Pøedmìt: [world-vedic] did you visit Raghurajpur recently? Od: Parama Devi Datum: Sat, 23 Jun 2007 10:49:57 +0200 (CEST) Komu: vediculture@yahoogroups.com Kopie: aryaputra_1927@yahoo.com Dear Aryaputra, Namaskar and Hari Om! I do not know if you have visited Raghurajpur recently with the purpose of verifying the propaganda information issued by the Ministry of Tourism, and posted by you on the forum. I did. Just last week, accompanying two visiting friends from abroad as I usually do in similar cases. In fact I live less than 2 km from Raghurajpur. So I can authoritatively say, from first hand experience, that the only “Gurukula” existing in Raghurajpur is the Gotipua school (where I also take visiting friends, asking them to help these boys financially) and it is not exactly in good conditions. Certainly not supported by the Ministry of Tourism: the school of these traditional transvestite acrobatic dancer boys only has a dozen students (from very poor families), a very old teacher and a small, dingy and dilapidated practice hall. Their “guest book” that I personally signed several times during my visits appears to contain a total of less than 100 signatures. What to speak of the painters. True, the Ministry of Tourism opened an office at one end of the village of Raghurajpur, but rarely someone is manning it; certainly nobody was there when I visited last. True, one small restaurant has been built in front of the Office of the Tourism Ministry, but you need to place an advance order at least one day before for any meal, because otherwise the place is always closed (the cooks must be called from another village). I believe this gives the measure of the “enormous tourist movement” of the place. The article you posted on this forum suggests that the patta chitra village of Raghurajpur was “created and brought to success” by the Tourism Ministry, apparently 5 years ago. It would be fair to ask the opinion of the 600 traditional families of patta chitra artists who have been living and working there for thousands of years and are today, more than ever, on the brim of dire poverty. I would humbly suggest that you come to Raghurajpur yourself to ask them. In fact, the village had been a “vibrant center of folk art” centuries ago, and would thrive much better if the secular Government would leave the Jagannatha temple administration to sincere devotees instead of funneling all income into “infrastructure development” of the Puri town municipality. With very little competence, we may add, since the only work that Puri people have seen under the chapter of “infrastructure development” in Puri was the temporary excavation of the “sewage river” crossing the city and flowing into the ocean on the famous beach in Chakratirtha road. Temporary because the sewage drains from the entire town have already filled the area with black filth in a whiff (pun intended) after the “infrastructure work”. What to speak of the appalling lack of common sense in the tourist management and the pathetic conditions of the tourist infrastructure in Puri, a place that survives solely on tourism. And, pray, where is this Gurukula of the handicrafts in Raghurajpur that appears to have inspired the Ministry to duplicate its success elsewhere? Nobody has ever heard about it here. In Raghurajpur there is only one road (less than 1 km long) with two rows of rooms on each side, where all the 600 families live. Certainly the “Gurukula students” cannot be accommodated or studying/training in such housings as they all only have one or two very dilapidated room each, barely sufficient for a very small family. However, Raghurajpur people do not seem to have to worry too much about overcrowded housings: almost all the youngsters of the families have disappeared from the village – gone to search for better fortune in some other job in the city. Bhubaneswar, for example, is mushrooming with large “modern” shopping malls and marts and it now boasts of a very crowded Pizza Hut center and a pathetic OneDollar shopping center (in fact very expensive compared to the traditional small shops) near the old “market number one”. The calculation of 34,000 tourists and 52 lakh appearing in Raghurajpur during 2005 is preposterous. That would mean about 100 tourists a day for each single day of the year, and certainly by visiting the village and the row of extremely small, indigent housings where the artists live with their families it is natural to wonder where these 52 lakh have gone, if they have really materialised in this place in 2005. The houses are crumbling, their bamboo and thatch roofs badly need renovation, and there is not even a proper sewage system. The painters and their families are clothed in rags and do not even have shelves to keep their paintings – everything is kept on the bare floor, wrapped in a protection made with old newspaper sheets. Till date, the painters are desperate to make ends meet and when we visit we are regularly besieged by dozens of villagers who choose to put aside all dignity and keep following us everywhere, pleading with us to please, please, come to their house to see their work (and buy some). In each house we visited last week we were frantically shown dozens of paintings unrolled from their newspaper protection, the unsold paintings piling up so quickly one over the other that it was even impossible to see them properly. Anyone could