the Church of Scotland in 1848 saw the establishment of a Free Church of Scotland with ample support from popular missionaries like Alexander Duff and his eminent co-workers Further, they ceased to be members of Andrews Church. As the necessity arose, a new church came up on 76, Wellesley Square, though much later in 1942. The Wellesley Church was clubbed with St, Andrews Church. Later the church came under the the Catholics.

Alexander Duff, 1806 - 1878. Scottish missionary and educationalist,wikipedia

Alexander Duff (26 April 1806 – 12 February 1878 born in Sidmouth) was not only a famous Scottish missionary, but also a visionary. He landed in India in 1830 at the request of Scottish general Assembly to spread Christianity in India. His intention was to prepare the young people at grassroots level to face the challenges of life tomorrow. This was to be done by way of moulding the young minds with trust and confidence so that their purpose and action will not go unnoticed in the society. These people, in turn, will take care of the next generation of young people. His vision and action, no doubt, influenced the middle and upper-middle class sections of Indian society. Duff worked in tandem with highly intellectual and rich people and brought about a change in the realm of education. Much attention was paid to the poor and marginalised sections of our society.

Duff Church, Kolkata, WB. cnicalcutta.org

On the Cornwallis Street, North Calcutta at no-2, Cornwallis, Duff started in 1848 (apparently in November?) a church for the Christian Bengalis called ‘Bengali Church’ or Free church.

Alexander Duff happened to be sole responsible for the establishment of the church. His close associate Sir. David Ewart (1805-1860) became the first full time pastor of Duff Church. Ewart was fluent in Bengali. an advantage that stood him in good stead. It gave him a chance to preach in the local tongue. Because Duff was always busy on the go concentrating on his missionary work without getting fatigued. Rev. Ewart knew very good Bengali and used to preach in the language and made a valuable contribution to the church in the early stages. Unfortunately Rev. David Ewart passed away in Calcutta on 9th of September 1860.

The new church was named Duff Church in February1910 in honor of Alexander Duff whose contribution in the area of education and Christian services in Bengal was vast. In 1907, there were only 150 Bengali members and the principal of the Scottish Church College Dr. James Watt served the church for a long period.
Consequent upon the union of Church of Scotland and the Duff Church of Calcutta in 1929, the church got recognition as the main Presbyterian Church. Presetly known as ‘Prabhu Jishu’ Girja of the Catholics. Mostly English speaking crowd worshipped at this church.

Duff Church,Kolkata, scottish cemetery. David Ewart

Legacy: The famous road in North Calcutta-‘Duff Street’, the popular Girls Higher Secondary School in North Calcutta -‘Duff School’ and the historical church on the Easter side of the famous swimming pool Hedua called ‘Duff Church’ prove Alexander Duff's close link with the city of Kolkata that was developed by the British.
https://cnicalcutta.org/church_duff_church.html

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This being an election month (the 'General Election' to the Parliament is held in phases across India), here is yet another brief note on the earliest rebellion /struggle for independence called Paika rebellion organized by the Odisha's Paika community. The Vellore mutiny on 10 July 1806 was the first instance of a large-scale and violent rebellion by Indian sepoys against the East India Company, predating the Paika Rebellion and the major Indian Rebellion of 1857 by half a century. The revolt took place in the city of Vellore, Tamil Nadu in which 200 British troops were killed and wounded in the Vellore fort. The struggle lasted for just a day and roughly 100 sepoys were executed by the British military. Many were blown before the canon. Reason for the trouble: The British asked the Hindus to remove the religious marks on the forehead and the Muslims were advised to forego their beard. But the Paika rebellion was a large scale protest predating the 1857 Indian rebellion.

Vellore Mutiny, 1806. Live History India

The East India company's repressive rule and atrocities in India reached the summit, pushing the tolerant natives to the fag end. This resulted in armed rebellion against the English before the major one that later took place in 1857. Almost every Indian region across the subcontinent had a taste of the unjust British rule and their exploitation of the land and people. Besides, the discriminatory attitude of the English men toward the natives got them as much bad name as their disgusting wheeling and dealings in trade practises.

Have you ever heard of the famous armed rebellion of 1817 against the British East India Company's rule in the state of Odisha called the Paik Rebellion (also known as the Paika Bidroha)? What was the root cause of this rebellion in this part of East India? The controversial and contentious land revenue policy of the British was the primary cause of the rebellion. The biased policy affected every section of people in the society; the people were left with no revenue, having lost their hereditary rights to their lands, whereas the company's coffer was full to the brim through out the season.

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Tinkering with the revenue system by the British earned the ire of the farming community of Odisha. The sustained struggle had caused a large section of the people to let out their pent up anger and frustration against the English company ( Proxy government of the British Crown) who overstepped on their freedom and fundamental rights. Led by one Bakshi Jagabandhu, leader of the revolt, the armed rebellion was a symbol of Odia unity and their indomitable spirit to fight for a common purpose. The rebellion quickly gathered momentum and spread across most of Odisha like gossips among women. Surprisingly not only Paikas, but also zamindars, farmers and other sections of the community took the cudgels against the wily British and their biased land polices. Bakshi Jagabandhu Mohapatra Bhramarabar Ray was the former bakshi or commander of the forces of the Raja of Khurda. In 1814, the British took over Jagabandhu's family estate of Killa Rorang forcing him to lead a hand to mouth life. Once a rich and well-known commander now became a poor soul by the British

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It is to be noted that the Paikas of Odisha were traditionally courageous warriors. They were the landed militia under the state's Gajapati rulers. Believed be daring and fearless in dealing with enemies, they were entrusted with the job of safeguarding the state's security and safety of people during peace time. The Paikas were divided into three groups/ranks based on their occupation and the weapons being used by them. They did different duties in the army and, it is said, they were always duty-bound and would give due importance to their pride.

East India co. Battle with the Marathas. Live History India

As ill-luck would have it, the political scenario in Odisha changed in 1803 with the English company taking over the reign from the ruler of the land - Raja of Khurda. Consequent upon the company rule and the use of their army, the power and prestige of the Paikas declined drastically. As the English company did not need the services of Paikas, they showed scant respect for them. What angered the natives was the greedy and grasping company officials had set their eyes on the lands owned by the Paikas. They wanted to take over their land - rent free lands given by the ex-ruler to the Paikas for their military service to the state. The EIC had some reservation about the paikas: they suspected their loyalty to them and their support to the ex-ruler. As they were no longer in the Military services, they forfeited their rights to the land and the revenue. The company considered them as common Ryots and, as such, like others should pay taxes, etc to the company. It meant they had no rights whatsoever on the former Jagir lands. So, now they were pushed to the verge of losing their livelihood -their main source of income for their families. Besides seizing their hereditary rent-free lands granted to them, the British subjected the Paika to insults, intimidation and extortion. A disgusting fact was the natives were asked to pay taxes in silver on salt!!Being shrewed as they were, the English wanted to take over their lands by driving a wedge in between them to disrupt their unity and economic status. It is something like removing the poisonous flanges and teeth from Cobras to subdue them as Indian snake charmers used to do in the past. In the mean time, the company kept their police force on high alert to tackle the brewing revolt.

The Paika community and others, having driven to the end of the cliff, decided to fight it back and revolted under the direction of Raja of Khurda against the unjust English company. In March 1817 under the leadership. Raja Mukunda Deva, the last King of Khurda there was a large-scale revolt backed by every section of Odia people, including countless land owners and zamindars, not to speak of other rulers of Odisha. At may towns and villages there were riots, many British commanders lost their lives in controlling the revolting Paiga. Only in May 1817 situation came under the control of the British.
The EIC officials between 1816 and 1826 searched the jungles and other remote places for the rebels, captured many of them and put some to death. Jagabandhu, the rebel leader, was caught in 1825 and sent to jail till 1827. The Raja of Khurda refused any concession and died a British prisoner in November, 1817.

