Basava statue to come up in city

                                                     Lord Basaveshwara on horseback

                                                   Worlds tallest Basava statue at Basavakalyan in Karnataka

Telangana will make its mark globally: Almanac

TS, AP will enjoy good rains, almanac shows

Menhir burial site reveals more

C R Gowri Shanker

The state has several menhirs, stone circles, dolmens and dolmonoid cyst-type pre-historic burials.

 During excavation at the largest capstone menhir burial site, archaeologist unearthed an axe and pieces of   bone from a nearby site at Nerametta.

Hyderabad: While an excavations at the largest capstone menhir burial site is in full swing, archaeologists unearthed a stone axe and 10 bone pieces at a nearby stone circle burial site at Neremetta of Naganur mandal of Siddipet district on Thursday.

The state department of archaeology and museums also began excavation at Palamukula, 10 km from Neremetta, where they found a stone circle burial.

The state department of archaeology and museums also began excavation at Palamukula, 10 km from Neremetta, where they found a stone circle burial.

“We have found a stone hand-held axe and 10 bone pieces from the site. They will be sent for DNA analysis,” Mr P. Nagaraju, assistant director of the department, told this newspaper.
All eyes are on what lay beneath the pre-historic menhir burial site where archaeologists lifted a 40-ton capstone, said to be the largest in South India.
“Excavation work is on. We have to dig at least one metre. We hope to find skeletons,” Mr Nagaraju said. The state has several menhirs, stone circles, dolmens and dolmonoid cyst-type pre-historic burials.The menhir burial sites date back to 1000 BC to 200 AD.

Department director N.R. Visalatchy is leading a team of archaeologists including Mr Nagaraju, assistant directors Ramulu Naik and Dr K. Padmanabha and archaeology consultant S.S. Rangacharyulu.

March 24, 2017,

Largest capstone unearthed in South India

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | C R GOWRI SHANKER

March 23, 2017

Excavations were carried out in Nemeretta village following the discovery of Megalith burials in Pullur Banda village near Siddipet.

The crane from Hyderabad took four hours to lift the 40 ton capstone

 Bones, red ware pots and unearthed at the pre historic menhir burial site at Neremetta Nemeretta village in Siddipet district.

Hyderabad: The largest capstone ever found in the country over a pre-historic Menhir Megalith burial site, has been excavated by archaeologists in Neremetta village in Naganur mandal of Siddipet district. 

The capstone weighs 40 tons, is 6.70 metres in length, four metres wide and 65 cm thick. Excavations were carried out in Neremetta village following the discovery of Megalith burials in Pullur Banda village near Siddipet. 

There are 50 odd Megalith burial sites in the area, which are classified into three types- Menhir, Cairns and Dolmens. Capstones were placed over graves to protect the body from predators, since it was believed that the soul lives on after death. Telangana has several menhirs, stone circles, dolmens and dolmonoid cists. 

Arm bones, three red ware pots, two mixed black and red ware broken pots, and an iron tool were found below a smaller menhir. These Megalith burial sites date back to between 1000 BC and 200 AD. 

Excavation began a fortnight ago under the supervision of N R Visalatch, director of the Telangana Archaeology and Museums Department. 

“We can safely say that this is the largest capstone found in South India and one of the largest in the country. We can’t say it’s the world’s largest as there could be much larger ones, we don’t know,” D Ramulu Naik, assistant director of the Department told Deccan Chronicle. 

According to P Nagaraju, assistant director, it took four hours for a huge crane summoned from Hyderabad to lift the massive 40 ton capstone. 

Asked how pre-historic people could have placed such a massive capstone on the grave, Mr Naik explained, “First they might have dug the grave near a huge capstone, filled it up with gravel and moved the capstone either by rolling it over round stones or logs of wood. Or they could have dug up below a huge capstone and buried the dead and covered it.” 

Mr Nagaraju said a piece of an arm bone, two centimetres in length and three other bones were also unearthed in a nearby menhir. The bones and other findings will be sent for DNA testing to CCMB and to the Deccan College of Post Graduate Research in Pune and deeper study.

