INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION ENDOWMENT LECTURE
IWA Endowment Lecture was held on 16th September 2010 at the Museum Theater in Government Museum, Chennai.
Mrs.Mridula Srinivasan, President, IWA Welcomed the audience.
|
Dr. T.S.Sridhar, I.A.S., Principal Secretary/Commissioner of Museums Presided IWA Endowment Lecture. Address.
|
| | |
Mrs.Neena Sangavi, Co-Chairperson, History & Culture & Tour, IWA introduced the Speaker.
|
Dr. Chithra Madhavan, Post Doctoral Fellow, ICHR, New Delhi delivered an Endowment Lecture on "Art Heritage of Chalukyas-their contribution to Art and Architecture".
|
| | |
Endowment Lecture was organised by Thiru G. Kalathi, Curator, Education Section, Govt. Museum, Chennai-8.
|
Dr. Subbulakshmi, Head of the Department, History and few of the Professors of History from Ethiraj College. Members from the IWA and early 300 students from Ethiraj College attended the Lecture.
|
Special Exhibition on THANJAVUR PAINTINGS (RAJA, RANI AND KRISHNA)
The name Thanjavur paintings refers to a certain style of painting, which attained a characteristic form in the Thanjavur area during the Maratha period. During their rule, the impact of Maratha culture and their religious concepts were depicted through the Thanjavur paintings. The major kinds of painting are paintings of the deities and saints, portraiture both courtly and secular, painting on exotic media like ivory and glass, murals and painted illustration in manuscripts are the other important kinds. The distinctive characteristic of Thanjavur paintings is their gold gilt and gem set technique. These paintings are large in size and usually framed. The support material used for this type of painting is wood. The composition mostly is the portraiture of Raja and Rani in seated posture. The costumes and the ornaments are mostly of Deccan type particularly of the Maratha region. The drawing of the figures is monumental and robust.
Special Exhibition on "Thanjavur Paintings"
(Raja, Rani and Krishna) was conducted at the Centenary Exhibition Hall from 14.10.2010 to 18.10.2010. Dr.T.S.Sridhar, I.A.S., Principal Secretary/Commissioner of Museums presided over the function. Tmt. Dally Verghese, Committee Member, Craft Council of India inaugurated the exhibition. Twenty-two paintings were displayed in the exhibition.
Madras Day Celebrations
The Government Museum, Chennai has proposed to hold a weeklong Special Exhibition from 19-08-2010 to 25-08-2010 on "Roots of Madras" at its Centenary Exhibition Hall and "A Guided Heritage Eco Walk" on 23-08-2010 in the Museum Campus from 3.00 - 4.00 PM in connection with the Madras Day Celebrations - 2010.
Specimens and Artefacts viz. The first Radio Transmitter - This Radio Wave Transmitter was first used in India in 1924 by the Madras Presidency Radio Club with Mr. H.E. Viscount Goschen, the then Governor of Madras as its patron. In October 1927 after the Club stopped functioning, this transmitter was presented to the Corporation of Madras who started a regular broadcasting service from 1st April 1930. This transmitter up to 15th June 1938 maintained the service. It not only benefited the public of Madras but also places outlying Madras such as Chittoor, Viziyanagaram etc., and Sri Lanka. This transmitter had to be put out of commission due to the establishment of the Madras Station of the All India Radio on 16th June 1938. The Council of the Corporation of Madras at its meeting held on 4th July 1939 sanctioned the presentation of this transmitter to the Government Museum to perpetuate the memory of the pioneer radio broadcasting activity in India; Model of S.S. Irwin- Ship - This is model of the ship, "S.S. Irwin" which was plying between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar Pier. The ship was built in 1929 and put on service in the year 1930. The tonnage of the ship is 970.11 gross and 377.39 registered. The overall length and breadth are 259 feet and 38 feet respectively. Its passenger carrying capacity in fair and rough weather is 1552 and 1045 respectively. The normal speed of this is approximately 10 knots. Southern Railway presented this model to this museum.; Coin model of Saint Thiruvalluvar issued by Ellis, the former Treasury Officer, of the Madras Presidency along with its enlarged photograph. Indo-British Coins, First Day Covers of places and personalities from Numismatic Section; Vinyl prints on some floral species from Botany Section; First paleoliths of the Madras Presidency (Pallavaram Hand Axe & Athirampakkam Clever) and Megalithic burial urns from Kilpauk excavations, Busshel, a measuring vessel of British period, certain fire arms of East India Company from the Anthropology Section will be put on display to highlight the Socio-cultural roots of Madras.
Nature study in Government Museum, Chennai
The Government Museum, Chennai is located in 16.25 acres of land in the heart of the city. Children’s and Maternity Hospitals in the north, Donbosco school in the south, Pantheon and Halls roads on the east and west respectively surrounds the museum campus with lot of activities throughout the day. In spite of the busy surroundings museum is a home for a wide variety of fauna and flora. Long back, the museum was with lot of vegetation. Now still a good pocket of vegetation (just like a rain forest area) lies in the west and south west area of the museum campus. We can find a wide variety of flora and fauna in this area. The faunal collections include a variety of birds, reptiles and mammals.
Anyone who crosses the rear end of the museum campus will never miss the large congregation of fruit bats. They are otherwise called as ‘Flying foxes’ and roosted in big trees in the campus. It is a rare view to see hundreds of fruit bats hanging upside down in the heart of the city.
This area and surrounding vegetation may be considered as a mini hot spot with a wide diversity of plant and animal life. From the conservation angle, the Government Museum, Chennai and the World Wide Fund for Nature (India) is taking initiative to study the biodiversity of plant and animal life in this mini hot spot area. The first stage of this programme is the observation week, where the identification and movement of this faunal and floral collections will be undertaken.
Commissioner of Museums Dr. T.S. Sridhar, I.A.S., will formally inaugurate the observation week in the presence of Ms. Rachel Pearlin, State Director, WWF, Tamilnadu State Office on Wednesday (11.08.10) at 3 p.m., in the Centenary Exhibition Hall of the Government Museum, Chennai.
|
