Extinct Languages of India

Languages  play  an important role in shaping human culture. In India, language diversity  is abundant. However, in recent decades,  due to factors including colonization, and globalization, numerous communities face the threat of their language being endangered and eventually extinct. Experts believe one of the major reasons for languages becoming endangered or extinct is because individuals and communities are moving to economically more powerful languages. Also, many languages in India do not have a writing tradition, due to which their loss cannot be recorded.

Here are the languages that are extinct in our country. Kindly note: This list does not include many ancient languages that have not been documented. Sources: www.unesco.org, www.ethnologue.com

	Language	Region	Alternative names
1.	Ahom	Assam. Ahom used to be spoken by the Ahom people who ruled most of Assam from 1228 to 1826. It was then the sole court language of the Ahom kingdom and it enjoyed this status till about the 15th 16th century, when it made way for Assamese. The language fell into complete disuse by the 19th century and even the phonemics of this Ahom language has been lost completely. It is not spoken in daily life but used in religious chants and literary materials.	Tai Ahom
2.	Akar – Bale	Andaman Islands, Ritchie’s Archipelago	Bale, Balwa
3.	Aka-Bea	Andaman Islands, South Andaman Island except northeast coast, and north and east interiors; Rutland Island except south coast; small islands southeast of Rutland; Labyrinth Islands.	Aka-Beada, Bea, Beada, Biada, Bogijiab, Bojigniji, Bojigyab
4.	Aka – Bo	Andaman Islands, east central coast of North Andaman Island, North Reef Island.	Ba, Bo
5.	Aka-Cari	Andaman Islands, north coast of North Andaman Island, Landfall Island, other nearby small islands.	Cari, Chariar
6.	Aka-Jeru	Andaman Islands, interior and south North Andaman Island, Sound Island.	Jeru, Yerawa
7.	Aka-Kede	Andaman Islands, central and north central Middle Andaman Island	Kede
8.	Aka-Kol	Andaman Islands, southeast Middle Andaman Island.	Kol
9.	Aka-Kora	Andaman Islands, northeast and north central coasts of North Andaman Island, Smith Island.	Kora
10.	Andro	Manipur – Became extinct in the 20th century.	Phayeng
11.	Malaryan	Kerala- Ernakulam, Idukki, Kottayam districts, and Trichur district in Tamil Nadu.Malai Arayan was a classical Dravidian language that was spoken by people in the Tamil Nadu-Kerala hill areas. Even today, the community that spoke the language is called by the same name. These people mostly went on to speak dialects of Tamil or Malayalam.	Arayans, Karingal, Malai Arayan, Malayarayan, Malayarayar, Male Arayans, Maley Arayan, Vazhiyammar.
12.	Oko-Juwoi	Andaman Islands, west central and southwest interior Middle Andaman Island.	Junoi, Juwoi, Oku-Juwoi
13.	Pali	Used as the literary language of the Buddhist Scriptures.
14.	Rangkas	Uttarakhand, Pithoragarh District, Johar Valley, Darchula and Munsyari tahsils, facing Nepal border along Mahakali Valley. Rangkas people have merged their identity with the dominant Kumaoni people and the language has been replaced by Kumaoni. Rangkas sometimes refers to the whole group of Darmiya, Chaudangsi, Byangsi, and the now extinct Johari.	Canpa, Chyanam, Johari, Kyonam, Saukas, Saukiya Khun, Shaukas.
15.	Sengmai	Manipur district.	Sekmai
16.	Turung	Assam- Golaghat District, Titabar district and Karbi Anglong district	Tai Turung, Tailung, Tairong

National Museum, Delhi welcomes visually challenged

When we enter an exhibition or museum, most of us with normal vision take for granted the ability to view, examine, and marvel at the artifacts on display. But, what about individuals who are visually challenged? Would their inability to see deprive them from experiencing art?

Tactile Patterns. Image source: www.artagogo.com

The National Museum in Delhi has become the first museum in India to enable visually challenged individuals to appreciate art through a blend of sensory experiences. The National Museum Institute (NMI) has installed monograms, signs and Braille inscriptions to make objects in the museum blind-friendly. The main passages, ramps, and galleries have also been reworked so that they are barrier-free.

Tactile diagram of the Parthenon. Image courtesy: www.artagogo.com

Tactile diagrams have been used in other parts of the world to make art accessible to the visually challenged. Replicas of the artifacts are created incorporating different types of raised patterns. An outline of ancient sculptural art of India to the special audience will be presented through replicas display, supported by bilingual Braille text, self-guided floor path facility and audio guide. This would allow individuals to feel and touch the artifacts thereby aiding to create a mental picture of them.