Osmania University's rare manuscripts revealed

DECCAN CHRONICLE. | C R GOWRI SHANKER

March 22, 2017

They are a part of the collection of the main library of the university, which was established in 1918.

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 The Mahabharata manuscripts are of different sizes: one is 18 inches x 6 inches and the other, 20 inches x 10.1/4 inches.

Hyderabad: Osmania University has a collection of rare ancient manuscripts and books, among them two manuscripts of the epic Mahabharata in Telugu on palm leaves, and the Bhagavata, which promotes the devotion of Krishna, integrating themes of the Advaita (monism) philosophy of Adi Shankara.
A note in the manuscript states that it was copied at Bhagyanagar (Hyderabad) on the banks of the Muchkunda (Musi).
A sort of authorised biography of Mah Laqa Bai, the famed poetess in the court of the second Nizam, Nizam Ali Khan, is part of the Osmania University library’s collection.

They are a part of the collection of the main library of the university, which was established in 1918, the same time as the university itself. The library was later shifted to the present building, which was inaugurated by then President Dr S. Radhakrishnan on August 3, 1963.

The Mahabharata manuscripts are of different sizes: one is 18 inches x 6 inches and the other, 20 inches x 10.1/4 inches. One of the manuscripts has almost the whole text of the Mahabharata with Nilakantha’s commentary.

Nilakantha Cathurdhara was a scholar who lived in Varanasi in the latter half of the 17th century and was famous for his commentaries on the Mahabharata.

Each page of the manuscript has a distinctive gold and silver border interspersed with floral designs and contains miniature paintings of the characters mentioned in the text on that particular age.

The manuscript contains two dates, one in the beginning — Saka 1722 (1800 AD) and the other at the end — Saka 1751 (1829 AD), which suggests that it took 29 years for the manuscript to be copied and illustrated!

The second manuscript does not cover the whole text, but there is one bundle of Bhishma Parva, which requires special mention.

It contains the Bhagavad Gita with three commentaries, the text occupying the middle and the three commentaries in the upper and lower portions, ornamented with floral borders.

There are miniature paintings of Krishna and Arjuna on each page of this manuscript. Though the manuscript is over 150 years old, the colours are fresh.

The Bhagavata manuscript in Sanskrit has an illustrated scroll of the complete text of the 12 Skandhas of Srimad Bhagavata. The scroll is four inches wide and 64 feet long.

It’s a unique manuscript of the Dasama Skanda of Bhagavatha and is profusely illustrated with commentary of Sridhara Swami.

Krishna Leela is depicted with exquisite beauty on the pages. There are pictures of Rasakrida. The borders are in gold.

The first 64 inches contain miniature paintings of Ganesha, Saraswathi, Lakshmi-Narayana, Shiva-Parvathi and the 10 avatars of Vishnu. At the end, there are paintings of Sukha and Parikshit.

The skandas are separated by miniature paintings; there are other smaller miniatures in between each skandha. The scroll is an excellent example of the calligraphic art.

Most of the manuscripts in the library's collection have been microfilmed and descriptive catalogues of manuscripts in Sanskrit, Kannada and Marathi have been published.

"The OU library has 6,825 rare manuscripts, including palm leaf manuscripts, in Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Persian, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu, Turkish and Urdu, covering a variety of subjects. In all, the library has 5,43,579 books besides other literature," says Fazaluddin Ahmed, library assistant. 

The Juma-Ali-Masjid Centre for Culture and Heritage in Dubai has undertaken digitisation of the manuscripts at the OU library and work is in progress.

Tribute to poetess part of collection

Mah Laqa Bai held the Adikmet Jagir on which the present Osmania University campus is located in Hyderabad. According to historical accounts, Mah Laqa Bai was awarded the Adikmet (meaning “supreme height”) jagir of 1,600 acres by the Nizam.

Gulam Husain Khan Jawher wrote a 270-page book titled Tajalliyat-I-Mahlaqa, in Persian, on the famed poetess whose pen name was "Chanda". 

The book covers the history of the Asaf Jahi dynasty of Hyderabad. In the introduction to the book, the author states that Mah Laqa Bai herself instructed him to compile this work.Mah Laqa Bai, Adikmet Jagir, Osmania University, poetess collection, Tajalliyat-I-Mahlaqa.

