ATTEMPTING A MONUMENTAL TASK

Bangalore city is the Capital of Karnataka, an important southern state of India. Being one of the fastest growing cities of the world, Bangalore has been credited with many names like Garden city, Pensioner's Paradise, Silicon City, Pub City and so on. But hardly few people know that the sylvan land can also be conveniently called as the "City of Monuments".

This great city was founded by Kempe Gowda I in 1537 A.D. After him, his son Kempe Gowda II further developed it. Later, Bangalore came under the rule of the Maratas, Mughals, Wodeyars, Muslims, the British and the Dewans. There are many interesting structures, edifices, memorials and monuments built during the reign of these rulers. Visitors to Bangalore are often enthralled by the splendour of many of these relics. But many more monuments are tucked away in various parts of the city loaded with history. Due to passage of time, negligence and lack of awareness among the general public, particularly the youth, these remnants of history are gradually fading away.

In order to bring people closer to these mute witnesses of history, an association called AARAMBH has begun an earnest movement in Bangalore.

AARAMBH is an acronym for An Association for Reviving Awareness about the Monuments of Bangalore Heritage. AARAMBH has many young, energetic and enthusiastic members. The core group of AARAMBH comprises of RamaSuresh, Navya S., Gurudarshan S., Harsha P.A., Madhumathi L.M., Vijayendra Sharma A., Jayashree S., Ramanand N.S, Srinivasa Murthy K., Sridhar O.D. and others. AARAMBH was founded and is being led by Mr. Suresh Moona, a teacher and a NCC (National Cadet Corps) officer by profession.

For the last two years AARAMBH has been giving slide show-cum-lectures in schools, colleges, voluntary organizations and anywhere else where people had a real concern for the city's history and its monuments.

The organization was called AARAMBH (meaning the beginning) because the group intended to Start to Restore awareness about the history of Bangalore. Equipped with about 110 beautiful slides, AARAMBH has given about 120 slide shows with enthusiasm and commitment.

"The main purpose is to evoke the curiosity of the children and spur them on to see these monuments and more importantly to make them read about the rich culture and heritage of the 450 year old city" says Mr. Moona.

At present Mr. Moona's approximately 75 minute slides show-cum-lecture program consists of a variety of monuments, built during the reign of the Kempegowdas, Maratas, Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan, the British and others. The lucid commentary of Mr.Moona either in English or Kannada captures the attention of the young and the old alike.

A very special feature of AARAMBH is that a second line of speakers is being prepared to take over the task of giving lectures from Mr.Suresh Moona. Already a group of Six youngsters are giving lectures led by Mr.Moona.

The second important activity of AARAMBH is that it takes its members to visit monuments, normally on the Last Sunday of every month. AARAMBH membership is open for the like minded persons with a nominal fee of Rupees 100 (U.S. $10 for International members) per year. Special discount is given to students. The members not only enjoy these visits but are also learning a lot about the history, culture and heritage of this great city.

The burning desire of AARAMBH is to create a sense of pride and attachment among the younger generation of Bangalore towards their own city. "Only when the youth of a nation feel a strong bond with the country and its heritage, will they involve themselves wholeheartedly in its development. We want our youngsters to develop affection towards their city" opine the members of AARAMBH. Thus, believing that affection will grow out of acquaintance, AARAMBH regularly takes students to visit many unknown monuments of the city. And now, it is planning to organize a "Save Monuments Run" and form a Human chain to enhance the awareness about the city's cultural heritage among its people. It is also seeking to involve historians, teachers and the concerned authorities in this noble task. "More growth means more progress, but the growth of the city should not be at the cost of our heritage . Let us save the soul of the city." says Mr.Moona.

AARAMBH is obsessed with the idea of saving monuments of Bangalore. To make this a revolutionary movement, AARAMBH has taken up the following projects.

• To erect information boards in front of important monuments.

• To felicitate at least four people who have worked for saving the heritage of Bangalore.
• To conduct street exhibitions on monuments of Bangalore, thus making even a common man aware about the heritage of this city.
• To conduct seminars on the history of Bangalore.
• To assist in arranging one day visit to monuments around the city.
• To develop interaction with other like minded organizations throughout the world, for a coordinated effort to save the heritage of the land.

At present AARAMBH is concentrating only on the monuments of Bangalore. But it also wants to study the structures and edifices of other cities of India and the world as well. AARAMBH is eager to know about other organizations working for such causes anywhere in the world. AARAMBH would like to develop a rapport with them to know and learn about the technology adopted by others to save monuments, so that, it could adopt the same techniques to preserve the monuments of Bangalore also.

All service causes whether social, cultural or historical must be planned, adopted and executed with the guiding principle of "Think Globally but Act Locally". This principle can be adopted successfully by having a co-operative interaction with similar organizations throughout the world. Thus, the main aim of AARAMBH in putting its views on the Internet is :

• To invite all the like minded organizations for developing interaction with each other.
• To develop global coordination that is required to save the monuments as the pages of history and heritage throughout the world.

Thus, any such organizations working with the same purpose in any part of the world are requested to contact AARAMBH.

Address :

AARAMBH,

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