The Green Lake of Braies

The lake of Braies is a beautiful place in the South Tyrol region in the Alps mountains, in the north-east of Italy. A recent Italian TV series featuring Terrence Hill was shot here, which has made it famous.

I had been to Braies for a brief visit more than ten years ago. Since then I had promised myself to go back and visit it properly. Finally I had the opportunity to be there during the early summer. This post is about this magical lake which mirrors the deep green of the surrounding pine trees.

Braies and the Dolomite Mountains in South Tyrol

Tyrol region in the south of Austria and the north-east of Italy is known for its beautiful Alpine villages, emerald green highland pastures, lovely spotted cows with the tinkling bells around their necks, typical wooden houses bursting with flowers and the yoodling guys.

Till the first world war (1914-1918), South Tyrol was a part of Austria. As the Austrian-Hungarian empire lost the war, this part became a part of Italy. Thus, though it is in Italy, many persons here speak German.

The Braies lake is surrounded by the Dolomite mountains. These mountains are made of carbonate rock and are also called the Pale Mountains. With their craggy skylines, the Dolomite mountains make a very striking frame encircling this lake.

It is not a natural lake. It was formed by a landslide which blocked the Braies river. The deepest part of the lake are almost 40 metres deep. The lake's water looks green because of the pine tree forests at the lower slopes of the mountains surrounding it.

Reaching Braies

A local train or the suburban buses starting from Bressanone (Brixen) can take you to Braies town. Bressanone is on the main train line and along the highway connecting Trento (Italy) and Innsbruck (Austria).

We started our journey by car from Rio di Pusterla (Mühlbach), a small town a few kilometres north-west of Bressanone (Brixen).

The road going towards Braies, initially along the river Rivenza, was full of incredible panoramas. Often we passed Alpine villages with silken green meadows resting against the tall mountains in shades of blue, grey and green.

There were a number of small quaint looking churches with long bell-towers in most villages, inviting us to stop there and to taste the local cheese, wines and other specialities.

Braies lake (Pragser Wildsee)

Though we visited Braies in early June while the peak tourist season is in July-August, still it was crowded and we could only find a parking place some distance away.

The mountains around the lake are criss-crossed by high altitude hiking trails, some of which may take up to a week to complete. Simple hotels and dormitories called Refugio (Refuge) are built along these trails where people can stop and rest. Going on these trails requires proper equipment, practice and preparation. One of the most famous Alpine mountain trails called Alta Via 1 starts from the Braies lake.

However, we were not planning to do serious hiking. We took an easier pathway, which goes all around the lake. The complete walk around the lake requires about 2-3 hours and if you often stop for clicking pictures (like I do), you will need even more time. It has many ups and downs and therefore requires a modest resistance.

Among the other things to see near the lake, there is a historical hotel called Hotel Pragser Wildsee and a lakeside chapel called Marienkappel.

At the beginning of the left bank of the lake there is a wooden boat-house, where you can rent a boat.

Fame of Braies Lake

The first series of the Italian TV fiction "Un passo dal cielo" (A step from heaven) with Terrence Hill was shot here in 2010. In the first three seasons of this serial, Hill played a forest guard while the Braies boathouse was shown as his home. This serial was a big hit. Due to this serial, the Braies lake has become very popular among visitors.

Braies Lake in the Second World War

Towards the end of the Second World War, Braies lake was witness to an important historical event. In 1945, fearing the defeat, Hitler asked his SS troupes to take important persons kept as prisoners in the concentration camp of Dachau and to shift them to South Tyrol. The soldiers had the orders to kill all these prisoners before the arrival of Allied forces. However, the German Wahrmacht decided to protect these civilian prisoners, who were lodged at the Pragser Wildsee hotel and liberated by the allied forces.

Among those prisoners at Braies, there were many famous persons including, the former chancellor of Austria Kurt Von Schuschenigg, the former prime minister of France Leon Blum, the former prime minister of Hungary Miklos Kallay, the chief commander of Greek military Alexandros Papagos and many others.