At Bubaneswar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2018 released a stamp and a coin to commemorate the Paika rebellion of 1817 in Odisha.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/pm-modi-releases-stamp-coin-to-commemorate-odishas-paika-rebellion/articleshow/67229321.cms

https://www.telegraphindia.com/1170720/jsp/odisha/story_162765.jsp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paika_Rebellion

Paika revolt, Odisha,YouTube

Vennimala Sri Rama Lakshmaqna templeY ouTube

In this Kerala Hindu temple, both lord Lakshmana and lord Rama are worshipped. The striking feature of this unique temple is the shape of the sanctum - Srikovil. Kottayam is the nearest railway station.
Vennimala Sri Rama Lakshmana temple located on a 1500 foot tall hill in Puthupally in Kottayam District Kerala is believed to have been built by the ruler Cheraman Perumal Bhaskara upon the advice and guidance of sage Kapila Maharishi. Originally, the place was known as Iravipuram. Perhaps one may be wondering why this Hindu temple is located in a secluded area(15 km away from Kottayam town). Legend has it this place, once upon a time a Tabhovana Bhumi (place of meditation), was ridden with countless demons/ Asuras who terrorised the people and Sadhus/ sages. Driven by arrogance, pride and enormous physical power, they caused untold miseries to the people living there. As the mischief and pain caused by them became so unbearable and went on unchecked, the sages mediated on the lord Sri Lakshmana and Sri Rama to get rid of the demons from the forest. Lord Lakshmana was quite angry with the demons who had no compassion for the ordinary mortals who were minding their own business in the forest. Sri Rama and Lakshmana came to this part of Kerala wandering during their 14 long year exile. In the ensuing battle between Lord Lakshmana who acted on behalf of Sri Rama and the terrorizing demons, the lord came out victorious. Hence this place later came to be called ‘Vijayadri’ meaning ''victory in Sanskrit.

Vennimala Sree Rama Lakshmana Perumal Temple ...Temple Advisor

As for the ruler Cheraman Perumal Bhaskara, attracted by the beauty of this place and the quiet ambiance stayed here for good and had his place built. Besides, he declared that Lord Rama of this temple would be the ruler of the region and he being his servant. He also further declared this place was a holy one and hence a sacred one - a place of veneration. The presiding deity is called  “Vennimala Perumal”. The temple is under the administrative control of the Uranma Devaswom Board.
As one may notice, though the temple is dedicated to Lord Lakshmana, his elder bother lord Rama gets equal importance. Unlike many temples, here one can see two dhwajastambhas (flag masts) outside the nalambalam -in the front yard.  Vennimala Koothu, an important part of the cultural and traditional finearts form of Kerala, has been around for centuries and it will be held for 16 long days followed by Koodiyattom that will last for 12 days. It is believed the duration of festivities is reduced recently for many social reasons. Here the puja protocol is limited to only 3 times daily,

This west facing temple is built in Kerala style in with an  Anapandal (elephant portico). Sri kovil and the mukhamantapa have interesting carved wooden panels  in between stone pillars which support a tiled roof atop. They form a sort of pathway. The most exciting feature of this temple which other Kerala temples lack is its Garbagriha / Sri kovil which is in the form of a pot - 'Ghata Prasada’ type. Srikovil is in circular form, but, inside it is hexagonal in shape. The pot-shaped sri kovil and the neck-shaped Namaskara mantap (the place where the devotees prostrate before the deity)  have copper-plated wooden roof supported by heavy wooden rafters and beams; Close-by is balikkal and the namaskarara mantap and balikkal are in front of the main shrine. All along the periphery of the temple lie a series of wood carved images of gods -''daru silpas'' at regular interval. The temple has many small shrines and among them the shrines of Sri Krishna Shastha, Bagavathi are of interest to the devotees.

The temple tank is not close-by, but is located 100m from the temple. It is said there is an underground channel connecting the temple and the pond. Certain rituals like Balikarmas take place during Thulam and Karkidagam vavu days. About 1 km from the cave there is a fairly big cave
http://www.templeadvisor.com/temples-in-india/hindu-temples/vennimala-sree-rama-lakshmana-perumal-temple
https://sites.google.com/site/keralatourdestinations/places-of-worship-in-kerala/vennimala-sree-rama-lakshmana-temple

Thrissur Pooram 2019, sea of humans. Indianexpress.com

Flag hoisting Thrissur Pooram PenNews.net

Among the temple festivals of Kerala, Thrissur Pooram is the most popular and extravacant one that attracts a sea of people from different parts of Kerala as well as other states. What the festival of Kallazhagar getting into the Vaigai river to Madurai city, TN is to the city of Thrissur which is tagged as the "cultural capital of Kerala". During the festivities the 65-acre (26 ha) hillock called the Thekkinkadu Maidan close to Thrissur comes alive because of the presence of Vadakkumnathan temple. Normally, the festival is held at the Thekkinkadu Maidan in April or May and this year it was held yesterday 13 May. This annual fascinating festival gave a long needed break to the people of Kerala who were bombarded with ''General Election'' political campaigns of various sorts by the nethas (leaders) ranging from monotonous, boring and blaring stump speeches, gaffs, etc to scathing verbal attacks on the personal lives of other nethas that would numb the voters/people. Quite obviously the visitors to this city were quite lost in the pomp and colorful pageantry, and the splendor of this unique festival.
The amazing thing is lakhs of people made a beeline to Thekkinkadu Maidan and Swaraj Round to watch the festivities, unmindful of humid weather, sweat and dust. They never looked fatigued; nor the huge milling crowd and noise had dampened their spirit. This annual event was a visual treat to every body- procession of caparisoned elephants, of gods, percussion ensembles, and most importantly the fireworks at night. It was the ruler Raja Rama Varma, popularly known as Sakthan Thampuran, the Maharaja of Cochin (1790–1805), it is believed, who introduced this Poorum festival here. Later it became the largest Hindu temple festival of Kerala, superseeding the one-day festival held at Aarattupuzha known as Arattupuzha Pooram. Temples in and around the city of Thrissur were regular participants.

Thrissur Poorum. Elephant Raman carrying the Utchavar idol .thehindu.com

Above image:

The famous elephant Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran opening the Thekke Gopura Nada of Sree Vadakkunnathan Temple, Thrissur. With District Collector's permission, the elephant was brought to this place in a lorry. The Vilambaram ritual, which declares open the pooram celebrations, is about bringing the idol of Naithilakkavu Temple, Kuttor to the Vadakkunnathan temple. Another elephant Thechikkottukavu Devidasan, carried the idol from Naithilakkavu temple to Manikandanal on the Swaraj Round...........................

This Pooram festival, that may include as many as 36 hour-long festivities is symbolic of the meeting of deities (Utchavars) from near-by 10 different temples. Traditionally it begins with the arrival of the procession from Kanimangalam Sastha by 7.30 am. This was when ‘cherupoorams’ start entering the Thekkikadu Maidan. This is followed by procession from other temples. The main venue is

Poorum festival, 2019 Thrissur. indianexpress.com

the Vadakkunnathan Temple in Thrissur every year on the Pooram day when the moon rises with the Pooram star in the Malayalam Calendar month of Medam. It is the largest and most famous of all poorams. The belief is that the 10 deities visit the Vadukanathan temple on the Pooram day to pay their respect to the presiding deity- lord Shiva. An interesting fact that is worth mentioning is that annually everything related to the temple events is made afresh- right from the scratch. This includes coloful umbrellas and the nettipattam, etc. The ten temples fall under two sides - Paramekkavu side" and "Thiruvambady side" as ordained by Sakthan Thamburan. As it is a common practise, the temple flag hosting ceremony (Kodiyettam) begins seven days before Thrissur Pooram. All the participating temples of Thrissur Pooram are present for the ceremony. There will be a light fireworks to announce the commencement of the festival. During the festival when the two groups of temples - organize the processions which include much sought-after percussion ensembles. The famous and highly talented percussionists will make huge audience spell-binding. Yet another attraction is the changing of colorful umbrellas by the Paramekkavu and "Thiruvambady Devaswoms. The main attraction of the festival is the Elanjithara Melam, considered the world’s largest live orchestra of percussionists known for its technical brilliance. In the evening, 30 caparisoned elephants, with 15 on either side, stood facing each other in a colorful ceremony called the ‘Kudamattam’. The latter too not only attracted lots of local people but also got the national attention with respect to the controversy over parading of the elephants.
This year saw the participation of 90 well-trained elephants, in many events. Though the festival itself is just one day, preparations begin months in advance as several things need to be taken care of for the simple reason it will attract huge gathering of people and perfect coordination among the nearby ten participating temples. As mentioned earlier, seven days before the Pooram, temple flags are ceremoniously hoisted at the two main participating temples, the Paramekkavu Bhagavathi Temple and the Thiruvambadi Sri Krishna Temple, officially kick-starting the proceedings. Over the years, the Pooram has become a secular event as one may see participation of many people from other faith. This kind of religious harmony and tolerance is essential for a country's upward growth promoting unity among the countless communities.
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/unprecedented-crowd-witness-vilambaram-ritual/article27109067.ece

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thrissur_Pooram

Celebrity Elephant 'Ramachandran' at Thrissur Pooram Google News - Overview

In the state of Kerala, elephants are closely associated with the Hindu temples and the seasonal temple festivals. In Puja rituals, the elephants are used to carry the procession idol (Utchavar) around the temple. Even the other religious faiths take interest in the elephants for their participation in their religious activities. Considered as divine, the pachyderms form an integral part of the temple and this cultural tradition has been in vogue for centuries in Kerala. As for the temples, maintaining them and keeping them in good health is a tough task because not only does it require money and space but also trained Mahouts and Vets to take care of them periodically. The case of elephant Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran, a temple elephant is an interesting one.