have told these people haven’t sold anything for weeks if not for months, and the appearance of 2 (two) tourists with a guide and a car driver was an exceptional event to be followed by the entire community with utmost hope – almost with bated breath. Those who fare best are the 3 workshops WELL BEFORE and OUTSIDE the village, right on the turn of the main road from Chandanpur, who benefit from the passage of the uninformed people who are led to think that THAT is Raghurajpur. In any case, those who discover that the actual painters’ village is a few km further, after an anonymous turn into a very badly kept and narrow dirt road, would probably prefer not to venture into the unknown without even a signpost to show them the way. We also lost our way the first time and ended up in a 3 feet wide dirt path filled with huge potholes and flanked by steep descents into fallow fields. A suicidal path after sunset for any vehicle. And what on earth is “screwpine leaf”? Is the “screwing” idea in any way connected to the relationship between the Government and the artists’ families? :-p Filigree, applique, terracotta, golden grass (golden grass coir?!?) and bell metal are certainly traditional handicrafts products of Orissa, but in Raghurajpur there are only painters. Sure, they also pain on small coconuts (the one that fall from the trees without maturing) and even on betel nuts, but they only paint. The depressing reality of what is actually happening in Puri district is: 1. A mega project called Vedanta University has been approved by the government, with the imminent forced displacement of hundreds of poor villagers and farmers from 10,000 acres of agricultural land in the area between Puri and Konark. The project, brainchild of one Anil Agarwal (allegedly NRI from US) and already present on Wikipedia, is focused on modern technology and will have nothing to do with Vedic culture except for an added department of Indology taught by mainstream professors (those who teach that the Vedas and Sanskrit were introduced in India only a few centuries ago by nomadic white Aryans from “outside”, that Islam civilised India and the development of bhakti movements was due to the Christian influence ). 2. A large nuclear army base is being built near Konark (supposed to be a secret base). The Defense Ministry is already taking over hundreds of acres and is going to close the main road from Puri to Konark (the Marine Drive) for exclusive Army purpose, “eating up” famous ancient temples such as Belesvara and Ramachandi, that will become “chapels for the army” only, totally closed to the public (they now have hundreds of visitors and worshipers). Considering that the Puri-Konark area has been a prime area for cultural tourism development for years (all non-governmental land has been plotted already for hotels, resorts and holiday housing), that the “alternative access road to Konark” will be built “some time later on” (probably when the International terminal of the Bhubaneswar airport will be finished... ha ha), and that after Konark there is no beach-side road and there is NO plan to build one for development, we are left to ponder over the successes of the Ministry of Tourism in Orissa. Certainly the military strategists of the Defense Ministry must think they are very clever, building a secret nuclear missile base just in the middle of a tourist development area in the Golden Triangle of Hindu traditional culture and holy pilgrimage place of Purushottama kshetra. How will the enemy suspect or expect such a shrewd move? PKD ---- Original Message ---- Gurukul making a comeback in these villages Posted by: "aryaputra_1927" aryaputra_1927@yahoo.com aryaputra_1927 Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:39 pm (PST) Gurukul making a comeback in these villages June 12, 2007 12:33 IST Inspired by the success of a tiny village in Orissa becoming a full-fledged model arts village, the Ministry of Tourism has selected five villages for reviving the gurukul tradition for teaching of arts. What started as promotion of pattachitra (painting on palm leaf) in Raghurajpur village in Puri district as part of rural tourism project five years ago culminated into transformation of the village into a vibrant centre of folk art. In 2002, only about 6000 tourists visited the place. In 2005 the tourist arrival figure went up to 34,000. The sale from the art and craft work went up from Rs 15 lakh to Rs 52 lakh during the same period. Stone craft, pattachitra, palm leaf inscription, papier mache, sodhai work, mural painting, golden grass coir, screwpine leaf and wood work, filigree, applique, terra cotta and bell metal work greet visitors whose number is increasing every year. "Every house in this village is an art gallery," said a senior ministry official. "The village has served us not just as a role model for generating employment through rural tourism but also as an inspiration for how to preserve folk art," the official said. 2007-1-R-N-0316 __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Links | Database | Polls | Calendar This is an information resource and discussion group for people interested in the World's Ancient Vedic Culture, with a focus on its historical, archeological and scientific aspects. Also topics about India, Hinduism, God, and other aspects of World Culture are welcome. 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