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Hans India
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Hans India
‘Landa Besha' returns to Berhampur in satirical splendour
Berhampur: The streets of Berhampur resounded with laughter, drum beats and a peculiar kind of piety as scores of residents, including young and old, offered their satires in the age-old ritual known as 'Landa Besha' or 'The Daridra Panchakshyara Party' on Friday. With gleaming bald pates and biting wit, the townsfolk prepared for one of the most unconventional rallies of the revered Thakurani Yatra. This procession is very popular among the locals which takes place once during the Thakurani Yatra and the practice is continuing for the last 92 years. Ram Patra and Somnath of Bijipur area in Berhampur started the 'Landa Besha' concept in 1933 to caution the public about lecherous and dubious characters, who hide themselves in the garb of religious leaders. People with tonsured heads make lewd remarks at the lecherous activities of such persons during the procession. Somnath Dalei led the tradition for 50 years till he died in 1986 at the age of 90 years. Now 82-year-old Brundaban Parida is leading the tradition after the demise of Somnath Dalei. The leader of the group, Brundaban Parida, is called 'Head Mahant' who led the procession of tonsured heads in a decorated chariot mounted on a trolley rickshaw with two Mahantas, Tutu Patra and Neelakantha Chowdhury, and some female consorts called 'Mahantiani Mata.' The Mahantas wear red-coloured 'Matha' (a type of silk fabric) and garlands of potatoes, 'Dimiri' (Indian Jujube or Ziziphus mauritiana) as shells earlier used and collected from Phulta village and which are unavailable now. This satiric rally started from Bijipur square at 6 pm and moved around all the streets in Bijipur before reaching its destination at Desibehera Street at midnight. During the last Thakurani Yatra in 2023, the number of participants was 289 and this year the number is more than 300. 'But, as there are chances that 'Landa Besha' procession may create unpleasant situations, we have asked every participant to submit Xerox copy of Aadhaar card signed by them enabling us to submit it to the police in case a situation arises. We collect Rs 100 as entry fee from each participant which is spent towards light decorations, trolley rickshaw rent and decoration charge and charges for eight traditional barbers who tonsure the participants. We request each of them to bring one white dhoti and arrange their own garland of potatoes,' said Subash Maharana, a member of the management committee. The persons who take part in this rally are said to be members of 'Daridra Panchkshyara Party' of 'Chi-Chi-Chi Kalikala Goudiya Mata Prachar Sangha'. The participants of this rally sing songs commenting on the character of dubious religious leaders which states 'Mada amara siri kharisha, sundhi amara bandhure, mada pana mahapunya, kahinki tu nindure', (liquor is our khir and he who prepares the liquor is our friend, consuming liquor is great virtue, why are you blaming it). 'Haribol Haribol Haribol Bhaire, asila kali deichi gili, dharma dharma nahinre' (Chant the name of Hari the God, the Kali Yug has swallowed all, there is no religion) and also seven satirical songs written by unknown writers.
ABC News
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- ABC News
TarraWarra Biennial 2025: We Are Eagles is a powerful assertion of cultural strength
There's a quote that has long moved Yorta Yorta curator and artist Kimberley Moulton. It's from elder Aboriginal Australian Pastor Sir Doug Nicholls who, in 1938 during a political movement called The Day of Mourning, told leaders and community gathered that day: 'We do not want chicken-feed … we are not chickens; we are eagles.' "This line has always stayed with me, it's so poetic," Moulton says. Moulton is also the adjunct curator of Indigenous Art at Tate Modern, London, and the senior curator of Rising Festival. ( Supplied: Eugene Hyland ) It's the inspiration for the new Biennial 2025 at regional art gallery TarraWarra Museum of Art, which features new works by 23 contemporary First Nations and other Australian artists. We Are Eagles is a mixture of paintings, sculptural works, ceramics and film made in response to regenerative practices and trans-cultural connections to land. Maree Clarke, whose Wurneet Buath (River Reed) Vessel is one of the works at the Biennial, was the first living Victorian Aboriginal artist to have a solo show featured in the National Gallery of Victoria in 2021. ( Supplied ) "That day [in 1938] Sir Doug asked leaders and the community gathered to come together for a resolution and acknowledge full citizenship and equality of all First Nations people," says Moulton, curator of the Biennial. " It was a gathering about our humanity … It [was] an assertion of cultural strength and power in ancestral knowing. " Now, with the blessing of Yorta Yorta Elder Aunty Pam Pedersen, Moulton has asked artists to make works in response to it. Exploring 'Aboriginal ways of being' We Are Eagles bridges conversations around cultural regeneration, and colonial disruption and its impact on storytelling. Moulton wants to help give a voice to those stories silenced by colonisation. Emerging visual artist Moorina Bonini turns to her Yorta Yorta heritage as a starting point for her new work, a song that pays homage to the skill of canoe making by her elders. It's part of a conceptual film titled Matha, which connects directly to the skill of makers in her First Nations lineage. "My work Matha [Yorta Yorta word for canoe] is an exploration of ceremony and the Aboriginal ways of being," Bonini says. "For me, cultural identity