Utsav Rock Garden - part 2

..continued from Utsav Rock Garden - part 1.

The rural life gallery starts with this space which is like a village square. At the center is a cast iron light pole. That's Amma and Pushpa. In the background is a typical village house door with a colorful frame. Flanking the gate are idols of children playing cricket.. wondering why these idols here?

On this streets are models of houses which are almost real. There are so many scenes, the only way to show them was to make collages. An elderly man relaxing after his morning chores. The village astrologer. Women pounding grains. The living room of a village home.. the old woman is making wicks from cotton for oil lamps while children are practicing lessons. I guess the old man reading the newspaper is the children's Guru. Notice the little details like the lantern, woven lacework, traditional sarees, cane baskets, etc.

A village store. A coconut wrapped in cloth hung fro the door frame to ward evil spirits. Food items are realistic especially the jaggery blocks. Notice the paper decoration and lamp put up during Deepawali.

A glance of cattle room. In traditional north Karnataka homes, the living space for men and cattle were same. Cattle were considered family members and required equal treatment. Even to this day, oxen are given proper burials. In the recent past, life has changed, especially in the age of mobile devices. Earlier there are hardly any homes without cattle but now cattle are gone, priority is TV, bike and mobile phones.

On the side is another modern art alley. Lets take a look at it and then resume rural life scenes. The most eye-catching is this artwork depicting religious harmony.

Here we are looking at a model village.. is it imaginary or the artist created a copy of his or her village.

Tiled houses, fences, electric poles, and windmills.

I have no clue what this painting is about. Wish I could hear its description from its creator.

Cricket alley. That's Sachin Tendulkar, isn't it.

There were other idols, like the characters seen in comic. Modern art tires me out, I prefer to be with real life. So we are back at village scenes touching various professions. A washer woman driving her donkey loaded with a bundle of clothes while her husband presses washed clothes. A man attired in traditional costume for seeking alms at a village shrine. A cobbler couple making footwear. The lad is waiting for his slippers to be mended. A village school. Then there were home scenes with whole family together, women grooming, etc.Also there were carpenters, a barber, two men playing a board game, a village temple and so on.

From the rural life gallery we move on to the jungle.. idols of wild animals.

Here are few examples- hippopotamus, zebra, giraffe and stags. Then there were elephants, tigers, wild pigs, and many more. Well done sculptures.

Having done with wildlife we come back to village life, this time the grain, vegetable and cattle, markets. First is the grain merchant. Vegetable market.. one can easily identify onions, tomato, potato, cucumber, brinjal, carrots, etc. Next is the ox-shoe fixer doing business at the cattle market.

Halli-santhe are weekly markets where one can find all kinds of goods and services. Utsav Rock Garden team has done a great job recreating it. I've covered a few here. Knife sharpener. Gaana - the village oil mill.. oil sellers are called Gaangyaar. Puffed rice seller. A family manning their lime kiln.. this community is called Sunnagaar. The market scenes also showed scenes of deals being struck, peep shows, etc.

Done with the market we move on to sports side. Here's a scene of a crowd watching a Kustee Pandya.. a wrestling duel. Then there's a beautiful model of gymnastics. Village gym is called Garadi Mane and the wooden pole on which gymnastics are performed is called Malla Kambha. The challenge is to climb the well polished, oiled pole.. that's the show of strength in the form of grip.

Village girls playing merry-go-round and hopscotch. The sculptors have a great sense of anatomy.. they know how to create sexy looking girls :) Earlier I mentioned Garadi Mane.. here are a two Pehalwans practicing weight lifting. Traditionally wrestlers used wooden or metal clubs to train arms and wrists. For show of overall strength, they lifted stone balls weighing 150 to 180 kg if not more.

We come to the end of our tour. Close to the exit is a scene of a present day restaurant.. tables, chairs, life size models and vacant seats for visitors to take pictures with the idols. Pushps chose for a picture with the Sheikh and his Begum. This reminds me of our visit to Chowmahalla Palace where we met a real Arab attired in traditional gear. Pushpa has a picture taken with the Arab.