The Legends of Braies Lake

There are stories of a legendary group of people called Fanes who are supposed to be hiding in the depths of Braies lake. On the night of full moon, the secret door to the hidden world of Fanes opens and the Fanes queen along with her daughter Dolasilla come out to walk on the surface of the Braies lake.

Another legend is about some wild persons who lived in the mountains around Braies and who had found gold in these mountains. Then shepherds and farmers from outside arrived here and started to steal their gold. Thus the wild persons of Braies blocked the river and created this lake so that outsiders could not reach them to steal their gold.

Ponticello of Braies

Apart from the lake, the areas surrounding Braies are famous for their beautiful panoramas. We visited one of these places - it is called Ponticello (Small Bridge).

The craggy skyline of the mountains as seen from Ponticello was very impressive.

However, on that day, the road for going up in the mountains of Ponticello was closed due to a landslide, so we could go higher up.

The old town of Braies was once known for the thermal baths containing sulphur. These are now closed. However, we did not visit it and promised ourselves to return to Braies to discover more of its surroundings.

Conclusions

Braies lake is famous for its beauty. We found that its fame is worthwhile. The clear Turkish-blue and green waters, the snow-covered majestic Dolomite mountains reflected in the lake and the beautiful pathway around the lake, make it a magical place. If you are visiting this part of Italy, do not forget to visit the Braies lake!

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The Rainbow Walls of Dozza

In a country where medieval towns with quaint castles are common, how do you make your town special? Simple, you dip the town in the colours of the rainbow! That is what happened in Dozza, a small medieval town about 30 km from Bologna in northern Italy - its walls are covered with paintings.

Origins of the Street Art in Dozza

With 6,000 mostly aging population, young ones leaving the town to go to Bologna, Dozza has been in a slow but obvious decline. The town decided to reinvent itself in the early 1960s. They decided that they will have a unique selling point for the tourists, by making their city a vast open-air art gallery.

Initially the local artists were asked to make paintings outside on the walls of the houses and the town started to become famous. People came to look at the houses with paintings. Now it holds a painting festival every two years in September. The next biannual painting festival is planned for September 2017.

Over the last few years, the wall-painting event of Dozza collaborates with the Museum of Modern Art in Bologna. Medieval Dozza is a tiny town, and as its walls get covered with art, some neighbouring areas such as the Borgo Nuovo of Toscanella are also being involved in this initiative.

Reaching Dozza

Bologna is an important node for road and railway network in north Italy. Reaching Dozza is easy. It is just 30 km away, so you can drive down. Suburban buses from Bologna going to Imola stop in Dozza. From Bologna you can also take a taxi. Or, you can take a train from Bologna to Castle San Pietro Terme or to Imola, and then take a taxi from there.

The Art in Dozza

Dozza is nestled at the top of a hill, and is dominated by a castle. The surrounding area has gently rolling hills covered with vineyards.

The medieval part of the town has ancient pebbled streets that go up and down all around the castle. It is a small area closed by the medieval walls, through which you can have glimpses of the beautiful surrounding hills, green meadows and valleys. Behind the castle there is a park on the side of the hill, full of steps going up and down.

Every street of the medieval town has houses covered with art by different artists. The result is a wonderful mix of styles and colours. Every corner has a surprise.

One of my favourite paintings in Dozza has a winter evening and a peasant family sitting around the dining table, with curtains around the window, a fire burning in corner, and a languid cat looking down at you curiously.

Another personal favourite has two persons painted in African style who are chatting, where the windows of the house become the ears of the two persons and part of an arch becomes the forearm of one of them.

Castle of Dozza

It has a lovely small castle at the top of a hill, belonging to the Marquis of Malvezzi-Campeggi family since 1500s. The last heir to the marquis family died in 1960 and the castle now belongs to the municipality.

It has a museum and in its basement, it hosts the regional wine centre where you can buy the local wines. The most popular local wine is San Giovese, but there are many more.

