Sir,
It is reported that the Government of Kerala has initiated action to develop the whole village of Chambai where Vid. Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar, a celebrated vocalist and a famous guru of the yesteryears was born, into a cultural centre.
In the background of this news item, I bring to light an example of the utter apathy on the part of the people of Karnataka, concerning the cultural heritage of the land.
It is indeed disheartening to find that the house in which Sangeetha Kalanidhi Mysore Vasudevacharya (1865-1961), one of the greatest Vaggeyakaras (poet – composers) of the 20th century, lived and composed immortal kritis (songs), is now in ruins [see pics]. The house situated on New Sayyaji Rao road, just beside the Basaveshwara Circle, is said to be in possession of one of the grandsons of Sri Acharya. However, the house has been left unattended to and has almost slipped in to be a public littering place and a cattle shed.
It is time the people concerned and the authorities open their eyes and initiate action to restore the place some dignity.
It is advisable that the State Government or the Mysuru City Corporation purchases the land from the owners and develop it into a museum or some kind of a centre for music, as was done in case of R.K. Narayan’s house in Yadavagiri.
Acharya’s house on Sayyaji Rao road is a much smaller one and the government should be able to preserve it as a monument with a much smaller expenditure.
– R. Yadupathi Putty, Krishnamurthypuram, 2.5.2017
This post was published on May 17, 2017 6:40 pm