Captive elephant Thechikkottukavu Ramachandran (born 1964), as he is called, has a unique distinction. He is the tallest captive elephant in India, and the second tallest in Asia, behind Nadungamuwe Raja, a tusker in Sri Lanka(?). Equally disturbing is the fact that he is one of the captive violent elephants in India. The paradox is in spite of his notoriety and ill-repute, a large number of Keralites enjoy his presence in the famous temple festivals. Owned and managed by Thechikottukavu devasom, a temple in Kerala, he has a huge gathering of fans across Kerala much to the envy of some Malayalam matinee idols and is affectionately called ''Raman''.
During his life time never had Raman proved that he was a good tusker, calm and composed. On several occasions, he went amok and had killed a record number of 14 people and injured hundreds and caused the death of three other elephants. He is equally well-known across Kerala for his rage and unprovoked rampage that would result in civil damages and human lives. Consequently, he got a bad name and was branded as the most dangerous captive elephant in the state. During annual ThrissurPooram festivals Raman, who is partly blind, pays a key role in the Villambaram event. On account of his unexpected violent and erratic behavior, the government authorities, taking the safety of public into account, put a ban on his participation in fests on many occasions. This year, for the Pooram festival, he was finally allowed to take part in the 11th hour.

iCLIPART.com

Brought to Kerala from Bihar in 1982 it was the Thechikottukavu Devaswom, which, in 1984, purchased Ramachandran to use him for divine services to God. Unfortunately, during a short span of 6
years between 1984 and 1989, Ramachandran was never a subdued pachyderm, rather he proved his male superiority and aggressive nature by way of killing five mahouts hired by the Devaswom board to care for him. In the year 2009, while on temple duty at Kattakampal Bhagavathy temple fest in Thrissur, he, all of a sudden, ran beserk (may be due to musth?) and caused havoc, causing the people running helter shelter. His aggression was in full bloom, resulting in the death of a 12-year-old boy and injuries to hundreds of people.

CartoonStock

It is not undestood why the government officials allowed the rogue elephant to do the duty at temple fest as he had never shown any sign of improvement in his behavior before the public and the risk to public safety. The same year, a woman fell a victim to his sudden violent outburst during the fest at Eranakulathappan Temple in Ernakulam. Elephant Raman's killing spree did not stop here, rather, it continued without any permanent break. In 2013 the tusker caused the death of three women during the Thaipooyam at Perumbavoor. In 2019 also, the inherent violent nature in him came tothe fore. This time he trampled two people to death during a house-warming ceremony near Thrissur.

Thechikottukavu Ramachandran Indiatimes.com

Despite his dangerous and violent behavior and the lurking infamy he earned, elephant Ramachandran has lots of fans. When the news was conveyed about his doubtful participation in the 2019 Pooram festival, disappointment was largely writ on scores of people who expected Ramachandran would be on his best behavior this time and make the Pooram festival a memorable one. Citing erratic and violent behaviour, the district authorities, in February this year, had imposed a stringent ban on the elephant, Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, after he trampled upon two people during a recent event. That the tusker has reportedly killed 14 people in the last thirty years is a sad commentary on his unpredictable temperament. The veterinarians, who conducted a series of medical tests which Ramachandran cleared, were quite satisfied and gave him a clean chit for his participation in the temple festival, 2019. The team cleared him as "fit for all activities". Upon through scrutiny, the District Collector allowed Raman to participate in the festival. The condition was that four people must escort the animal and barricades should be constructed on a 10-metre radius to prevent people from getting closer to the jumbo.

Villambaram event. elephant Ramachandran at this ritual since 2014..ndtv.com

The 54 -year old tusker, Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, was brought to the Vadakkumnathan temple here for this year's poorum festival in a lorry at around 10.30 a.m. He symbolically pushed open the southern entrance of the temple, signalling the start of the festivities as part of Villambaram event. The most keenly-watched event during the festival is the parading of more than 50 elephants. (Aanaottam) Ramachandran was not a participant in that event.

Countless devotees were happy when Kerala's famed, but violent one-eyed elephant waded through the corridor of the famed Vadakkumnathan temple in Thrissur on Sunday. Though the officials allowed the elephant's participation just for an hour, Raman stayed on for up to two hours, causing no trouble to the people. As he is ageing, perhaps, he might have thought it is time for him to take it easy and be on his best behavior till the rest of his life!! Thrissur Pooram is an annual Hindu temple festival held in Kerala. This year, it was held on May 13 and 14. The festival that dates back to the 18th century, was started by none other than Sakthan Thampuran himself, the Maharajah of the erstwhile Kochi state.

Tit-bits:

The fans of Ramachandran are of the opinion that the temperament of the partially blind old tusker, has become aggressive and violent due to the torture and cruelty caused by humans during training and later on duty. And Ramachandran is not the only one to endure torture. According to information available with animal rights activists, the number of elephants in the state has come down from 3000 to around 300 in the last five years. Up to 17 elephants have died this year alone, and 57 had died last year. The average life expectancy of an elephant is 80 years. Those died in 2018 were less than 50 years old. Reason: mostly due to torture by trainers and some may be due to diseases. According to Sreedevi S Kartha, an animal rights activist with People for Animals (PFA). “For instance, one elephant died after he was constipated for 61 days. One elephant named Karnan was paraded forty times in sixty days in the just-concluded festival season.” Temple elephants should be given long rest between festivals. Since they do a divine job for us, besides giving us the needed entertainment, it is the responsibility of the owners (temple boards) to keep them in pink and cheereful.

https://www.ndtv.com/kerala-news/one-eyed-celebrity-elephant-thechikottukavu-ramachandran-flags-off-thrissur-pooram-festival-in-vadak-2036608

Onmanorama - Manoramaonline

Kerala’s star tusker Ramachandran has been in news ever since his arrival from Bihar in 1982. He has been a regular participant in what is called Thrissur Poorum, the most popular annual temple extravaganza that attracts lakhs of people every year in the month of May. This year it was held on the 13th and 14th of May. Thechikottukavu Ramachandran, also nick named \Raman has become a subject of serious discussion and talk in the media in Kerala long before the beginning of Pooram festival. Elephant Raman grabbed more attention than the media reports/discussion on pre-poll election predictions as to which party or parties would form the ministry at Delhi. The controversy is about the animal's erratic and violent behavior and his fitness to take part in the festival. There are as many as 600 captive elephants attached to the Kerala temple. Believe it or not Ramachandran, the tallest tusker, has a Facebook page that is followed by over 16,000 people.

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That till 2019 Thechikottukavu Ramachandran has killed 14 people, three elephants and injured hundreds of people is a sad track record that has made the officials to put yet another ban on his presence in the festival. Despite his rogue behavior and infamy, Raman has won the heart of countless people across Kerala and the reason being he is partially blind and turned aggressive due to repeated torture and cruelty by the mahouts. Blind in one eye, the other eye is affected by cataract, that needs to be removed soon, the animal gets the sympathy from the compassionate people. The District officials put a ban on the 54-year old elephant's participation in the festival in view of public safety. However, Elephant Owners Association and fans of this tusker wanted the ban on the elephant removed. In the past elephant Raman was banned at least six times and the present ban became a necessity after he trampled to death two people in February this year near Thrissur.

Thechikottukavu Ramachandran Telegraph India

Born and raised in Bihar as  Moti Prasad, he was brought to Kerala in 1982 by one K.N. Venkatidri, an elephant contractor. The new owner renamed the elephant as Ganeshan and put a mahout to take care of the  tusker. Soon the ownership changed, the Peramangalam Thechikottukavu temple Devaswom bought the elephant from  Venkatidri. The temple Devaswom renamed him Ramachandran and used him for temple festivals and puja rituals.
Perhaps, you may be wondering why the elephant was partially blind. Until he came down to Kerala,  Ramachndran had a good eyesight. It is a matter of deep pain and sorrow it was here the elephant lost sight in one of his eyes. Having been trained to respond to commands in Hindi and Bhojpuri, the mahout, who only knew Malayalam language, was unable to make the elephant understand his command. The mahout  could have been patient with the elephant, instead he lost his temper and, in rage, he hit the animal in the eye with a sharp object, making it blind in that left eye. Though with a blind left eye and a sensitive right eye that causes him agitation upon seeing the huge crowd, it is Ramachandran who kick-started the 2019 Poorum festival  by pushing open a giant door at the Vadakkumnathan (Lord Shiva) temple in Thrissur, and then picked his way through a sea of worshippers and spectators without causing any mishap.