A famous restaurant, La Locanda del Castello, is on the hillside, not far from the castle of Dozza.

Conclusions

The medieval town with its pebbled streets, the small castle and the beautiful paintings, these all combine to make Dozza a special place. Thus, if you are planning a visit to Bologna, keep a morning for visiting Dozza, it is worth it.

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Rock Art of Bhimbethka

Bhimbethka is a place of great natural beauty. It has giant sandstone rocks, sculpted into hollows, crests, platforms and curls by the wind, rain and water. These are story-telling rocks, whispering their tales through the art of early humans. It is one of the most fascinating places that I have visited.

I had read about the rock-art of Bhimbethka about fifteen years ago and had immediately decided that one day I was going to visit this place. However, as often happens, life has its own compulsions and thus, I had almost forgotten about it.

A visit to the rock-art site in south-west Mozambique at Chinhampere a few years ago, had touched me deeply and had reminded me about my desire to visit Bhimbethka. Finally, a few months ago I visited it. If you are interested in human evolution and rock art of ancient humans, you will love Bhimbethka. It is located in Madhya Pradesh in the central part of India.

Rock-shelters of Bhimbetka are a World Heritage Monument of UNESCO.

DISCOVERY OF BHIMBETHKA

The rock shelters of Bhimbethka were discovered by V. S. Wakankar in 1957. Wakankar, while passing near Bhimbethka in train was struck by the curiously shaped rocks at the top of the hill and decided to stop and visit them.

This area is 600 metres above sea level and about 100 metres above the surrounding plains of Betwa river. Here the rock shelters used by prehistoric humans are scattered over a large area spread over five different hills – Bhineka, Bhonravli, Lakhajwar est, Lakhajwar west and Bhimbethka. All together there are 243 rock shelters, out of which 133 rock-shelters have rock-art. The whole area is part of Ratapani wildlife protected area.

Only 15 rock-shelters of Bhimbethka hill are open to public.

Bhimbethka is at one hour drive from Bhopal. You can hire a taxi to visit it. If you prefer public transport, state buses can drop you at about two and half kilometres from the caves.

EARLY HUMANS IN INDIA

In his wonderful book “Indica: A Deep Natural History of The Indian Subcontinent”, Pranay Lal writes that the progenitor of Anthropoids (monkeys, apes and hominins) developed in Asia and from there spread to Africa and other parts of the world. The first human progenitor Homo habilis evolved in Africa. The standing hominid, Homo erectus arrived about 2 million years ago and then over a short period of time spread into different parts of the world including India, China and Indonesia.

Standing posture of Homo erectus resulted in anatomical changes in pelvis which affected child-birth and children being born without fully developed brains, which created social needs for ancient humans to help each other and to live in communities. They learned to use fire, could make sounds for communication and made stone tools (Acheulean stone tools). Erectus arrived in India around 1.5 million years ago. Some of big sites of Acheulean tools of Erectus in India have been found around Siwalik hills.

The first modern man, Homo sapiens evolved in East Africa around 190,000 years ago. They left Africa around 75,000 years ago and spread in different directions including some who arrived in India. For some time, Erectus and Sapiens cohabited, then Erectus gradually faded away and only Sapiens remained. There were different sub-species of Sapiens including Neanderthals. The present day humans are Homo sapiens sapiens.

ANCIENT HUMANS IN BHIMBETHKA

The rocks of Bhimbethka are formed of sand-stone (orthoquartzite), which have been modelled by the natural forces into different shapes, which provided shelters to early humans. They are not caves and therefore called rock-shelters. Some of them are very big, more than 20 metres high.

Not very far from Bhimbethka is a tribal village, which shows the continuity of human traditions in this area.

The rock-shelters open to the tourists are located on a hill and are numbered from 1 to 15. The path between the different shelters has been paved and covers around one and half kilometres. The oldest signs of humans in these rock-shelters go back to around 100,000 years while the most recent signs belong to medieval period.

