1. Pandit Basavaraj Bhajantri gets Dasara Asthana Vidwan Award
Highlight:
- Mysuru: Renowned Hindustani shehnai player Pandit Basavaraj Bhajantri will receive the Karnataka State Ashthana (Court) Vidwan Award, at Mysuru, Palace, on the first day of Dasara, on Thursday.
- Event: Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi announced that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will present the State Asthana Vidwan Award to Pt Basavaraj Bhajantri.
- Occasion: The award will be given during the inauguration of Dasara cultural programs in Mysuru on Thursday evening.
- Award Custom: The State Asthana Vidwan Award is traditionally presented during the Mysuru Dasara by the Kannada and Culture Department.
- Selection Committee: The selection committee for the award was headed by musician Pandit M Venkatesh Kumar.
- Award Details:
- Cash prize of Rs 5 lakh
- Citation
- Memento
- Pt Basavaraj Bhajantri:
- Second-generation musician from Hediggonda village, Byadagi taluk, Haveri district.
- Born to Thirukappa and Savithramma on May 1, 1953.
- Known as the ‘King of Shahanai’ and has been playing since childhood.
- Recognized as an ‘A’ Grade artist by Akashvani Dharwad.
- Previous Honors:
- Awarded titles like ‘Bismilla of Karnataka’, ‘Sanadi Appanna’, and ‘Shahanai Praveen’.
- Received the Karnataka Rajyotsava award in 2013.
Contribution: For the past 35 years, he has been running ‘Shri Sharada Sangeeta Pathashale’ without assistance from government or non-government organizations.
2.Megalithic burial site to be excavated on Wednesday in Mysuru
Highlight:
Event: UoM Vice-Chancellor N K Lokanath will inaugurate the excavation at the Doddalathur Archaeological site at 11.30 am on October 3.
- Presence:
- President of The Mythic Society: V Nagaraj
- Honorary Secretary: S Ravi
- Retired Deputy Superintending Archeologist: C B Patil
- Location:
- Doddalathur village is in a small valley formed by the Male Mahadeshwara hill ranges.
- To the west of the village is a small hillock with a modern temple of Adi Parashakti.
- Historical Significance:
- The slope of this hillock and adjacent fields house hundreds of megalithic burials from the Iron Age.
- Megalithic burials are characterized by circles made of large boulders, dating between 1200 BCE to 300 CE in South India.
- Discovery:
- The Doddalathur megalithic burial site was discovered in 1961 by C Krishnamurti of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
- Originally, the site had more than a thousand burials, though many have disappeared due to cultivation, settlement expansion, and land development schemes.
- Site Condition:
- Despite disturbances, the majority of the burials remain intact, and the site is being excavated in collaboration with the Bengaluru-based Mythic Society.
- Excavation Leadership:
- C B Patil, a retired ASI official, is the co-director of the excavation.
- Purpose of Excavation:
- The excavation aims to further understand the megalithic-Iron Age culture in southern Karnataka.
- Another goal is to gather scientific dating for this period.
- Educational Purpose:
- The excavation also serves as field training for Archaeology students and will continue for about two months.
- Previous Excavations:
In 2021 and 2022, the department had excavated the Budipadaga habitation-cum-megalithic burial site, located about 20 km southwest of Doddalathur.
