Feb 23 2024 to Feb 23 2024 7 p.m.

EVENT HAS ENDED

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

The Nilgiri Hills, or the Blue Mountains as they were also known, is a biodiversity hotspot that also represents a fascinating natural and cultural landscape—the year 2019 marked the bicentenary of British contact initiated by John Sullivan with the indigenous people of the Nilgiri Hills in southern India, followed by the founding of the hill station of Ootacumund (Udhagamandalam) in 1821. Despite the Nilgiri district being one of the regions that attracted the most scrutiny in terms of colonial era writings and explorations, there is much that has eluded a wider understanding concerning distinct cultural dimensions and historical trajectories of its remote communities.

This event will explore such lesser known facets, drawing from the volume The Nilgiri Hills: A Kaleidoscope of People, Culture and Nature edited by Paul Hockings and published by Orient Blackswan in 2023, which delved into the relationship between nature and culture amongst the people of the Nilgiris, against the backdrop of the transitions and transformations associated with the colonial encounter and modernisation.

Sharada Srinivasan, as a contributor to the volume, will explore the enigmatic material culture of the Nilgiri cairns from antiquity with finds of ceramics, gold jewellery, vessels (which she noted from archaeometallurgical study to be of skilled high-tin bronze), floral and faunal motifs on artefacts, and ethnoarchaeological connections to the communities of the Kotas, Kurumbas, Todas and Badagas. Tarun Chhabra, also a contributor, will highlight the symbiotic nature of the engagement of the pastoral Todas with the landscape and their perceptions of the British. These presentations will be followed by an interactive session involving the Kurumba community on their indigenous healing practices, arduous honey gathering activities, and related songs, featuring Janakiamma and P Chandran from the Kurumba community with Ranjani Prasad and Faisal Rehman. Their work has also been written about in the Nilgiris Hills volume in a chapter by Pratim Roy and Anita Verghese.

The speakers and panelists have also contributed to the coinciding exhibitions at the BIC, ‘Remembering and Reimagining: A Photographic Journey through the History of the Nilgiris’ and ‘Honey Bees of the Nilgiris‘.

Image Credits
Thumbnail and posters: ‘Ottacamund, View of the Great Dodabetta, Neelgherry Mountains’, plate 4 from View of the Neilgherries, or Blue Mountains of Coimbetoor, Southern India by Captain McCurdy, published 1830.
Header: Photo of Taranadumandu by Sharada Srinivasan.

In collaboration with the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS-TCS Heritage Initiative)