Archaeological excavations have been carried out in some areas of Bhimbetka that have shown tools, burials and other objects from lower Paleolithic, middle Paleolithic, upper Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. The lower Paleolithic tools include Acheulean stone implements.

However, for the visitors to Bhimbethka, the most important signs of prehistorical humans are their paintings on the rocks made with natural elements like lime and ochre. Over the centuries, ancient humans have painted repeatedly at the same surfaces, thus more recent rock paintings overlie older paintings. In some places fifteen layers of paintings have been identified in Bhimbethka.

The paintings show mainly human and animal figures and depict scenes from hunting, wars, social and spiritual lives of persons. Trees, plants and flowers are rare in these paintings. Persons riding horses and elephants as well as battle scenes are part of more recent paintings from historical period.

THINGS TO LOOK FOR AT BHIMBETHKA

Personally, I found all the rock-shelters of Bhimbethka fascinating. There were some places where I could have spent hours looking carefully at individual paintings. However, there are some aspects that you can look for specifically during your visit:

Rock-shelter 2: It is an imposing structure shaped like an enormous cave open at the two ends and is known as the auditorium. It is 39 metres long and around 17 metres high.

On the left at lower level it has some more recent animal and human figures. To the right and on a higher level it has different animals and birds including a peacock and the hand impression of a child. It also has some cupules from early paleolithic period.

Rock-shelter 3: It has some curious round-shaped holes called Cupules cut into the rock. These are the oldest signs of human occupation in Bhimbethka and go back to 100,000 years. I think that these could have been used as storage spaces.

Rock-shelter 4: This shelter is called “the zoo” because its big wall is completely covered with different layers of animals painted during different epochs. There are 252 figures of animals showing 16 species of animals. In addition there are 90 human figures, 1 bird and 6 decorative designs.

Rock-shelter 5: More recent paintings in this shelter depict battles and a royal procession. These are located on the right side of the wall. The procession includes people carrying swords, riding horses and wearing a head-dress. The figures include two drummers.

Why did the ancient humans paint animal figures? One of the reasons proposed for these images found in different parts of the world, is related to hunting. Painting the animals (and conducting ceremonies in front of these figures) was a way to capture the spirits of the animals so that the hunters had success in hunting them.

Rock-shelter 15: This is a very big rock and on one side near the top, it presents a fascinating fantasy scene – a giant boar like animal is chasing a small human figure and a crab. It seems to be the depiction of a mythological story. Because of this painting, it is known as Boar rock.

Apart from the Boar scene, there are other human and animal paintings in this rock shelter.

View Point: Around half-way into the shelters, there is a raised area with a tortoise shaped rock. From here it is possible to see the alluvial plains around Betwa river going towards Narmada river.

In addition, there are three springs in this area known as Ban Ganga, Gupt Ganga and Pandapur. Water from these springs is used by the adivasi (tribal) groups living in this area. Finally at the top of Bhimbethka hill is an old Shiva temple nestled in the rocks.

CONCLUSIONS

Bhimbethka is an incredible place. Its natural beauty is coupled with a rich cultural, historical and archaeological testimony of the human evolution in central India.

At the rock-paintings of Chinhampere in Mozambique, I had met a woman guardian of the ancient site who lived in the village below. It was not possible to visit those rock-paintings without her permission. She had also explained to me about how the village community continued to venerate those rock paintings during their annual festivals.

This continuity of the sacred relationship between the ancient rock art and traditions of local tribal people seems to missing from the areas open for visits in Bhimbethka. Nor does the site provide any information about the religious/spiritual significance of these rock-shelters to the tribal communities today.

Still it is impossible not to be moved by the art of ancient humans at Bhimbethka. The name of Bhimbethka remembers the muscular Pandav brother Bhim from Mahabharat. Local legends say that Pandavas had lived here during the 12 years of exile.

Diane Ecke in her book “India – A sacred geography” has shown how different parts of India take the sacred stories of Hinduism, add to them their local heroes, gods and legends, and make them their own. The legends of Bhima and the names of the three springs, Ban Ganga, Gupt Ganga and Pandapur, seem to follow this norm.