“Though visually impaired visitors used to come earlier also, they had to take the help of guides and could only listen to the narrations. Now they can feel and learn by touching the objects” says Dr. Bose, who is also the National Museum Institute vice-chancellor.

The museum has completed pilot programs to accommodate visually challenged individuals.

“The exhibition will explore the nature of the perceptual power of the Indian images and gives audience an aesthetic, educational and spiritual experience through touching and feeling. It will give an overview of Indian sculptural art through ages,” says Dr. Bose.

These facilities will become operational from April 2011.

Admission
10.00 A.M. to 5.00 P.M. (Monday Closed)
Entry Fee
Indian Citizens – Rs. 10 each.
Other – Rs. 300 each (inclusive of Audio Tour Charges).
Students – Rs. 1 each.
Visit the National Museum website for more details.

Postal Stamps released in 2010

Last year, I had written about the Postal Stamps released in 2009. Let us look at some of the new stamps brought out by the Postal Department of India in 2010. Approximately 85 stamps were introduced in 2010. Here are some interesting ones. Do visit the Postal Department website for a complete listing of stamps.

Muthuramalinga Sethupathi - Image source: www.indiapost.gov.in

Muthuramalinga Sethupathy, was a king of Ramanathapuram, (present day Tamil Nadu) who resisted the British rule. He was crowned when he was 72 days old. The British captured 12-year old Sethupathy, his mother and sisters in 1772 and they were lodged in a Trichy prison. In 1782, amidst revolts in Ramanathapuram, he was released and he joined hands with Dutch to manufacture cannons. He also resisted the British efforts to have absolute rights over purchase of textile goods. The British attacked the palace again in 1795 and Sethupathy was arrested and lodged in Fort St. George where in died in 1809.

The Special Protection Group (SPG) was established after the assassination of

Special Protection Group, India. Image source: www.indianphilately.blogspot.com

the then Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Comprising of nearly 3000 personnel, the group provides security to the Prime Minister of India, top officials, and their immediate families. The stamp is in recognition of the brave job they do in protecting lives.

India Post issued a set of postage stamps to commemorate INDIPEX 2011-World Philatelic Exhibition to be held in New Delhi from 12th to 18th Feb.2011.

Postal Heritage Buildings. Image source: http://philatelynews.com

Anti-clockwise from top, Lucknow GPO-Lucknow GPO is an example of relatively more contemporary engineering and architecture. It has been constructed with red brick and lime stone. A stone embedded on the main gate of the GPO dates the building as 1929-1932.

Cooch Behar HPO-The Post & Telegraph Office of Cooch Behar State was opened in 1875 under the administrative control of Rangpur Postal Division. The Cooch Behar Post Office initially functioned in the building situated in the Purana Post Office Para. Maharaja Nriprendra Narayan built the present Head Post Office building and, during his regime, there were one telegraph office and five Post Offices in Cooch Behar State.

Nagpur GPO considered the mother institution in the Postal Circle of the Central Province, is housed in a majestic Victorian building, once the seat of erstwhile Postmaster General Of Central Province & Berar.

Delhi GPO is among the very few buildings of India Post which has been given the status of Heritage Building by the Archaeological Survey of India. Opened in 1855, the Post Office was given permanent status in 1865 and it started functioning in the present building in 1885.

Shimla GPO on the Mall, established in 1883 on the site of a house known as Conny Lodge, is one of the oldest Post Office buildings in the country. During the Raj, Shimla was the summer capital and the GPO acquired pre-eminence due to its crucial role in ensuring effective receipt and despatch of Government mail (“Walayati Dak”).

The first Post Office in Udagamandalam was opened in 1826 with the appointment of a writer and two delivery peons. There are no records as to where the office originally was. In the earliest plan of Ootacamund (1829), the building which afterwards became the Post Office is shown and marked as Government Bungalow.

Few other interesting stamps include:

Princely states of India. Image source:http://newissue.allaboutstamp.com

Commemorating 60 years of India-Mexico diplomatic ties. Image source:http://philatelynews.com

Compilation sources: www.thehindu.com, www.madrasmusings.com

Puppetry – art of puppets

The term ‘puppet’ is derived from the Anglo-Norman word ‘poppe’ meaning ‘doll’. In India, puppets are known by various names – ‘Kathputli’  (Hindi), ‘Gombeyaata’ (Kannada), and ‘Kathi Kundhe’ (Oriya). Puppets are one of the oldest forms of entertainment, with most of the themes based on legends and epics such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. During olden days puppets also acted as instruments of social awareness tackling problems such as dowry system, illiteracy, poverty, and cleanliness among others. Art of Puppetry has also been successfully used to motivate emotionally and physically handicapped students develop their mental and physical abilities.