While training the elephant, world over ''torture'' is used to discipline it and there is a limit to it. Since most of the mahouts are not well educated and be familiar with animal behaviour, they use crude torture methods as a way to discipline the huge elephant and to understand their commands. When an elephant undergoes training with different mahouts. it causes them additional strains and nightmares because mahouts follow their own methods of torture to train the animal. As for the animal, under a new mahout he goes through the torture cycle all over, causing fear and confusion. The animal becomes defencive and, in course of time, becomes violent and aggressive. To subdue them and obey, the  mahouts hit them, wound them, and then hit them on the wounds again. The wounds will not heal causing infections. The painful infections make them edgy.

According to Dr Gopakumar, a veterinary surgeon  who pays particular attention to elephants, they immobilised it by chains creating wounds on its legs and the wounds remain unhealed. Torture of animals by mahouts, lack of rest and proper food, adequate water (elephants need 150 to 250 liters of water a day), denial of frequent medical care and treatment, long walk under the hot sun on the hard asphalt road and most importantly making them stand for long hours at temple ceremonies were identified as the immediate causes for many captive elephants turning violent.
Yet another biological problem is musth - a periodic condition

Elephant with musth Safari Guide Online - WordPress.com

in bull (male) elephants, characterised by highly
aggressive behavior and accompanied by a large rise in reproductive hormones. Testosterone levels in an elephant in musth can be as much as 6 times greater than in the same elephant at other times. Scientists say musth alone can not be a factor for elephant's violent behavior. Even quiet and placid elephants become highly violent irritable toward humans and other elephants during musth. During pre-musth (pre-rutting) stage the elephants needed rest, cool surroundings, lot of water to drink, special diet, etc. Normally, when people and crowds stand nearby, the elephant can become nervous and the din associated with urban areas may complicate the matter.

Normally every year lots of temple festivals take place in Kerala between January and May. Perhaps, it may the cruelest months for the pachyderms, not so for the Elephant owners and Mahouts. During this time, there is a great demand for the elephants as they are being rented out for various temple functions across Kerala for a heft sum ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1,00,000 a day, depending on the elephants' track record. The elephant owners, mahouts, contractors are the main culprits, having vested interests in the over-exploitation of these innocent pachyderms for their personal gains at the cost of animal's health and risking public safety.

BayArt

So, it is the money-minded humans that turn the captive elephants violent and aggressive. Many vets advise the Kerala government not to parade the animals during the festival time and there must be time and day restrictions. Some elephants are paraded more than 40 times out of 60 days. As for Ramachandran, as he has seen nothing but violent mahouts who were his trainers. since his arrival in Kerala with one blind eye, his behaviour in public places saw a different change. He loses his temperament and goes on rampage with a view to safeguarding him from noisy crowd and cruel mahouts. Longhours of work, poor resting period, over-torture and the resultant fatigue made him public-shy. According to Sreedevi “The elephant (Raman) was paraded between 10 and 30 times even after the ban'came to force in February 2019''. To the elephant owners and others the animals are money-spinning machines. A gross violation of government rules goes on without a break!!

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/Cruelty-against-elephants/article13308869.ece

https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/a-giant-of-a-commitment-if-you-want-this-giant/cid/1690327

Sabrang India

Referring to Mahatama Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse ((19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949), Tamil matinee idol and founder of a new  political party Makkal Needhi Needhi Maiam  (MNM)
Mr. Kamal Haasan's remark as  "independent India's first extremist was a Hindu" has  kicked up a controversy that could have been avoided.

The 64-year-old actor, while campaigning in Aravakurichi on Sunday, had said:"I am not saying this because this is a Muslim-dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Independent India's first extremist (theeviravaadi) was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it starts." Mr Haasan's remarks on Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on 30 January 1948 have snowballed into a subject of serious discussion in many states. In the wake of it, he earned the ire of people especially Hindus because this unwanted lose remark was made by Hassan  last Sunday   in a Muslim dominated place close to Madurai city. Only some parties whose members are not nationalists play second fiddle to him. Godse  killed Mahatma Gandhi by shooting on his chest three times at point blank range in New Delhi,

Nobody ever thought, Hassan, a man with good credentials and maturity would stoop to such a low level and make a comparison between an extremist and an assassin. An extremist is the one who is well trained to kill lots of people either by going on a shooting spree or becoming a human bomb. He is a religious fanatic who has not understood the essence and moral of his own religion and has no sympathy for fellow humans, including his own people. He is a trigger happy madcap who acts on behalf of another religious fanatic.

Unlike a coward, he himself admitted in the court in 1949 “I do say that my shots were fired at the person whose policy and action had brought rack and ruin and destruction to millions of Hindus,” What he did to Gandhi, who was in his advanced age, was not acceptable and in the following year he was hanged to death on 15 Nov. 1949 at a prison in Ambala. Many critics are of the view that Godse was a Hindu nationalist and a true patriot, and not a fanatic or a devil as he is portrayed in many biased history books. Godse was saddened by Gandhiji's ideology because he thought it would  force Hindus toward an emasculating and coward nation. He made a decision to kill Gandhiji and it was a pre-meditated murder of father of the Indian nation. We can not conclude that he killed Gandhiji in a moment of aberration. The fact is he was a patriot driven by wrong misconception and committed this crime, knowing well before hand its consequences. Positively Godse was not an extremist. Nor was he a Hindu fanatic.

As for Kamal Hassan, his gaffe has created publicity bonanza for him as well as indignation among one section of the society. What made Kamal compare Godse with an extremist, that too during the election time? What recently happened in Sri Lanka is an act of extremism carried out by a group of well-trained extremists. Please read the following questions in the light of Kamal Hassan's disparaging remarks on Godse, who happened to be just an assassin of Gandhi. The investigation finally found out that the RSS and the Hindu Maha Sabha had no links with Gandhiji's assassination.

01. Did Nathram Godse have a criminal record before his assassination of Gandhiji showing him in bad light?

02. Did Godse carry a machine gun and pump countless bullets and shoot other innocent people to death along with Gandhiji?

03. Did Godse become a human bomb and blow himself up before Gandhiji like an extremist and cause destruction murder and mayhem?

04. Is it not true that if a modern-day extremist were in Godse's position he would have killed a whole lot of people and also the Birla House, the venue of Gandhiji's evening prayer?

05. Did Godse ever join a religious fanatic group and take to violence and killing a way of life?

06. Why did he hold his hand in supplication in front of him before shooting Gandhiji? Was it not out of respect for the old man? He knew very well that he was not doing the right thing and, at the same time, he had to accomplish his mission.

07. Upon shooting did Godse run away from the scene of crime and be at large evading arrest by the law enforcement?

08. Why did he keep quiet and submit himself peacefully when he was being arrested by the police?

09. Why did he take so much pain to explain to the Court as to his reason for killing Gandhiji?

During political campaigns, responsible political leaders should focus their speech only on their party's policies, etc and must avoid dragging religion, caste, personal life of the contestants, etc. The High Court should come down heavily on those people and parties who, without any inhibition indulge in blasphemous remarks on religions, any caste, etc. Such explosive and irrelevant speeches aiming at creating a wedge between communities, etc is not conducive to tranquillity and peace in the society. Freedom of speech does not mean insulting and intimidating certain castes to gain political advantage. Only extreme punishment will act deterrent to such nauseating and disgusting speeches by narrow-minded nethas.