My interest in ancient humans and their lives was stimulated by the series of books called Earth’s Children by Jean M. Auel in the 1980s and 1990s. If you have not read them, do read them. They will give you a glimpse of the lives of early humans.

I also recommend Pranay Lal’s new book – “Indica: A Deep Natural History of The Indian Subcontinent”. It is an enjoyable read, full of information about geological, archaeological and biological finds in India.

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Exploring Kochi Art Biennale

When I had planned my visit to Kochi (Kerala, India), I had not thought about the Kochi Art Biennale. It was being held in the beautiful Fort Kochi area, where I was staying. It was a pleasant surprise to be able to visit the Biennale and to expand my ideas about art.

The image below shows the famous Chinese fishing nets of Fort Kochi.

ART IN KOCHI BIENNALE

Art at the Biennale touched on all the different ways of human expression - paintings, sculptures, architecture, sounds and videos. Appreciating some of them required sitting down, without feeling rushed. However I had little time and I wanted to see a lot of things, so that was not easy.

The location of Fort Kochi, especially the old ruined buildings next to the sea, contributed to the experience of appreciating art. For example, the image below shows the installation, “Shell Mycelium – Degradation movement manifesto” by Asif Rehman Junaid, Giambattista Areddia and Mohamad Yassin, at the Dutch Warehouse (MAP). I felt that the location with the ruins added so much to this installation.

First, I want to tell about three of my favourite art experiences from the Biennale. For me art is all about emotions and feelings. Thus, my favourite art experiences were those that had a strong emotional impact on me.

1. INVERSO MUNDUS BY AES+F

This video installation at Anand Warehouse of Fort Kochi was the best experience I had at the Biennale. The video was projected on a huge screen. It was very powerful and provocative. 

It was by AES+F. It made me think about things we take for granted in the daily life - it turned them upside down. For example, the way we treat animals, the way we treat women and the new areas of scientific research.

One episode had a butcher guy hanging upside down. Then a pig came and opened the guy’s tummy with a knife, to let the blood drain out, as the butchers do with the pigs.

In another episode young guys were tied down and women came with shears, scissors and other instruments to cut them and mark them like animals.

I also liked another work of AES+F presented at the Biennale – Dèfilé. In this work, they had presented some digital images of recently dead persons dressed as fashion models. They explained the concept of this work as, “Motionless bodies in early decomposition, dressed in clothing of an industry obsessed with youth and what is hot right now.”

2. THE PYRAMID OF EXILED POETS BY ALES STEGER

Ales Steger is from Slovenia. His installation at the compound of Aspinwall House had a pyramid with sound recordings of poets who were exiled from their countries. The poets included Bertolt Brecht, Dante Allighieri, Mahmoud Darwish and Ivan Blatn.

I am a little claustrophobic. When I had visited the pyramids in Giza (Egypt), I had not entered the pyramid tunnel because of this fear. However, Steger’s pyramid did not look big and I entered it without thinking. The dark narrow spaces inside it, immediately made me wish to turn back and go out. However, there were other persons behind me and going back was not an option. Thus, I moved slowly, keeping my hand on the wall and trying to take deep breaths to calm myself.

Perhaps it was this state of heightened awareness that contributed to making it a strong emotional experience. The textures of the wall, the smell of mud and wood, the voices of the poets and the suffocating darkness, they were all part of this art experience.

3. TWELVE STORIES OF P. K. SADANANDAN

P. K. Sadanandan is from Thrissur (Kerala, India). His “Twelve stories of the 12 progeny” was a mural painted with natural pigments.

His painting style seemed similar to the 17th century murals from the king's house (Dutch Palace) in Mattancherry in Fort Kochi. His illustrations made me think of a tropical jungle. Episodes of the stories were often separated by rope-lines just like the murals in the Dutch palace. There was a dominance of blue and grey in his images that was beautiful.

