LTV Get together Feb – 2013

Bangalore : For the volunteers of Bangalore region, the Get together in the month of February was held in the beautiful town called Kushalnagar and the volunteers were accommodated at The Kushal Lodge, located at the heart of the town.a

The Theme of this Get Together was “Braveheart” and a range of activities were conducted to understand the rich and lively Kodava culture. The Kodavas (anglicised as Coorgs) are a patrilineal ethno-lingual group from the region of Kodagu, in Karnataka state of southern India who traditionally were land-owning agriculturists with martial traditions and natively speak the Kodava language.

The participants along with their FSL India LTV coordinators visitied the Veerabhoomi Tourist Village and enjoyed traditional Kannada folk and dance concerts held at the village. The highlight of this get together was a Guest Talk on Kodava culture, history, language, food habits, etc by Mr B P Appanna, a lecturer at The Coorg College.

The participants also visited a Host family in Kushalnagar, had a one to one talk with their coordinators to share their experiences in the project and host family and identify the areas where support was required. The GTG ended with a feedback session from the volunteers, which of course was very good.

Kundapur

A total of 15 Volunteers and 5 FSL India coordinators from Kundapur conducted the Get Together in the month of February on 14^th and 15^th of February at the scenic hill station – Agumbe. Situated between the Shimoga and Dakshina Kannada Districts, the hill station of Agumbe is frequently visitied by many to enjoy the unparalleled beauty of the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea.

The volunteers and their coordinators at Doddamane homestay, a big ancestral home of a joint family, located in the lovely forest areas, with tasty home cooked food served with love and warmth.

The main objective of this Get Together was to give a platform to the volunteers to share their experiences, visit a few places of cultural importance and have a one to one talk with their respective coordinators.

The highlights of this GTG were, visit to the following places: the Venugopalkrishna Temple, a 14^th   century temple exhibiting Hoysala art, a major tourist attraction in Agumbe. The Handloom Training center, set up by the department of Police, to realise Mahatma Gandhi’s dream of strengthening khadi and cottage industries by promoting income and employment generation activities in Naxal-affected villages of the district, Visiting the Sringeri Mutt was a wonderful opportunity for the international volunteers to see this wonderful temple built in 1356, an architectural elegance and sculptural grandeur  the Vidya-Shankara Temple, besides the Sarada Temple, stands as a testimony to the genius of the Hoysala, Vijayanagar and Dravidian styles of temple building. Built in the shape of a chariot, the temple contains, in exquisitely carved stones, the very essence of the Yoga Sastras and astronomy.