Kamal hassan's party has out with a stement: "This (his remark) has been taken absolutely out of context and the speech has been painted as anti-Hindu, with a malafide intent. Responsible politicians should not publically discuss sensitive and explosive issues and and get entangled in the barrage of criticisms and nasty comments that may follow later.
http://kanigas.com/nathuram-godse/
http://kanigas.com/nathuram-godse/

Mt. Everest 23rd ascent .Sherpa Kami Rita .ndtv.com/

Mt Everest and Sherpa Kami Rita Hindustan

Among the outdoor adventure sports, the one that is wrought with risk to life, besides spending large amount of money, needing hard work and physical and mental well being, it is mountaineering. Man's quest to reach the tallest peak in the world, despite the dangers involved, is on the increase. This year, it is reported that 41 different teams with a total of 378 got the needed permit from Nepal to scale Everest each costing $11,000 to mountaineers for this year's spring climbing season, sparking fears of overcrowding if the weather cuts down the number of climbing days. The spring climbing season is the right one and a large contingent of Nepalese guides - Sherpas will get ready to help the prospective climbers. Weather at higher mountains is one of the main hurdles. Normally every year the climbing season runs from March through May and in May usually only a few windows of good weather near the summit will help climbers to scale the peak.

Eight Nepali climbers including Kami Rita Sherpa got to the top of Mount Everest on last Tuesday, thus opening the route for a potentially record number of climbers to summit the world's highest peak this part of the year. Ethnic Sherpas, born and raised on the lap of tall mountains of the Himalayas are just like mountain goats, renowned for their endurance and experience at high altitudes. Prior to 1950s, Sherpa tribes people were mostly yak herders and traders living deep within the Himalayas until Nepal opened its borders When Nepal opened the borders and mountain climbers started arriving they took to the profession of guiding them acting as porters.  On Tuesday, it was a team of Sherpa guides who again were the first to reach Everest's summit this year, completing their advanced work of setting up ropes and lines. Many of us do not know that it is Sherpas who, each year, fix ropes and ladders over crevasses and ice falls that make things safer for the hundreds of climbers who will follow them.

Without their guides many foreign mountaineers attempting to climb Mt. Everest will be groping in the dark, not knowing the terrain, lurking ice falls and gaping crevasses in the glaciers. There are two routes to the peak, one from Tibet and the other being from Nepale.  As far as Mt. Everest is concerned, almost each year some kind of sensational news will be coming out from there ranging from - a new world record being broken by the climbers, loads of plastic trash on the higher mountain slopes, disappearing glaciers, etc. This year's interesting news is  Sherpa climber Kami Rita scaled Mount Everest on Wednesday for a 23rd time on May 15, 2019, breaking his own record for the most successful ascents of the world's highest peak. He and others who accompanied him were safe.

"It is my profession, but at the same time I am setting new world record for Nepal too," Rita told The Associated Press last month before heading to the mountain. This 49 year old experienced climber whose father was also a guide in the way past, is an asset to countless teams. Rita first scaled Everest in 1994 and since then he has been making the trip nearly every year. Sherpa guides like Rita play a vital part in the success of each mountaineering team because their expertise and skills are important to the safety and success of the climbers. Rita also scaled several highest peaks in the the world including K-2, Cho-Oyu, Manaslu and Lhots.
Rita was at Everest's base camp in 2015 and the death was at his door step when an avalanche swept through, killing 19 people. Undeterred, he made up his mind to pay obeisance to the tallest peak by way of guiding the new climbers and to take care of his family. Rita's recent grievance,  "However, when these climbers reach the summit, only their names are highlighted and nothing mentioned about the hard work done by the Sherpas," is true. It is their ground work that lays the foundation of the team's success in every mountain expedition. Rita'a poignant comment is, "I am like a soldier who leaves behind their wives, children and family to battle for the pride of the country."

Tit-bits:

01. Nepali guide, whill help 750 climbers who will follow the same path to the top of the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) peak in the coming weeks.

Mt. Everest. ThoughtCo

02. At least 140 others will try to scale Everest using the northern route from Tibet.
03 Lat year a record 807 climbers reached Mount Everest,

with 563 people climbing from the south and 244 from the northern flank in Tibet.
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/nepal-mountaineer-kami-rita-sherpa-conquers-everest-summit-a-record-23rd-time-2037838

Bandel church - Basilica of Holy Rosary en.wikipedia.org

Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Our Lady of the Rosary at Bandel, West Bengal is one of the oldest churches in India. It is believed, St. Francis Church, in Kochi, Kerala, built in 1503, is the oldest European church in India. The seven and half churches established by St. Thomas in the coastal Kerala are the oldest ones established in 52 AD. The town of Hoogley close to Kolkata is equally one of the oldest towns developed during the colonial period. Earlier called Ugulim, it was in 1579 the Portuguese founded the town which later came to be called. Hoogley. The great kingdom of Bhurshut flourished for thousands of years of in the district. During their heyday Portuguese developed their mercantile trading activities and this place served as a major trading port. They built some religious structures for the Christian community living there to take care of their spiritual needs. Among them even today stands a beautiful church dedicated to Mother Mary at Bandel, about 43km from Kolkata and there is an amazing statue of Mother Mary brought by the Portuguese.

Bandel church, WB, kolkatabengalinfo.com

Time keeps changing, so is the political scenario in the 17th century. A major part of the Indian subcontinent was ruled by the Moguls. Moguls managed this part of Bengal through their agent called Governor. When the Mogul rule weakened, the governors of some regions began to act as a sort of de facto rulers, This was true of many places across north India. The Mogul Governor of Bengal was not happy with the the way the Portuguese were doing business there. The Portuguese discovered the sea route to India and landed in Calicut, Kerala in 1498 and after several decades, they moved over to Bengal to try their luck in trade activities. Though they got the permission from the Mogul rulers, then and there they had tough time with Bengal Governor, the agent of the Mogul ruler. During one of the tough skirmishes with the Bengal Nawab's forces, the fleeing Portuguese preachers lost the statue of Mary in the river, but the local people later discovered it on the river bank. In the wake of the strained relationship between the local agent and Portuguese, the latter were arrested and sent to Delhi to undergo severe punishment. A death sentence was pronounced by the Mogul Court and the priests had to be trampled upon by elephants. When the emperor Shah Jahan was informed about this unjust punishment, being the regal head, he ordered the priests released, Besides, he himself granted a piece of land on the bank of the river Hoogly at Bandel, where the statue of the Mother Mary was to be reinstalled. After, with permission from Emperor Akbar, the Portuguese constructed Bandel church to house the statue. The church was renovated in 1980s and has been declared as a basilica by the authority of Rome. Earlier on November 25, 1988, Pope John Paul II declared the sanctuary a minor basilica. The Basilica of the Holy Rosary commonly known as Bandel Church was founded in 1599 by the Portuguese. Dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Rosário, Our Lady of the Rosary at Bandel it is one of the oldest Christian churches in West Bengal, India and it today stands as a legacy of the Portuguese settlement in Bengal, Eastern India. Bandel (Hooghly district of West Bengal) means port in Bengali. It is also a parish church, part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta.It is one of the most important historical churches in West Bengal as well as in India.
In 1579, the Portuguese built a fort as part of their small settlement. They also enlisted the services of Augustinian Friars, who then formed the largest religious body in Goa. The purpose was to spread the 'Gospel of Christ' in this part of Bengal.

The very first church having been burnt down during the sacking of Hooghly by the Moors in 1632, a new church with monastery, was built by one Gomez de Soto (also spelt John Comes de Soto) over the ruin in 1660. The keystone of the older church can still be seen on the eastern gate of the monastery, bearing the date 1599. This church is a good example of Portuguese architecture with particular reference to churches. This impressive church is being visited by people of all faiths. The striking structure, chandeliers, coloured-glass windows and the statues in the compound add beauty to this old church. In the compound, one can see a Portuguese ship's mast which is believed to have been dedicated to the church by the ship captain in 1660. Caught in a severe storm, he prayed to the lord to save their lives and, as a token of his gratitude, he would offer the ship mast to the first church sighted. The storm became weakened and the captain stuck to his word. The main altar has Mary and the small altars have Jesus and St. John Bosco. There are other statues, besides a graveyard.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_the_Holy_Rosary,_Bandel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinsurah

- Emmanuel Church, Kolkata /cnicalcutta.org

The history of Emmanuel Church is an interesting one. Though founded in 1829 by a LMS Missionary Rev. Gogerly. the decision to have a church built was taken up way back in 1806 at the vestry of Union Chapel (Lenin Sarani). In the same year -1806 some Portuguese merchants, having almost escaped from the jaws of death due to heavy wind while sailing through in the river Vidyadhari, came to Kestopur. Upon entering the Kestopur canal they, with the help of local people, chose an elevated land to stay in safety. As there was no place of worship for them, they built a small cottage church to express their gratitude to the Providence and for worship. Subsequently a generous Hindu landlord by the name of Kalachand Mondal came forward and donated some land for the construction of the church building.