Puppetry is more popular as a rural art. In the absence of television, radio or movies, puppetry was the perfect medium of communicating folk stories and propagating social messages. Typically, performances commenced late at night and continued till dawn. Here is a video of ‘Gombeyaata’ with origins in Mangalore, Karnataka. This is 1st part of Yakshagana performance of an episode from Ramayana ‘Lanka Dahana’ using string puppetry, by its greatest exponents Shri Ganesha Yakshagana Gombeyata Mandali of Karnataka. The group of talented puppeteers are lead by Mr. Bhaskara Kogga Kamath, a 4^th generation puppeteer. One of the rare instances where the younger generation has taken an interest in pursuing the art.  Do visit their website for more information.  If you watch closely, one cannot help but admire the mastery the puppeteers have. They can make their puppets walk, dance, and even gesticulate, while coordinating the visuals with the music and with the various characters involved.

The video above gives an idea of the hand movements and music accompanying a puppet performance.  Today, with villagers being drawn to movies and television, the audience for such shows is dwindling. Puppeteer families have taken to other professions to earn a livelihood. Hopefully, with more patronage from the urban folks, the art of puppetry can be revived.

Resources: Centre for Cultural Resources and Training provides more information on the various puppet forms of India.

Saura Paintings

Saura painting. Image Source: www.neuenhofer.de

Saura tribe (also known as Sora, Sabara, Saur) of Orissa are well known for their artistic acumen. Saura paintings are one of the famous tribal arts of India. Traditionally, these ritualistic pictographs were painted on the inside walls of their mud houses called ‘italons’.  Saura paintings were made to mark events such as birth of a child, a good harvest, and marriage.This form of art is mostly found in the Rayagada, Gajapati, and Koraput districts of Orissa.

For wall paintings, a brush is made from a bamboo split, black colour is collected from soot generated out of lamps, sun-dried rice is crushed to from white powder, and all these are mixed in water, and juice from roots and herbs to make a paste. The colour that is finally obtained is black and white.

Idital, the Saura deity, contains various symbols and meanings, and the Saura paintings primarily revolve around them. Their paintings are called ‘ikon’ and comprise of a set of sketches elaborately drawn on their walls.The artform reflects the everyday life of the Saura tribe. More details on the Saura tribe can be found here.It is estimated that nearly 70% of the Saura people have left their tribal life and their art is less popular among the younger generation Sauras.

Today, the Saura artists have started using hand-made paper and cloth as the medium for their paintings.   Due to their ‘marketability’ the Saura motifs have found their way to the mainstream through Sarees, and T-Shirts.  This ‘consumerism’ in the name of ‘supporting an art’ is deceptive. While we retain the focus on ‘art’, the livelihood of artisans must not be ignored. The paintings are part of their culture. It is true that a way to safeguard the art is to make it aesthetically pleasing to the new age customer. However, we must not diminish the ‘creativity’ and ‘individuality’ of the artist, by ignoring the cultural, and social significance of the art to the artist.  It is sad that commercialization has erased the rich culture of the art and the role of the artists  has metamorphosed into fancy decorators.

Patua form of art paintings

‘Patua scroll painting’ is an art form native to West Bengal.

Patua art: Image source www.artknowledgenews.com

The paintings are traditionally made from handmade paper, backed with cloth. Scrolls are typically 8 to 15 feet long and contain vibrantly painted scenes of a mythology or history story. Indigenous plants and minerals are still used to create the paint, including turmeric, vermillion, and burnt rice.  Sap of the bel (wood-apple) fruit is used as mordant.  As the scroll is unrolled frame by frame, the artist narrates mythological and historical stories through song, which typically lasts five to fifteen minutes.

Patua scroll painters wander from village to village singing stories about pictures depicted in their scrolls and make a living. Their stories also depict Hindu saints and Muslim saints. With changing times, the Patuas have crafted their message accordingly. Now they create scrolls reflecting social issues, such as literacy and environment.  With globalization, Patuas are responding  with stories featuring international issues, but with a local twist.

For example, in artist Manu Chitrakar’s version of the events of 9/11, the son of an affluent Bengali gentleman goes to New York, secures a job in the “Oil Trade House” (i.e., World Trade Center), and tragically dies in the conflagration along with thousands of Americans.  This artist also created a sequel to this scroll about the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

With the advent of television and movies, the Patuas are losing their traditional audiences and are now attracting Western tourists. They travel to hotels where they sell their scrolls to tourists as ‘folk art’ – minus the songs.

The ability  of the Patuas to adapt to changing times has enabled their indigenous art to survive.

