Hindustan Times
Canberra-Lucknow connection
There has been so much happening in the country.
Coalgate scam continues, a young cartoonist is jailed for hitting below the belt while painting his anguish over the state of things in the country in his controversial cartoons, the Jal Satyagrah in Madhya Pradesh for over two weeks et al.
The two northern parties, the JD (U) of Nitish Kumar and SP of Mulayam Singh Yadav have also decided to take a plunge into Gujarat state elections. Surely they are eyeing the migrants and the Muslims, but more than that it’s an attempt to reinforce their secular credentials. Narendra Modi bashing may consolidate their Muslims votes back home.
Amidst all the ‘masala’ reports has come the news about a link between the two capitals, Australia’s Canberra and Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow.
I hereby give excerpts from a story filed by my colleague Rajeev Mullick.
“Australia’s capital Canberra and Lucknow’s Tagore library (in Lucknow University) have one thing in common — architectural design
Walter Burley Griffin, an American, along with his wife Marion Mahony designed Canberra (after winning Canberra’s international design competition in 1911-12) and the Tagore library here.
He moved to Lucknow in 1935 and in February 1937, he succumbed to peritonitis and was buried at Nishatganj cemetery here.
Now, on the occasion of Canberra’s centenary, Griffin’s Canberra-Lucknow contribution will be commemorated this month and it is expected that this commemoration ceremony would give this talented couple a rightful place in the history of these two magnificent capital cities.
As part of the commemoration ceremony here, a small delegation is coming to Lucknow from Australia for this purpose, according to Dr David Headon, history and heritage adviser for the centenary celebrations of Canberra and adviser to Senator Kate Lundy, minister for sports and multicultural affairs, Australia.
As part of the ceremony, water from Lake Walter Burley Griffin will be sprinkled on his grave at Nishatganj cemetery here, says Amrita Dass, director, Institute of Career Studies.
The Griffins set up an architectural firm in Lucknow and “produced more than 50 projects between November 1935 and February 1937 ranging from private dwellings, gardens and public edifices to housing projects and suburban communities.” The Bir Bhan Bhatia house is “one of the finest dwellings the couple produced anywhere.”
Isn’t it amazing!
(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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