Mysore/Mysuru:  A book titled ‘Gouriya Nantu E Manetanakke’ in Kannada, authored by senior journalist Gouri Satya, was released by Nadoja Prof. T.V. Venkatachala Sastry and noted scholar Dr. N.S. Taranath at S.P. Bhat Hall of Institution of Engineers-India (IEI), JLB Road in the city on Saturday.

Sharing his views on the book, Dr. Taranath said, “Gouri Satya has narrated the association between his family and Mysore Palace (royal family) centring around Gouri festival, which was little known to others, in a intriguing manner. The book comprises 13 chapters and the first six of the chapters are dedicated to the topic of the book, especially about how Urs community celebrates the festival. Prior to Gouri Puja, Bale Malara Puja will be conducted and the rituals are followed, which are all narrated with details in this book.”

Idol of Gouri was consecrated at the house of the author, from where it was being taken out in a procession to the Palace, which was also a grandiose event of those times akin to Dasara procession. The author remains faithful to the topic with substantiating evidences about his family’s several decades long role in conducting Gouri festival. If one pores over the contents of the book, no wonder if they have a feeling of watching a documentary, lauded Dr. Taranath.

“During 1930, the then king Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar had gone on a foreign tour, during the time of which Gouri festival was celebrated at Bangalore Palace. A letter of Archives Department holds credence to this fact. While in the year 1936, the festival was celebrated at all the wings of the Palace, which also has been succinctly narrated by the author. As one is deeply engrossed in reading this book, they may also see a researcher in the author,” said Dr. Taranath.

In the first half of the book, the author provides information about Gouri festival, the later half is about his family’s history, digging deep into his family roots. By humbly remembering the ancestors, the author has documented all with clarity.

Gouri Satya’s father G.L. Swamy was the Founder of ‘Samachar,’ a first of its kind English Daily of Mysore, which was in circulation for 50 long years. Earlier to this, he was running ‘Mysore Municipal Journal’ on the lines of ‘Calcutta Municipal Journal’, with the coverage of news related to Municipality meetings every month. It was priced at one anna. Swamy also holds the credit of starting tourism-related activities not just in Mysore but across Karnataka. His elder brother Ramakrishna was the Director of Tourism Department in New Delhi. It was during the same time, he (Swamy) had started ‘Tourist Service Bureau’ and ‘Tourist Bureau’ at the first floor of Lansdowne building. After World War, taluk handbooks were brought out to take British soldiers on tour to different taluks in 1944. He also introduced ‘Tourist Guide’ which drew the attention of Dr. Sir M. Visvesvaraya and Mirza Ismail, who lauded the efforts behind and issued a free train pass to Swamy, to travel around Mysore province to collect the information.

 Prof. T.V. Venkatachala Sastry, who also spoke, said: “When I started to write about Mulukanadu community, I had contacted several persons to glean information. I explored the new world by reading autobiographies, life story and also through interaction and contacts. I also understood that, whatever we are today, it is all due to the achievements and efforts of our ancestors, without whom we wouldn’t have existed.”

“It was at the insistence of Prof. Venkatachala Sastry and Dr. Taranath that I could trace my family history,” said author Gouri Satya. “To be frank, I was not aware of even my grandfather’s name, about which I learnt when I started to dig deep into the information and many helped in this course. I had documented them all in writing and was able to collect information related to my father’s family. But I didn’t have any information about my mother’s family. As I started, my maternal uncle was kind enough to provide whatever records he had in his possession. Using those records, I was able to write about my mother. The research spanned 25 years. I wrote this book on the basis of ’Mulukanadu Brahmanaru’ authored by  Prof. T.V. Venkatachala Sastry and have the utmost satisfaction about the book hitting the stands,” he added.