    Pix of Mahabharat on palm leaves

  Book on Mah Laqa Bai, poetess in the court of Nizam II

 In side the book in Persian

 Pix of manuscript on Bhagavatha

Osmania University’s grandeur on display

 C R GOWRI SHANKER

Expo features building plans drawn by OU’s architect in 1933.

 Having a look: Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi during a visit to the OU campus.

Hyderabad: The Seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, who founded Osmania University, was a stickler for perfection.

He looked into every detail when approving the construction of the Arts College, the Law College, students' hostel, senate hall and other buildings on the sprawling OU campus, which celebrates 100 years next month. 

'The Vision of Osmania', a permanent exhibition, rarely thrown open to students and the public, throws light on the efforts that went into the making of Osmania University.

Housed in the Osmania University Library complex, the exhibition has a huge wooden model of the Arts College building, which was made when the building was under construction.

One can view the plans and designs of Osmania University buildings as originally conceived by the architect in 1933. There are rare photographs of different stages of construction of the campus buildings (1934-39), marble stones carved with elevating thoughts of the founder and reflecting the grandeur of historical Hyderabad, panels containing words of the founder in calligraphy of matchless beauty.

There is a photograph of the Nizam laying the foundation stone of a building on July 2, 1934 and a hukm, dated 17 July 1919, granting approval for the monogram of Osmania University. It ordered that the monogram should contain Ain (an Arabic alphabet) in the centre. The colour of the monogram should be yellow. There should not be any other colour as yellow is the state colour.

“The ‘Vision of Osmania’ is a permanent exhibition comprising charts, photographs, official documents, campus plan, university emblem etc. It depicts the history and development of Osmania University. There are photocopies of documents of the farman of HEH the Nizam VII Mir Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII giving his approval for the inauguration of the University,” Dr R K Pavan Kumar, in-charge librarian told DC here on Monday.

The OU syndicate, at its 321st meeting on May 26, 1983, decided to have a founder’s enclosure in the library to preserve the memory of founder Nizam VII as suggested by the Sultan-Ul-Uloom centenary celebrations committee.

A committee was constituted which decided to set up the permanent exhibition with assistance from the University, HEH Nizam’s Charitable Trust and Mr Abid Ali Khan, the editor of Siasat and alumnus.

Here you can see larger than life oil paintings of Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, including ones by Raja Deen Dayal and Sir Akbar Nazar Ali Hydari, Sadr ul-Maham, the PM of Hyderabad state. 

There are revolving panels of photos capturing the progress of the university and the personalities associated with it in the last 100 years. There are photographs of past Presidents of India and other dignitaries who visited the university. PLO chief Yasser Arafat, was a visitor. Mysore Maharaja Jaya Chamraja Wadiyar, and King Hussein of Jordan, Maharajadhiraj of Bikaner and Noble Laureate George Wald were among those whose visits have been documented via photographs. The Mysore Maharaja is seen with Prince Mukkaram Jah, the Pro Chancellor of OU.

It is appalling that this historical archive is open rarely, due to vandalism. “We can’t take chances since there are rare paintings and photos. We have seen vandalism at the library many times. So the exhibits are kept under lock and key and opened only when needed,” said a university official.

March 21, 2017

KCR: No possibility of midterm elections

OSMANIA UNIVERSITY AIMED TO BLEND BEST OF EAST AND WEST

C R GOWRI SHANKER

Mar 16, 2017

Most basic departments founded between 1918 and 1948, 1967 heralded education boom in state.

Most basic departments founded between 1918 and 1948, 1967 heralded education boom in state.

 Now: The Arts College building on the Osmania University campus.

Hyderabad: From being the first-ever regional language — Urdu — university with select disciplines, the century-old Osmania University grew in four phases since its inception in 1917 after the royal firman issued by its founder Nawab Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad.

Though the medium of instruction of the University was Urdu, English was compulsory for all students. “One of the basic ideals of Osmania University is to achieve an intellectual synthesis of oriental and occidental learning of the best that has been thought of. Every phase of growth is historical and the university will continue to grow in the centenary year,” says Prof S Ramachandram, vice-chancellor of Osmania University.