The tour was nice though I would've preferred to have started earlier in the morning while it was still cooler. Anyway, it was good.

Besides Utsav Rock Garden there are similar gardens-

1. Graama Samskriti Park, Someshwar Waadi, Paashana, Pune
2. Siddhagiri Museum, Kaneeri Matha, Kolhapur
3. Bareed Shaahi Park, Bidar
4. Revolutionary Freedom Fighter Life History, Interior - Exterior Art World, Sangolli
5. Shaalmala Park, Chipagi, Forest Department, Sirsi
6. Nature Camp, Dandeli
7. August-15 Garden, Hadagali
8. Bellary Cultural Complex, Bellary
9. Kunte Gadde Garden, Bellary
10. Bheeshma Kere, Gadag
11. Singataaluru Park, Mundargi
12. Heritage Village Park, M.G.R.E.D Jakkuru, Bengaluru
13. J.P Park, Bengaluru
14. Jaanapada Looka, Raamanagar

Long Live Artists!

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Utsav Rock Garden - part 1

January 17, 2019
We were traveling from Bangalore to Dharwad. Plan for the journey was to visit Bati Siddappa Devastana near Davangere and then the much spoken about Utsav Rock Garden - generally known as the garden of life-size sculptures. However, as the creators say it is a combination of art, architecture and nature. The garden has a huge vehicle parking ground, so parking is not an issue. Entry fee is ₹200 per head and parking is ₹20 per car. This is the rock formation like front of the garden. The little cave like openings are the ticket counters. Welcome to the land of imagination and creativity.

This is the entry gate, as seen from inside. There's art in all directions right from the entrance. There are guides here to show you around, no fee for that however one could tip them. I'd allotted an hour and half for this stop, but our guide said that one needs about 2½ hours to see the place completely.

The garden was designed by the renowned artist Prof. T.B.Solabakkanavar along with his family members and several other artists. The first thing one see is circular pond with a garden around it dedicated to the great cine star Dr. Rajkumar. The garden has a dozen or so idols depicting different roles played by Dr. Raj. At the center of the pond is Bedara Kannappa's idol, Dr. Raj's maiden cinema. 

This scene here shows Dr. Raj practicing Yoga. The scene is from the movie Kamanabillu. On the left hand side is the idol of the historic poet Kalidasa. Dr. Raj played the lead role in Kaviratna Kalidasa.

Besides the circular garden, there's also an avenue with idols depicting Satya Harishchandra, Bhakta Kumbara, Raghavendra Swami, Sanadhi Appanna, and few other I can't recall.

This idol depicts Mayura Varma and in the background is the scene from the super hit song Huttidare Kannadanadalli Huttabeku. A befitting memorial for Dr. Raj's unparalleled talent to play legendary characters. By now you must've noticed the greenery of this place.

From the green outdoors we move indoors, into another world. We step into the area dedicated to the Aalda Mara, the great Banyan tree. This tree is a tribute to three great artists from Karnataka - Dr. M V Minajigi, D V Halabhavi & T P Akki. These artists established the Fine Arts Colleges for the development of artists and art teachers. A Banyan tree symbolizes eternity.. art and artists forever!

It's a psychedelic treat. Lot of effort gone into creating this realistic monument. A guided path takes visitors through the place, no straying around or getting lost.

The Banyan tree is home to several creatures. Here, in the roots are serpents and human like creatures including a woman with two children. At the middle is an idol depicting Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwara as one.

The roots entwine pillars of art. The roof is one massive painting.. I can't really remember the details though.

As we take a tour of Aaladamara, we get to see the Sculptural Fountain.

As we step out from the world of Aladamara we get to see scenes from an art school. This scene is dedicated to artist T P Akki, I think. The teacher is practicing art along with his students. There are semi clad models posing for students practice. In the foreground is a pillar with modern art showing kitchenware.

Shri T P Akki's office.. a discussion of artists. On the left is a pillar depicting a woman warrior, I think.