Thus this historical church in Krishnapur, Dist. 24 Parganas, near Krishnapur Mission Bazaar, Kolkata had a humble beginning. The credit goes to Portuguese merchants who put up the cottage for worship first./
https://www.cnicalcutta.org/church_emmanuel_church.html

Holy Trinity Church,Kolkata. /cnicalcutta.org

Rev. James long noisebreak.com

Holy Trinity Church located on Amherst Street, Kolkata has the unique distinction being the first Church in Bengal in which the liturgy was read in Bengali. Founded by Archdeacon Corrie, who became the Bishop of Madras, the site on which the church stands now, used to be a a tannery. It was in 1820 the Calcutta Committee purchased an estate in Mirzapore (Amherst Street) for Rs 20,400/-.on the recommendation of Mr. Pratt, the then Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, Calcutta. Archdeacon Corrie was, in the 1800s, a Chaplain. In the early period the surrounding area was not inhabited as there was thick forests with swamps and stinking water tank. In 1823, a new street called Amherst was laid close to the church and, over a period of time, the adjacent areas unhealthy areas became residential, The church was opened for service by Rev. Deer in November, 1826.

Designed as a chapel initially, it was known as “CMS Chapel” for many years. Some additions such as the choir-seats and altar were made to the original building. As it was started by Corrie, the natives of this place used to call it “Corrie Church” until 1887. The close-by street to the south side of the estate was known as Corrie Church Lane. Now, it is renamed as Dr. Kartik Bose Street.

Kolkata, Holy Trinity Church. interior. noisebreak.com

An interesting fact about this church is it was served by one Rev. James Long(1814-1887), an Angelo-Irish priest. Being a long resident of Kolkata from 1842 to 1872, as a member of Church Mission Society, he had a long association with the Chapel and St Paul’s College and School. Rev. Long was an affable man, educator and humanist and it was quite natural, he earned the love and affection of the people of Bengal. Besides, he openly supported the locals in the anti-I

Clock of Holy Trinity Church, /www.blogger.com/

Indigo plantation movement. The East India Company, in order to make enormous profit on Indigo, compelled the locals to plant indigo plants in the fields. Besides, they paid poor wages to the workers. Being an honest man Rev. Long took the cudgels against the unjust English company and fought for their cause. No doubt, the Church was later known as Long Saheb-ka girja for a long time. Charged with libel, he was imprisoned by the English company for the simple reason that he had published the English translation of the anti-indigo planters well known Bengali play ‘Nil Darpan’ by Dinabandhu Mitra. There is a road in South Kolkata named after Rev. James Long called James Long Sarani Sarani.
Before the unification of the Church of North India it was an Anglican Church run by the Church Missionary Society. The roof of the church was rebuilt after 2003 and later the church under went major renovation. There is a big clock on either side of the Church steeple. Inside the Church there are rooms with memorial plaque to honour the contributions made by the distinguished devotees, including that of James Long. Also located close to the Chapel are St. Paul’s College on one side and the city’s first school for girls. Since 1874 the Priest-in-Charge has always been an Indian: this was not true of many churches across colonial India .

http://noisebreak.com/churches-synagogues-colonial-calcutta-holy-trinity-church/

Carl Louis Schwendler memorial, Kolkata. /en.m.wikipedia.org

People visiting the Kolkata Zoological Gardens will never miss a tall and lean tower tapering toward the top and it is in memory of one  Carl Louis Schwendler (1838 - 1882),  a German electrician and one of the first proponents of the Tungsten based incandescent light bulb. During the early colonial days, when the East India company was controlling the entire Bengal province (including Bangladesh) and additional areas, they needed lots of men to administer the vast land. Not only the British but also Europeans from other countries landed in Bengal for better job opportunities. Later Kolkata became the capital of colonial India and lots of European banks and manufacturing companies moved into Bengal to carry on their business activities. EIC remained a big employer of both Europeans as well as Indian natives, but the Indians held only subordinate positions in those early days.

Born on the 18th day of May, 1938, in Torgau, Prussia, in a poor family, Carl Louis Schwendler's quest for education was hampered by the  unfavourable financial condition in his family. Undeterred and resolved to continue his education, Carl was engaged in menial par time jobs and, at one stage, it interfered with his studies. However, his toil, talent and diligence had never let him down. Over a period of time, his sustained hard work paid off and he became successful in his life. His field of interest was electricity and he became a popular German electrician who evinced keen interest in research and new ideas related to electricity. In those days when research was going on light bulb, some researchers suggested the use of Tungsten element. The Tungsten based incandescent light bulb was well received by the scientific community.

Schwendler wanted to try his luck abroad and moved over to India where he served at the senior level in the British India government's Telegraph Department. Being innovative, he solved certain inherent problems associated with the transmission of submerged cables. He played a key role in setting up   transmission lines between Agra and Calcutta, He was also actively involved in the feasibility study of lighting Indian Railway stations by electric lamps.

Carl Schwendler Monument Plaque noisebreak.com/

In 1867, one Sir Joseph Fayrer, the then President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, made a proposal to establish a Zoological Garden in Calcutta. Being a member of the Asiatic Society, Carl in 1873 offered his service to the establishment of the Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata. In view of his dedicated services to the city of Kolkata and the colonial rule a memorial was erected at the zoo premises in 1883.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Louis_Schwendler

Over crowded Mt. Everest. news.com.au

Every year hundreds of climbers from different countries come to Nepal during the spring climbing season to scale Mount Everest and other Himalayan peaks. This year, like earlier years, saw prospective climbers in large number all anxious to achieve their life-long goal and get their name on the list of Everest summitters. The feat of Nepalese Sherpa climber Kami Rita, who broke his own record in quick succession became a topic of serious discussion among the armature and professional mountaineers. Kami Rita stood atop Mt. Everest for record 24th time and this happened in about a week after breaking his record for the most successful ascents of the world's highest peak. No body expected that the Sherpa would break his own world record in quick succession. Also widely discussed was the recent death toll on Everest and the availability of short weather windows this year at high altitude essential for successful ascent.

Long wait for many teams on May 22,2019 to reach the summit,[AFP]aljazeera.com

New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 were the first to stand on the tallest oxygen-starved peak in the world. The snow trail leading to the summit set by these pioneers is still most popular one and since their great adventure, nearly 5,000 climbers have scaled the peak.

That this climbing season the Mt. Everest death toll reached 10 is a sad news. British climber Robin Haynes Fisher, 44 was the last one to die recently died at 8,700 metres after returning from the summit on Mount Everest. He suddenly collapsed after descending 150 metres below the summit. This tragedy occurred in a jiff. Earlier 56-year-old Irishman Kevin Hynes died in his tent at 7,000 metres after turning back before reaching the summit. On the same day, Nepalese guide Dhurba Bista, 33, also died at the base camp after being airlifted from a higher camp following illness,

During the descent from the summit tragedy struck earlier week that resulted in the death of three Indians - two women and one man. The list goes on and includes climbers from the US and Austria.The main reason is over crowing and the teams had to wait for long hours at higher altitude. This means the climbers have to take care of frost bite and altitude sickness. There were only short weather windows and everyone was trying to climb as quickly as possible before the weather would turn hostile. Obviously, the safest snow trail is clogged with countless teams waiting for their turn to make it to the top when the weather window is in favor of safe ascent and descent. Yet another bad effect of over crowding on the tallest peak is many intemperate climbers become edgy and use foul language against the guides- Sherpas who do all the ground work for them and for their safety. Last year, the death toll on Everest was just 5 climbers.

https://www.news.com.au/travel/anger-boils-over-in-the-highest-traffic-jam-in-the-world/news-story/341f725b81e4fe3f4ac4727a5b
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/mount-everest-death-toll-reaches-10-climbing-season-190525105901439.html

Crowded mt. Everest. markhorrell.com

Long line on Everest mountainwilderness.org

Of late the media world over is focusing on the the spring Everest climbing season - May and the traffic jam on the route to the summit at higher levels above the base camp. For centuries man has been fascinated by the tall mountains and the peaks that are doting them. Native American Indians revered them and attached divinity to them. Even in the modern time man's fascination for tall peaks and his desire to scale them has not diminished; on the contrary, it is on the increase. Among the tallest peaks in the world, Mt. Everest, no doubt, attracts the attention of outdoor adventure activists and mountaineers. Quite tempting is the serene-looking and snow clad Mt. Everest. Its beauty is so irresistible and tempting, every year lots of people across the globe come to the Himalayan region to stand with pride atop the roof of the world unmindful of personal risk and prohibitive expedition costs. Successful climber gets a real reward worth his toil and passion - an amazing, soul-stirring view of the surrounding you will never get on any peak. From the tallest roof you can see an expansive vista of the mighty Himalayas, from Geology point of view, the world's youngest mountain chain. As for the jubilant climbers, most of them will come out victorious as part of the expedition, but for some, it is the end of their life on the higher slopes of the mountains - a veritable grave in the sublime beauty of the mountain.

joejourneys.com

Undaunted by death of climbers and the risk involved in such adventure, courageous people become prone to the lure of the majestic peaks sticking out in to the sky. Until a few years ago, among roughly 4000 people, only 600 made it to the top and about 250 climbers lost their lives on the higher reach because of dangerous weather conditions, rock falls avalanches, etc
Since 1990 the percentage of successful assault on Everest has gone up manifold from less than 20% to 67%. Thanks to good planning, well- charted routes (unlike 1960s), fixed ropes laid out by Sherpas before-hand, availability of better, lighter gear, accurate forecasts and more guides. Consequently, these factors have reduced the risks considerably and Mt Everest has become less adversary unlike before. An interesting fact is this season, the Nepal route will also see more women than ever before, with 76 female climbers attempting the feat.

