Mangalore: Basel Mission 175 - Rare Photo Exhibition Begins
Pics: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network—Mangalore (RS/CN)
Mangalore, Oct 31: An exhibition called ‘Chitra Vaibhava’ underway at the Karnataka Theological Society transports visitors back 175 years to the roots of the Basel missionaries in the city.
The exhibition was inaugurated on Friday October 30 and celebrated the 175th year of the Basel missionaries’ visit to India, especially the city.
The exhibition has black and white as well as some colour photos exhibiting the natural beauty of this district, Udupi, Coorg, and Kasargod. Of 4,000 photos in Basel in Switzerland, 1,000 photos related to the district and surroundings are at the exhibition.
The exhibition was inaugurated by Dorothea Schweizer, board member of Basel Mission in Switzerland, and Dr H R Cabral, principal of Karnataka Theological College (KTC).
The photos taken during the period 1840 to 1940 are displayed in the exhibition. They narrates the growth of the district into a developed region from its cultural and traditional roots.
Each photo is also significant for its focus on the works of the missionaries. Their attention to education and development of the city and the district, figure prominently.
The exhibition is in four segments—Land, Letters, Religion, and Culture—with each category containing nearly 250 photos.
The first category has landscapes of various places in the city such as the tile factories, Basel mission press, bridges, and the Udupi Temple. The ‘Letters’ section exhibits printed matter in Tulu, Kannada, and Malayalam such as books and booklets, text books, and the first Kannada newspaper ‘Mangaluru Samachara’.
‘Religion’ has photos of various religious practices of the land including the priests at Udupi Temple, photos of spiritual practices like ‘Bhootakola’ and sacrifices of chickens for the spirits.
In the ‘Culture’ section, there are photos of communities like Dalits, Adivasis, and various practices of the people in rural areas.
Rare occasions captured on camera such as the ‘Mastakabhisheka’, a palm tree blooming, Gandhiji’s visit to Mangalore, starting of the bus service in the city, prayers in Eidgah Masjid, and ‘dargas’ are also seen in the exhibition.
“The photos tell the history of this district and also show that the missionaries documented it in a very good manner. This indicates that they mingled with all communities in harmony”, said Prof A V Navada of KTC.
The collection of photos were brought in by Dr Rathnakar Sadananda, professor, Karnataka Theological Society, after his visit to Basel.
The collection was made with the intention of documenting the process of the missionaries’ works in the district and around.
The exhibition will be open to the public till Sunday November 8.
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