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The Cultural Heritage Mapping Project was conceived to create an inclusive learning platform with the various aspects of Heritage, as the core subject. The project developers, Notional Space and IT developers Janastu designed a geo-tagging, multimedia mapping application along with INTACH Pondicherry.
In the first phase of the project, student volunteers and institutional partners will conduct cultural mapping workshops for the youth of Pondicherry, in the urban and outlying village communities. The primary focus of these workshops will be to raise awareness on the issue of preservation of cultural heritage (tangible and intangible). They will also, by default, facilitate inclusive, educative and uplifting discussions on local social issues. Once a group has articulated the aspects of cultural heritage they wish to focus upon, they can start
uploading their documentation and media files (video, audio, photo etc.) to the online platform along with geo-tags.
This work will, by default, promote further educational exchange and facilitate creative solutions for the protection of Pondicherry’s heritage.
In the second phase INTACH Pondicherry will upload their documentation on the Tangible and Intangible History of Pondicherry. An added function in the application will enable Pondicherry’s residents and visitors to upload their own walking tours and enable geocaching. Over time, integration of further layers and categories for Pondicherry’s social, built and natural heritage will be developed by Notional Space and Janastu.
This project was inaugurated on the 5th of February at the Craft Bazaar by the Director of UNESCO, Mr. Shigeru Aoyagi.
Mr. Shigeru Aoyagi was appointed as Director of UNESCO in New Delhi in January 2012. Prior to that, he served as Director of the UNESCO in Kabul and UNESCO Representative to Afghanistan from 2006 – 2011. Shigeru joined UNESCO in July 2002, as Chief of the Literacy and Non-Formal Education (NFE) section at the Headquarters in Paris. In this capacity, he
has supervised, managed and coordinated the section’s work within the framework of Education For All (EFA), as well as its work on literacy and NFE for four regional programmes for universalization of primary education and eradication of illiteracy. He has also contributed to the adoption of the UN resolutions on the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD) International Plan of Action, coordinated the EFA Flagship programmes on UNLD and UNESCO-FAO programme on rural people. He has also worked on the launch of the Literacy Initiative for Empowerment at the international level, in the 11 first-round implementation countries.
At 06:30am, as the sun rose on the city of Pondicherry, Aneesh Raghavan and Dr. Ashwini Bhide sang praises of the Lord, at the promenade along the Bay, as a commencement of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival, 2016.
Inauguration Function
The Pondicherry Heritage Festival, 2016 was officially inaugurated on 5th February, 2016 at 18:30 at the Gandhi Thidal, Goubert Avenue. The Honorable Chief Minister Thiru N. Rangaswamy, Member of Parliament Thiru R. Radhakrishnan, Director of UNESCO Mr. Shigeru Aoyagi, Member of Legislative Assembly Thiru Laxminarayan, The Honorable Ministers of Tourism Thiru P. Rajavelu and Art & Culture Thiru T. Thiagarajan, Chief Secretary Mr. Manoj Parida, Acclaimed dancer Anita Ratnam and other esteemed dignitaries were invited to preside over the function.
A key part of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival is learning and the best way to learn is through interaction.
An intensive three-hour session was organized at the Pondicherry Chamber of Commerce to understand and explore the possibilities for the future of Pondicherry’s built heritage, one year after the
collapse of the Mairie Building (City Hall) of Pondicherry, where conservation experts presented their work and initiated interactive discussions with the audience. This session was moderated by Mr. K.T. Ravindran.
6th Feb 2016
Urban Forest Walk:
The Swadeshi Cotton Mills Forest exists on a private industrial land and spans an area of 12-43-85 H.A.C.
As many as 184 species of flora have been documented in this forest land which propagates mainly through
spontaneous growth of vegetation; trees, undergrowth, climbers, lianas; alike.
The land had been previously closed to the public but upon request, The Forest Department allowed a
group of participants of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival to visit and study the flora. The Forest
Department plans on re-opening the property to students of botany, for research and specie analysis.
A musical offering was organized at the Kalatheeswarar Temple in Pondicherry. M. Kandasamy and accompanists sang praises to the Lord with surrender and devotion.
A three-hour interactive presentation session was organized at the Chamber of Commerce to share, educate and discuss the prospects of conservation and restoration of the natural heritage of Pondicherry, which includes the coast, wetlands, tanks and forests. The session was moderated by Mr. Probir Banerjee.