Royal Place for Royal Library in Agartala

Books are  knowledge treasures. Unfortunately, reading books  and visiting libraries is neglected in India. Part of the problem is the library conditions.

In India, library conditions are pathetic. Most of the funds allocated to libraries are used to fill administrator’s pockets. There is little reading space, and poor lighting.  But this news, gave me a ray of hope.

Maharaja Bir Chandra Manikhya Bahadur established the first library in Tripura in 1888. His successor and son named the library Bir Chandra State Central Library in memory of his father.

Four years after the merger of royal Tripura with the Indian Union, Govt. of Tripura took over the library in 1953 and declared it a public library.

On the statehood day of Tripura (Jan 21) this year, Bir Chandra State Central Library was  transferred to a big, royal heritage building at the old secretariat complex in the heart of the capital city Agartala.

The Library currently holds  1,69,081 books and has members numbering 17,034. It subscribes regularly to 24 journals and 34 newspapers. In its present palace like home, separate modern reading services will be provided to children, women, senior citizens, researchers and general visitors. The two new facilities of career guidance and reprography are to be added shortly.

While I do not expect every library in the country to be moved to a royal place, the least the government can do is provide good facilities, and encourage the habit of reading books and using libraries.

Postal Stamps issued in 2009

In today’s world of email, chat, and long-distance calls, writing letters is almost  extinct. Growing up, when I used to write letters, apart from the joy of writing, I remember  visiting the postoffice to see what new stamps are out, and which one I could purchase.

Horses of India. Image Source: www.stampsofindia.com

Traditional Indian Textiles. Image Source: www.stampsofindia.com

Philately or stamp collection was one of the many childhood hobbies for most of us who grew up in the pre-cable television/video games generation. It was something that I enjoyed too… Exchanging stamps with friends and fellow collectors was enjoyable.

As an ode to 2009, here are some of the interesting stamps brought out by the Postal department of India. The collection of stamps released in 2009 highlight the cultural spectrum of our country. From heritage monuments, to spices, environmental concerns to traditional art, and important personalities.  Please do visit the postal website.

Handmade posters get a new lease of life

Fashion designer Nida Mahmood’s creations exhibited at the recent Fashion Week in New Delhi include jackets printed with memorable lines from classic Hindi films such as “Sholay” and “Don”, while the faces of superstars such as Amitabh Bachchan adorn bright wraps. Nida says her clothes are a throwback to the now outdated art of painting Bollywood movie posters by hand. Digital technology has robbed the jobs of Bollywood poster painters. Nida wanted to do her bit to rehabilitate the poster artists. But, it was no easy task.

The job of film posterwallahs died around 15-20 years ago. Most of them have taken up different professions and it was very difficult to locate them. After wandering in the streets of Delhi, I found some of them but they refused to work with me.

A handful of them agreed to work with her.

It is our first project where we are trying to rehabilitate poster artists who have been forced out of their art and livelihood by modern technology. They are working with us and designing old posters of the Bollywood masala movies in a new format.

Nida, along with her partner Raul Chandra launched ‘New India Bioscope Company’. The company designs clothes, lifestyle accessories, furniture, home furnishing and art works. The collection encapsulates the vibrancy of Indian imageries. The collection encapsulates the vibrancy of Indian movies, be it the people, or the conversations.  

Here’s wishing Nida and her team success in rehabilitating the poster artists.

Read more here.

Urdu calligraphy fading out in a digital age

A couple of years back, on a visit to India, we visited a couple of palaces in and around Jaipur, Rajasthan. Exhibits in the palaces date back to the Moghul era. Personally, I was awed by the  skill and style of the calligraphers. (Prior to that I had taken a few classes in English Calligraphy and also practice it sometimes.) So, when I read this news clip, there was a tinge of sadness that we are losing this creative art to ‘technology’.

Calligraphy, is an art widely admired for its beauty, and the skill and creativity required of the artist. But khatati or the fine art of Urdu calligraphy is in danger of dying out in India, because there is little work for more than 30000 calligraphers.

Words are transformed into art masterpieces using a reed pen (Qalam in Urdu) and ink (Siyahi in Urdu) . Widely circulated Urdu newspapers attracted the best talents, as these designs for the defining feature of Urdu dailies.

 But the computer’s takeover of page-making in recent years in dailies and weeklies has meant that the fluid, stylish and pleasing alphabets now have a monotonous uniformity. The onslaught of computerized Urdu typesetting has also put the career of many calligraphers in jeopardy.

Some editors however do feel that digitizing calligraphy is a good thing.

Hasan Shuja, editor of an Urdu daily, Sahafat, says computers are better as they can do what calligraphers cannot. “If the other language newspapers are going the computer way, why not Urdu?” he asks.

Read more here.