is the foundation from where I make from, and as an Aboriginal woman who also has strong Italian heritage, there is a strong desire in me to explore diversity of culture, and the beautiful layers that find their way in my work. I get to learn about culture through both of my families," she says. In the work Matha (canoe), Bonini is paying homage to her elders' canoe-making skills. ( Supplied: Andrew Curti ) Renowned Australian artist Maree Clarke unveils a new sculpture specifically made for the Biennial titled Waa (crow). Moulton says it's a work that shows Clarke — who has been making work since the 1990s — in a new light, delving into a sculptural direction not seen before until now. Loading Instagram content New-Zealand-born and Sydney-based artist Angela Tiatia has made a new three-channel video work that pays tribute to her Pacific ancestors. Drawn to the idea of regeneration, she focuses on an old Samoan chant that is losing its oral foothold in modern times, while weaving her concern for the environment and its landscape into her digital piece. "This very formal and old language is still spoken by few individuals, but it's certainly losing its place within the Samoan culture," Tiatia says. "It takes a lot of dedicated years of study under a master and, for me as a Samoan, I wanted to explore my connection to the language and its place in our history. Resurrecting the language keeps it a constant talking point," she says. Tiatia's installation is both an audio experience and a visual one; a Samoan chant is part of the art work. ( Supplied: Andrew Curtis ) Tiatia has the chant sung by an actor while imagery of the Pacific Island landscape and sacred sites and Pacific Island performers help tell the story. The Biennial is also a chance to see new works by painter Gunybi Ganambarr, who exhibited for the first time in New York last October. "It's already in there, in the eye, a vision, a dream, it's everything," Ganambarr told the ABC of his creative inspiration in 2021. ( Supplied: Brook James ) Ganambarr is a Yolŋu man who lives and works at Gängän, near Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem Land. Moulton was in New York for the exhibition opening on 73rd Street, and says a work is on loan thanks to a private collector. A beautiful, contemporary space Given the Aboriginal mission Coranderrk was not far from the site of TarraWarra Museum, hosting We Are Eagles feels all the more pertinent to Moulton. TarraWarra was founded by the late philanthropists Eva and Marc Besen, the art-loving couple who purchased the property in 1979 to initially use as a family retreat. Now it's become a cultural institution at the foothills of the Yarra Valley. Photo shows Next to a very large, brightly coloured mural painting, a woman with brown hair and wearing art smock, stands holds paintbrush. A Victorian studio for artists with disabilities is celebrating five decades with its first survey. A new cultural hub has just opened at the site too, where works collected by the couple are on permanent show for visitors to browse. "The Coranderrk mission was so close," Moulton says. "The country out here is magical, from the rolling hills to the Birrarrung river that runs through, it has this special energy. So many First Nations people are connected to Coranderrk. "TarraWarra is a beautiful architecturally designed building and an independent institution that doesn't have these long colonial histories tied to it," she says. "It's a beautiful contemporary space and wonderful to think about it this way." TarraWarra Biennial 2025: We Are Eagles runs until July 20 at TarraWarra Museum of Art (Healesville, Victoria).
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Yahoo
Anchorage man accused in fatal hit-and-run on pedestrian faces murder and DUI charges
Feb. 20—Two pedestrians were struck and killed by vehicles in Anchorage on Tuesday night in separate incidents, including one involving a hit-and-run driver who now faces a second-degree murder charge, police said. The incidents occurred about an hour apart in different parts of town. Witnesses said the driver of a 2013 Chevrolet Silverado hit a male pedestrian and then fled the scene just before 10 p.m. Tuesday at Minnesota Drive and Northern Lights Boulevard, according to police spokesman Chris Barraza. The truck was traveling "at a high rate of speed" when the man was hit, Barraza said in an email. Police said they arrested 30-year-old JB Matha after officers acting on a tip located the truck at an address on 14th Avenue. Matha fled on foot but was arrested after a brief pursuit, Barraza said. Officers found drug paraphernalia and a firearm in Matha's possession during the arrest, he said. Matha is facing charges of second-degree murder, felony DUI and refusal, misconduct involving a controlled substance, misconduct involving weapons, leaving the scene of an accident, failure to render aid, driving on a canceled license and violating conditions of release. The other incident occurred an hour earlier on East Tudor Road and MacInnes Street, Barraza said. A woman was struck and killed by a vehicle just before 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, police said. Witnesses said the woman was walking on the sidewalk "before entering the roadway, where she was struck," Barraza said. Witnesses said she was not in a marked crosswalk, he said. Police are investigating whether she was in an unmarked crosswalk. The driver stayed at the scene and cooperated with officers, police said. No arrests had been made as of Wednesday morning. The deaths of the man and woman were the first and second pedestrian fatalities this year. At least 15 pedestrians died in Anchorage after being struck by vehicles last year.