Nityanand Jayaraman is a Chennai-based writer and social activist, and teaches environmental journalism at Asian College of Journalism. He is part of an anti-corporate collective called Vettiver Koottamaippu, and involves himself in mobilising youth to lend solidarity to social and environmental justice struggles around the country. He is an active volunteer in the campaign for justice in Bhopal and Kodaikanal, and is currently working to help stop a destructive coal fired thermal power plant from being set up in the hydrologically and environmentally sensitive Cheyyur taluk in Kanchipuram district.
Raghu Menon works with the Pondicherry Science Forum and its R&D wing, the Centre for Ecology & Rural Development.
G. Kumar is Conservator of Forest Nodal Officer, Government of Pondicherry.
Aurofilio is of Italian parentage, was born and brought up in Pondicherry and completed his education at the Sri Aurobindo International Centre of Education. In love with the sea since childhood, he decided to combine this passion with his higher education and received a Masters in Tropical Coastal management at Newcastle University. He is an avid swimmer, diver, surfer, and wind-surfer.
Paul Blanchflower has over twenty years of experience in forestry and landscaping. He arrived in Auroville in 1991 from Scotland after graduating in Forestry and Ecology at Edinburgh University. He founded the Auroville Botanical Gardens in 2000 that offers a variety of services for land management and landscaping.
The best way to understand the cultural heritage of a country, city, town or village, is to study the performing arts prevalent in the area. A two-hour demonstration and interactive session with renowned choreographers, composers, dancers and actors was facilitated at La Maison Tamoule.
Rekha Tandon is a dancer, choreographer and researcher in the classical Indian dance style of Odissi, and has a PhD in Dance Studies from Laban, London. She lives and works beside Auroville, teaches classes/workshops that connect Odissi dance with yoga. She is the Artistic Director of Danceroutes (www.danceroutes.com) and has published several articles, a book, dance videos and a documentary on
Odissi.
Dr Anita R Ratnam, based in Chennai (Madras) , India, is highly respected as a performer, writer, speaker and arts entrepreneur and culture mentor. She has been described as an “intersectionist”, whose work weaves the many disciplines of dance, theatre, spoken word, ritual, archaeology, dramaturgy and women’s issues. For over 40 years, her distinguished career has witnessed over 1300 performances in 37 countries.
Koumarane Valavane started practicing theatre at very young age. In the University of Marseille, he along with his friends created a cultural association named “centre culturel de Luminy ” and made theatre as its primary element.
VinayKumar is Managing Trustee and Artistic Director of Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts & Research.
Residents of Pondicherry being multi-cultured and having a variation in taste of music enjoyed the Caribbean
Music Concert which had a touch of Soul and Jazz.
Erika Lernot, from Martinique, grew up with the music of the world : traditional drums from the Caribbean Island, but also the marvelous mix of music that all young people discover by living in Paris : Jazz, soul, Hip hop, and oriental music.
The multi-talented, young and versatile dancer Aneesh Raghavan, disciple of Guru Sangeeta Dash, gave an Odissi dance recital at Gratitude Heritage.
Kaliveli, Ousteri and Bahour Lakes are part of the bioregion of Pondicherry. Since the heavy rainfall from the monsoon of 2015, the lakes are full and have become home for many local and migratory birds like the waterfowl.
As a part of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival, a walk through the Kaliveli Tank was arranged with experts in the field of Environmental Science.
Lekshmi. R has a M.Sc in Environmental Science and Management from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala and is currently pursuing research at Pondicherry University on altitudinal gradient in butterfly distribution of Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve, Southern Western Ghats. She is also a birder and naturalist. Her other areas of interest are butterfly gardening and photography.
R. Rajamanikam has a Masters in Ecology & Environmental Sciences from Pondicherry University and is in the final stage of completing his Ph.D in Solid Waste Management. He has 8 years of experience in of solid waste management, community outreach and birdwatching associated with Auroville and PondyCAN. He has been committed with Wetland Projects in Puducherry schools and also works closely with local communities to
improve their perception and attitude towards wetland and wildlife resources.
Compositions of Great Poets Related to Pondicherry
The history of Pondicherry is rich with poets and writers who lived within the growing city or passed through,
leaving behind their imprint of the town, while the town was imprinted in their writings.
The social, cultural, natural, spiritual and architectural heritage of Pondicherry and Tamil Nadu has been expressed in ancient Sanskrit texts which have been researched and studied and in the poetry, literature, plays and stories of writers spanning generations.