Then we step into the Modern Art Gallery. Being honest, I can't really understand some of the art. Also, here I find some of the art forms too strong, too loud for my taste. Nevertheless, I understand the effort behind each of the artworks here.

These ceiling panels here are dedicated to wildlife. Art is not just sketching, painting or sculpting. One has to possess knowledge about different types of material used for the artwork. I think, these are paintings over glass. The artists would have spent a great deal of time and effort to get the right effect.

Of the several dozen artworks, a pair of oxen and farmers was the one that appealed to be most. Its created in honor of the most noble profession.. the farmer.. one who toils day and night to feed the populace. As the famous quote goes "The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways" the farming community has been taken for granted. God bless them with courage and strength.

The other items shown here is a mermaid and a cricketer holding a bat and trophy. Besides sculptures there are also paintings in the background. My visits to art exhibitions have been a different experience. I'd artworks displayed individually, in a hall with plain walls and floors. Some cases I remember seeing a set of paintings or sculptures. But here the experience is completely different. Its just artwork except the path we walked on.

On one side of this hall are two life size sculptures of elderly couple flanking a door way to another hall.. the Marriage Hall. I think it should be called The Wedding Hall. Coming back to the sculptures, they depict a couple from a well off landlord family. Attired in traditional garments, in a posture considered graceful for the status.

Stepping into the wedding hall, the main item here is the set of life size idols showing group posing fr a photograph with the couple at a typical Indian reception. There are idols of a photographer and a videographer as well.

Done with the Modern Art, we step out, ready to move into the rural life gallery which is an outdoor setting. Pushpa shoots something that catches her imagination.

My thought, if you are in a large group, break yourself into groups of 5 or 6 so that t doesn't feel too crowded and makes it easier to take pictures.

 ..will continue in Utsav Rock Garden - part 2.

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Shilpavana, Kannada University - part 3

..continued from Shilpavana, Kannada University - part 2.

Kannada University of Kamalapur has an interesting collection of sculptures created by students and teachers. The ideas are original and one has to admire the creations.

Here's a modern day Torana; unlike the ancient Thoranas decorated with floral and geometrical designs, this is an angular one. The two round stones at the top is a nice addition. And as I shot this picture a little bird landed on the left stone.. as though it wanted to make the Torana symmetrical.

Next we have a Deepa Stambha capped by a dome. Another unique feature is the long stairway. Actually the tower is built on a boulder hence the need for the steps.

Vijayanagara emblem etched in rock. Sun, Moon, sword and boar. The artist has found the right spot for his drawing.

Kannada Vishwavidyalaya logo. The catch phrase reads "maadambodu jyotirlinga."

A pair of ribbed boulders. One may think what's there in these rocks. Creating these parallel grooves needs lot of care and effort. Simple looking yet beautiful creation.

I have no idea what this sculpture is about.. however it seems like a Linga for far.

A complex design but I have no clue what its about.

A stack of cuboids. A tasteful creation indeed.

More standing rock sculptures.. a donkey head with a stack of thick books.. a knowledgeable beast? The middle one is another complex creation; the base has four images on each of its faces.. wish I'd shot the other two as well. Looking the ones seen here.. on the left is an egg and sperms.. on the right is obviously a flower. Each image is complimented by a quote. The third sculpture seems to denote a seed and plant.

The administrative building "Aadalithanga"architecture is a copy from Vijayanagara structures.

This seems to depict a stringed musical instrument.. a sitar?

Opposite the Aadalithanga is this lovely scene. A rock bed with umbrella-shaped trees. In the shade is Jakanachari engrossed in work.

Close by is another complex pillar.. plant roots embracing a stone? In the background is a bowing human. See inset for a closer look at the bowing figure.

This is the university's utility building.. shops, canteens and other amenities. The building resembles a British era jail.. that's what Pushpa remarked.

At the university campus entrance.. a couple on a pillar. This must be a creation of one of the senior staff.

Another visit to this amazing place is due. The place has a peaceful ambiance, really relaxes the mind.

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