Long line on Mt. Everest. .sfgate.com

In spite of availability of modern, high-tech mountaineering gear,  the risk is very much there, particularly for people with inadequate training in high-altitude mountain climbing. That the mortality rate has not gone down in the past several years is true. However, this year, the mortality rate is much higher than last year. It is billed as one of the deadliest climbing seasons, and it is not due to high winds or blizzards, avalanches or gaping crevasses, or deadly ice fall.  In 2014 climbing season when a party of climbers were ready for the further assault, a large chunk of ice fall triggered a dangerous avalanche killing 16 prospective submitters. The moot question is: What are the reasons for so many deaths on Everest in such a short span of time in this year?
We need to consider the following facts:

01. Between two routes available to reach Everest, the snow trail from Nepal is much safer and more popular than the route from the side of Tibet. The former route was first taken by Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay in 1953.

02. The route from Nepal being a familiar one, lots of prospective climbers prefer this one to the trail from Tibet.

03. It is easy to get permit from the Nepalese government to scale Everest.  There was a huge traffic buildup in the summit after 380 permits were issued this season as compared to last year’s 365.

04. It is not so in the case of route from Tibet as China controls this region.

05. This year, the Spring climbing season has seen worst mishaps - ten in a short time. According to one Arizona doctor, '' It was like a zoo. Death on an unruly, overcrowded Everest.''

06. The Nepalese government issues too many permits and this causes over crowding at higher elevations. At higher altitude above 29000 feet altruism is put to work and there is no room for error. It is just one foot away from death.

07. The teams had to wait for long hours at oxygen starved higher altitude. This means the climbers are prone to severe frost bite, altitude sickness and other health problems. This may also result in verbal abuses and a long wait may lead to tense situation.

08. With oxygen canisters to cover the oxygen-depleted zone, for the climbers, a delay of an hour or two can make the difference between life and death.

09. There are only short weather windows available on the high mountains this year and every team was in a hurry to get to the top under favourable weather. Climbers totally depend on the window duration of suitable climbing weather.But, still it is unpredictable.

10. The safest snow trail is clogged with countless teams waiting for their turn to make to the top and correspondingly, many teams after their successful ascent, try hard to get down to the safest terrain when the weather window remains safe.

11.This year May 22 happened to be the busiest day on the world's highest mountain and the teams moved up at a snail's pace, risking  frostbite, altitude sickness and, of course, altercation.

12. According to Peak Promotion, the overcrowding had congested the route from Camp IV to the top.

13. Caught in the traffic for several hours, many climbers suffered from exhaustion, dehydration and faced near- death situation. The long wait had an impact on their physical and mental well-being.

14. This year more deaths occurred to people who were held up in long lines on the last leg - 1000 feet or so of the climb, unable to ascend and descend fast enough to replenish their oxygen supply.
This year, the traffic jam has gotten so bad, many climbers risk their lives by standing in the slow moving line. Climbers were pushing and shoving to take selfies.

15. Besides over-crowding on Everest, the availability of fewer weather windows at high altitude has complicated the successful ascents and descents. Sometimes, the window can stretch for a long time - as long as two weeks and sometimes it can be a short -1 or 2 days as was the case this week, This year on 22-24 May many climbers tried their luck to summit the peak due to Clement weather.

16. Fly-by-night adventure companies, whose motive is to make fast buck, take in many poorly trained climbers who pose a risk not only to them, but also to others in the team.

17. The other causes are poor crowd management, unlimited permits, shoddy government regulation and corruption.
https://indianspectator.com/trending/mount-everest-why-there-is-so-much-crowd-lately/
https://www.news18.com/news/world/mount-everest-braces-for-record-year-amid-overcrowding-safety-fears-2136687.html

St Saviours Tamil Church,Kolkata. indiatourism.ws

St Saviours Tamil Churchhcnicalcutta.org

Have you ever heard of Tamil Church in the capital city of West Bengal? Yes, there is one in Kolkata (Calcutta) called St Saviour's Tamil Church. Almost 159 years old, it is the only Tamil Church in this sprawling city. I have heard people say that if a visitor goes via the busy street of Haji Md. Mahsin Square, he will be captivated by the beautiful historical church that was founded in 1860 to cater to the spiritual needs of a small Tamil community living in this part in the early colonial time. However, this small sect could not worship in this church until 1938 because some Bengali group was using St. Saviours.

The Tamil community began their worship here only when the Bengali group had a separate place of worship built and moved out of this church. The Bengali Christian community started using the newly built St. George’s Church for worship. The Tamil Christians living in Kolkata, bound together by their common faith, culture and tradition formed St. Saviour’s Tamil congregation. They took a decision to have their own church to meet their spiritual and religious needs. They worshipped regularly in the Parish Hall by the side of the Church.

St. Saviour's Tamil Church, Kolkata. slideshare.net

The re-roofing of the church building was done in the year 1961 and it was rededicated on 17th December by the Most Rev. Dr. A. N. Mukherjee. It was in 1968 first baptism was performed at St. Saviour’s by the Principal of Bishop’s College. One Rev. Thomas Sitther became its first honorary Tamil priest. St. Saviour’s conducts two services every Sunday, one in Hindi and another in Tamil. The Harvest Festival is celebrated on the first Sunday of November. An interesting feature is the church receives from its members one-tenth of their monthly income as cash offering. Besides, the members use their talents in the art of making articles like clothing, small furniture items and other useful goods. These are blessed at the service and and put up for auction.
The Church bears the name St. Saviour, so, the festival of the Holy name of Jesus has become the Patronal Festival on the 7th of August every year. It is popular festival, lots of people participate in this festival.
http://cnicalcutta.org/church_st_saviours_church.html

https://www.ixigo.com/st-saviors-tamil-church-kolkata-india-ne-127828

Toor Ji Ka Jhalra, Jodhpur, holidify.com

In the states of Gujarat and Rajasthan that contain arid semi-arid areas, conserving water is important for the communities. To save and store water, centuries ago the rulers built step wells. They are mostly confined to western India, there are many in Pakistan as well. They are nothing but ponds in which the water is reached by descending a set of steps to the water level. Water level may vary among places, depending on the rain and ground water table.

Originating from the Indian subcontinent, they may be a big structure - multi-storied with a water wheel. The bullock is used to raise the well water through thr water wheel to the first or second floor. These step wells are known for the geometric design of steps all around and there are highly embellished small halls below the ground near the water level.

There are many types of storage and irrigation tanks built with the main purpose to deal with water shortages due to seasonal fluctuations in water availability. The builders dug trenches deep into the earth and lined the walls of these trenches with blocks of stone, without mortar. They set stairs going down to the water with specified patterns. The purpose is utilitarian to get dependable water year round. They built the surviving step wells in such a way, many of them provided water and also shelter where the people could relax and exchange pleasantries. The advantage is the base of the well provided relief from daytime heat and radiation, and the covered hall served as a place for social gatherings and religious ceremonies. yet another interesting aspect is doen beloe, the rate of evoporation is far less than at higher levels. It means considerable savings of water. More frequently the visitors were women because they were the ones who collected the water from the step wells.