It is these written words which conserve and preserve the history of Pondicherry and continue to educate and inspire new generations.
To celebrate and share texts inspired by and written in Pondicherry, a three-hour interactive session was organized at the French Institute of Pondicherry, inviting research experts, writers, poets and playwrights to share their work and research with the audience.
The Saiva Agamas and Sangam Literature were explained and partially recited by Mr. Satyanarayanan and Ms. Indra Manuel.
The poetry of the Alvar Saints was recited by Suganya Anandakichenin, who holds a postgraduate degree in English Literature and who is also a Professeur Agrégé in English, has finished her Ph.D in Indology (Tamil studies) on Kulacēkara Āḻvār and his Perumāḷ Tirumoḻi at Hamburg University in Germany. She is currently working as a research scholar at the École française d’Extrême-Orient in Pondicherry.
Thevaram songs which praise Lord Shiva were sung and explained by Dr. T. Rajeswari, a Senior Research Fellow at the École française d’Extrême-Orient in Pondicherry.
The writings, poetry, stories, prayers and plays of Ananda Rangapillai, Sri Aurobindo, The Mother, Subramania Bharati and Bharathidasan were sung, recited and explained by literary experts.
Dr. S.A. Vengada Soupraya Nayagar is Associate Professor of French at Tagore Arts College and has been teaching French for the past twenty-seven years. He has published articles and translations in French, English and Tamil.
Manoj Das is an award-winning Indian author who writes in Odia and English. He has been awarded numerous accolades, including the Sahitya Akademi Award Fellowship and Padma Shri.
P. Raja, a professor of English, is a fictionist, poet, playwright, translator and folklorist. His areas of specialization are Pondicherry’s history, culture, literature and religion. He has published 24 books and 8 booklets in English and 7 books in Tamil.
The intangible nature of Pondicherry has attracted painters, artists, sculptures and photographers from years on end and the city hence has a wide diversity of skill, technique and knowledge in the field of visual arts. An open discussion with the artists and artisans of Pondicherry was organized at the residence of Ray Meeker
and Deborah Smith, the founders of Golden Bridge Pottery.
See the list of speakers below:
The children of schools from villages around Pondicherry, namely Sanjeevi Nagar and Alankuppam were
given the opportunity to entertain the gathering crowds with traditional dance performances at the Gandhi Thidal, Goubert Avenue. This event was organised by Mohanam Cultural Centre.
The end of the second successful Pondicherry Heritage Festival was celebrated at Gandhi Thidal. Members
of the People for Pondicherry’s Heritage, INTACH Pondicherry and the Chief Guests shared their experiences and plans for the future festivals, acknowledged the effort and support from all the partnering organizations and celebrated the accomplishments of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival 2016.
After the felicitation of the Chief Guests and Organizing Core Team, a series of dances expressing the natural heritage of Pondicherry, was presented to the audience. The dancers were from Lycee Français de Pondicherry and Anegundi Heritage Village (trained by Poojarini Chowdhury).
Some of the activities at the Craft Bazaar included
• Kollam making • Story telling
• Learning Pondicherry through photographs of streets
• Traditional games
• Recycling waste
• Bamboo musical instruments • Art therapy
• Dancing
• Puppet making
• Colouring and painting
As a part of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival, some resident Pondicherry artists generously opened their studios and galleries during the morning and/or afternoon and provided the visitors an exceptional opportunity of interaction and learning.
Some of the artist studio and galleries are:
• Tasmai
• Amarane Art Gallery
• Aquarelles, Galerie d’Art
• Learnart Weekend School • The Metal Craft
• Kalinka
• Vanna Aruvi Art Gallery
Ashok Panda of INTACH Pondicherry planned a special Heritage Walk through these two distinct areas of the town for Pondicherry Heritage Festival. The visitors were guided to landmark buildings, private houses, public buildings and buildings which need immediate restoration.
In 2004 Cortés moved together with his family to India, where his award winning travel, lifestyle and fine art photography is greatly appreciated. Cortés lectures at the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Arts and Communication. His images are exhibited and reviewed widely in Europe and in India.
The photographs on display at Maison Colombani are, as described by the photographer, an extended photo-essay describing the photographer’s perception and visual interpretation of Pondicherry.
The festival was organised without any funding from any source.
Participants (some of who are listed alongside) contributed by either providing hospitality, venue, manpower or simply by participating.
We are extremely grateful to all those who were a part of the 2nd Heritage Festival.
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