The first phase of OU’s growth occurred between 1918 and 1947 and was characterised by Urdu as the medium of instruction in all branches of higher education, including medicine and engineering.

The chemistry, civil engineering, English, history, mathematics, and physics departments were started during this period.

The first 30 years saw initiation of new disciplines such as sociology, geography, zoology, botany, geology, education, law, engineering, medicine, agriculture and veterinary science.

During the second phase, from 1948 to 1968, the university celebrated its Golden Jubilee. The year 1948 was historic because the princely state of Hyderabad merged with the Indian Union and Urdu was replaced by English as the medium of instruction.

This led to a huge rise in student in-take. Infrastructure development got high priority, several buildings came up, including the library, and new courses were introduced. The university permitted affiliated colleges under private management.

By 1967, there were 45,000 students studying in 48 constituent and affiliated colleges. The third phase (1969 to 1993) was the period between the Golden Jubilee (1968) and the Platinum Jubilee (1993). There was a growth in research and development during this phase.

The Regional Centre for Urban and Environmental Studies, Institute of Genetics, Navigational Electronics, Centre for Area Studies, Audio Visual Research Centre, and the English Language Teaching Centre were set up.

In the fourth phase (1994 onwards), the university celebrated its Platinum Jubilee (75 years) and new courses such as computer applications, infrastructure were started. It granted autonomy to campus colleges, started new post-graduate centres in other districts, which later elevated to universities.

Woman failed to break Osmania University glass barrier for vice-president post

The university had 24 vice-chancellors in the last 100 years, but none of them was a woman

   Osmania University

Hyderabad: Osmania University, which will be turning hundred years in a few weeks, is still waiting for its first woman vice-chancellor. The university had 24 vice-chancellors in the last 100 years, but none of them was a woman.

Persons from different fields like bureaucracy, judiciary, literature as well as top academics served as OU VC, which once catered to the entire Hyderabad princely state and later the entire Telangana region.

Nawab Wahi-ud-Dowla served as the vice-chancellor for the longest period. He was the V-C for 15 years between 1920 and 1935. The shortest stint was of Nawab Habibur Rehman Khan during 1918-19.

Dr D.S. Reddy comes the second after Dowla in terms of the period in office. Dr Reddy was in office for 12 years from 1957 to 1969. He was credited with improving academic standards.

“He was instrumental in convincing professors like Dr E.G. Parameswaran (psychology) and Gautham Mathur (economics) to join as OU faculty. Dr Reddy had supported OU’s demand for autonomy,” said former OU VC Tirupathi Rao.

The other prominent personality was Prof. G. Ram Reddy, who worked as OU V-C for five years from 1977-82. He was considered as the architect of Distance Education and Open Learning in India.

After his stint at OU, Ram Reddy went on to adorn chairman posts in IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University), UGC (University Grants Commission) and ICSSR (Indian Council of Social Science Research) at the national level.

Syed Hashim Ali (IAS), Justice P. Jaganmohan Reddy (retired SC judge) and N. Narotham Reddy (Golconda Patrika editor) were some of the V-Cs with non-academic background who left a big impact on the varsity.

Jaganmohan Reddy (1975-77) adopted a no-nonsense approach after education standards started dipping following agitations. He dealt mass copying in exams with iron hand and even debarred scores of students, said K. Purushotham Reddy, retired OU professor said. Prof. T. Navneeth Rao (1985-91) protected OU lands from encroachments despite pressures.

    Arts College Building after completion  in OU campus

    Arts College Building

    Arts College building in March 2017

    Students in class room of yore

    Students in Osmania University library in the early days

    Stamp in commemoration of Arts College, OU on the occasion of HEH Nizam's silver jubilee rule

                                                         Button with Arts College image

                Coat button with monograms of the Osmania University and the City college, Hyderabad.

    Photo of the 1939 inaugural of the Arts College building in the Osmania University campus.
     Seen from left to right in the picture are Prince Basalat Jah, Prince Moazzam Jah and Prince Azam         Jah and other sons of the Nizam in the far right of this picture.

       

       Pixs courtesy: Safiullah