Toor Ji Ka Jhalra, Jodhpur. jatinchhabra.com

Toor Ji Ka Jhalra (also calledToor Ji Ki Baori), as it is locally called, is an amazing step well. It is believed to be built in the 6th century AD (?). It is said prior to 1966 there were as many as 50 beautiful step wells near Jodhpur and unfortunately many of them were either damaged or destroyed and turned into huge mounds of trash during the construction of water canals and pipe lines under the Indira Gandhi canal project to serve the Jodhpur city. It shows the callous attitude of our officials who failed to protect such wonderful ancient monuments. A great loss to our posterity!! They could have successfully implemented this project by proper planing and by choosing an alternative way without disturbing these ancient step wells.
The presence of some temples in the vicinity and their link with the step well helped Toor Ji Ka Jhalra survive. The local temples, it is said, use the baori for religious ceremonies.

Toor Ji Ka Jhalra, Jodhpur. jatinchhabra.com

The locals here call the baori as “Jahlara”. As one could see fish in the baori, one can take it for certain that Toor Ji Ka Jhalra has clean water. The other attractions in Jodhpur are places like Mehrangarh Fort, Jaswant Thada and Umaid Bhawan. They will never disappoint you.
https://jatinchhabra.com/toor-ji-ki-baori-or-toor-ji-ka-jhalra-one-of-three-stepwells-i-visited-in-jodhpur/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepwell

Airavatesvara Temple sanctum in a chariot form, Darasuram, Tamil Nadu wikipedia

Stone chariot, Hampi, Karnatakaen.wikipedia.org

In the Indian subcontinent in the present day the chariot commonly implies the one owned by a Hindu temple. The same temple may have more than one chariots. Unlike India where Chariot is associated with divinity and enjoys a special status and reverence, world over it is either relegated to the dusty pages of history or on display in a museum as relics of the past. The Ratotsava or Rathayatra, the unique tradition of procession of Ratha has been here for centuries and its antiquity dates back to the vedic period. The concept of Ratha is stimulated from countless myths, epics, legends, folklore etc and it shows how imaginative our forefathers were and how there exists a striking relevance between logic and associated myth. The concept of ratha embodies religious connotation bringing out divine perceptions, its philosophical, religious and socio-cultural significance.

Tiruvarur Ther -chariot,the largest temple Ratha /car. Tamil Nadu. en.wikipedia.org

The Great Thear/ chariot of Sri Thyagarajaswami, Tiruvarur en.wikipedia.org

The Rath Jatrai at the Jagannath Temple, Puri, 2007.en.wikipedia.org

Ratha or Rath means a chariot or car invariably made from wood with wheels. It may be a moving temple tower with divinity in it. It is a form of temple architecture called chala-alaya with intricately carved wooden images mostly taken from the Hindu epics. The Ratha may be driven manually by rope, pulled by horses or elephants. They are being used mostly by the Hindu temples of South India for Rathoutsava (Car festival). During the festival, the temple deities (utchavars) are driven through the streets, accompanied by musical troupes, etc. The Ratha or chariot is a temple on the wheel, on the move from one place to another.

It does have an adisthanam and Vedis like a temple and is a personification of divinity coming to your place to bless you

and your family. The moving chariot eliminates the evil on its

path and cleanses it. The most famous ratha is the Azhi

ther, one of the tallest and heaviest one, belonging to the

Thiyagaraja temple of Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu (please see: https://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2016/07/thiruvarur-azhi-ther-big-ratha-tamil.html). As for the rathyatra, Jagannath temple, Puri in the state of Odisha is quite famous. The long-drawn festival is an interesting one and is held in the month of June or July (please see: https://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2016/03/puri-jagannath-temple-20-astonishing.html).

According to the authentic text on ratha called Vishvakarmiya Rathalakshanam, available in Sarasvati Mahal library at Thanjavur, TN, there are three types of chariots, namely, Patrakalpa– the chariots for Gods, Chitrakalpa– the chariots for kings and the Ratnakalpas– the chariots for upper class. The monuments at Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu and Hampi (Vijayanagar stone chariot), Karnataka exhibit the growth and evolution of temple architecture and their representations in the forms of ratha-shaped shines made of stone. Here we are mainly concerned with God's vehicle - Patrakalpa - chariots that carry divinity on them.

Krishna, Arjuna at Kurukshetra, 18th- to 19th-century painting.en.wikipedia.

The puranic stories, epics and legends are replete with stories of great warriors who displayed their skill and courage in destroying and annihilating demons and evil forces by being chariot-borne. In the Hindu mythology, it is to be borne in mind, the chariot represents the entire cosmos. Surya, the Sun god using his special chariot drawn by seven horses covers the entire earth within 24 hours with one wheel emitting light and life. During the Kurushetra war, Arjuna uses the chariot driven by Partha (Sri Krishna himself) with the flag in the mast carrying Hanuman's image. Gifted by Agni during Khandava vana episode, the maker of the chariot, it is believed was Bhoumana Vishvakarma, (Rigveda 10:81 and 82); he was a great sculptor coronated by Prajapati. On Indira's advice the flag-staff was made by Visvakarma. Both Shiva and Devi are also associated with rathas. God Shiva when fought with three demons, known as Tripurantaka used a well-made chariot with good manoeuvrability, according to Shivapurana.

Ratha is closely associated with Indian culture art and tradition, Besides temple chariots, the ones owned by the puranic rulers have had some influence on the Indian arts. If you take the case of many deities in the Hindu pantheon, they are nicely portrayed as riding the ratha. Ushas (the dawn; a Rigvedic goddess of dawn driving away oppressive darkness, chasing away evil demons, rousing all life, setting all things in motion) rides in a chariot, as well as Agni in his function as a messenger between gods and men. This is the reason why pious Hindus pay obeisance to the rising Sun in the morning (Suryothayam). In Rigveda - 6.61.13 (2nd millennium BCE ) the Sarasvati river is described as being wide and speedy, like a (Rigvedic) chariot. Rigvedic chariots are commonly made of wood of Salmali tree (cotton tree/ Bombax Seiba) and also Simsapa. The number of wheels and configuration are described in the Rathasastra. Sri Krishana, Arjuna's charioteer during the Kurushetra war, gave Geethopadesam to him, delivering the eternal truth and the transient nature of the universe and our life on earth. Lord Rama with Sita and Lakshmana went to forest on exile in a ratha.

Invariably most of the Indian rulers in the past several centuries had to depend on the chariots for wars and transportation, etc. A case in point is the legend of ManuneethiChozan of Tamil Desam

in which the chariot's wheel was the cause of death of a calf. The chariot was driven by the ruler's son. The gist of the legend is how the just ruler dispenses the case, responding to the mother cow's appeal by way of striking the Bell of Justice and drawing the attention of the king to rectify the injustice done to her. Please see
https://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-legend-of-king-manuneethi.html.

Konark Sun Temple Ratha wheel, en wikipedia org.

As for Patrakalpa, in some Hindu temples, the shrine or garbagriha is in the shape of a chariot. So are the buildings on the temples premises that have the shape of a huge chariot or because they contain a divinity as does a temple chariot. A good example is the Pancha Rathas (=5 rathas) in Mahabalipuram, although not with the shape of a chariot. Yet another example is the Jaga Mohan of the Konark Sun Temple in Konarâk. The striking feature is it is built on a platform with twelve sculptures of wheels, as a symbol of the chariot of the Sun. The inference we can make from many examples mentioned above is that the concept of chariot and its wheels has hoary past.

Nataraja temple, chidambaram, TN f lickr.com

Today, chariots, in particular those associated with the Hindu temples represent the ethos of Indian culture and their close affinity with the divinity. At many museums such as Manjusha Museum at Dharmasthala, Calico Museum at Ahemadabad, Janapadaloka at Ramnagar, Government Museum at Kanyakumari and at the National Museum in New Delhi, you can see nicely carved chariots. The display of chariots made of wood, metal, etc in public place has gained currency because our legacy and culture have close link with the temples. In south India, particularly in Tamil Nadu, almost all famous temples have a chariot or two. The damaged and very old chariots are not in use and private collectors or Museums buy them, spend money on their restoration and repair and put them on displace in a vantage place as a symbol of their pride possession. The big wooden base of a chariot contains countless beautifully carved small wooden deities, etc on all four sides drawn mostly from the Hindu epics - the Ramayana and Mahabharata. The intricate work and workmanship of the artisans will leave you speechless with ecstasy. Chariot is a moving temple tower with a divinity in it and our cultural ethos will never die as long as the rathyathras or chariot festivals go on.

https://navrangindia.blogspot.com/2018/05/hindu-temple-chariot-ratha-36-engaging.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratha
https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/art/antiquity-of-indian-chariot/article26733989.ece
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagannath_Temple,_Puri
Jagannath Temple Odisha, Jagannath Temple Orissa". visitodisha.net. 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.

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