This mural depicted the traditional stories of the 12 families (kulam) of a woman called Parayi Petta Panthiru. These stories provide lessons for life such as value of listening, importance of fate and inequality of the caste system.

OTHER ART AT BIENNALE WHICH I LIKED

Apart from the above three art installations which had a strong impact on me, I also liked the following works:

Go Playces: Orijit Sen’s installation had city maps composed of persons, families, shops and events of daily life. These events intersected with the stories of his experiences of visiting these cities. Some of those experiences were represented on magnetic jig-saw puzzle pieces. Thus, the interactive installation invited visitors to imagine the location of those jigsaw puzzle pieces on the maps.

There were too many persons, especially young guys, interacting with this installation, so it was a little bit noisy. Yet, the stories of visits and looking at the huge colourful maps of people and events touched me, making me think of some of my own journeys and experiences.

Riff Off by Bob Gramsma: A huge concrete wall fallen inside a mud pit may seem to be a very unlikely art installation. Many persons would have difficulty in seeing the “art” in it. Yet, it had a strong emotional impact on me.

Bob Gramsma is from Switzerland. His site-specific sculpture in concrete is “a register of an excavated hole”. His explanation about how this sculpture was produced says: “After digging an extensive opening in the earth, a concrete cast was made to produce an inverted sculptural reproduction of the previously created void… it sits as a monumental, inverted blueprint of an excavation it now dissects.”

I am not so sure why it had that impact on me. Perhaps it was the idea of seeing the space created by excavation, not as an empty void, but as a steel and concrete structure.

Bathroom set: Dia Mehta Bhupal (Mumbai, India) had two installations in Biennale. I liked her “Bathroom Set” (it was more of a male urinal rather than a bathroom) in blue, grey and white. It had a strong impact on me because it made me look differently at a place often associated with strong unpleasant smells.

The whole installation was made of scraps of papers taken from magazines – a papier mache world.

Big Dog: Liu Wei is from China. Her installation used oxhide, used for making chewing toys for dogs. She had used oxhide to construct Greek temples, amphitheatres and Roman arches - models of classical Roman/Greek architecture, made from animal skin.

Room for lies: Sunil Padwal (Mumbai, India) brought together daily-life objects of the past, filling the walls with murals of nostalgia.

Visiting the room made me feel as if I had entered an old persons' room, full of memorabilia collected over a life-time.

Secret Dialogues: During my visit, the artist C. Bhagyanath (Thalassery, India) was in the room where his works were displayed.

He works on semi-transparent sheets, creating line drawings on each layer, so that by overlapping the sheets, they create a narrative. Depending upon the work, the layers can vary from 2 to 6 or even more. Most of his works at the Biennale were drawings with carbon, with an occasional use of red colour.

He explained his work as, “… a story about layers, about how we add to what comes before to express the relationship between mind and body, human and animal, inside and outside."

Where the flowers still grow: Bharat Sikka (New Delhi, India) presented a series of photographs and some daily life objects from Kashmir to express his feelings of living in a war zone and how people try to continue to live in spite of everything.

I thought that the photographs and objects he had selected were interesting. For example, among the objects was a box of ammunition that could have belonged to militants or to the Indian army. It also made me think of army persons who live far away from their homes and families and how the violence and war experiences change them.

In this installation, I also felt that a row of dusty, worn out shoes laid out in a corner of the room, was incredibly moving.

Tears of Taj Mahal: Ouyang Jianghe uses calligraphy to create textual sculptures. I love the idea of sculptures of words. It reminds me somehow of the white-books sculptures of the Italian artist Lorenzo Perrone, though the two have completely different concepts.

Jiaghe’s sculptures are hanging scrolls on which he writes. He feels that the meanings of the words are not important, rather it is the complexity of language.

The Pavillion: The Pavillion was a hall at the Cabral Yard where they held meetings, interviews and events of the Biennale. Tony Joseph (Calicut, India) was the architect of this pavillion. I loved the ceiling of the hall covered with saris and lit by lights in changing colours.

Sathe Nagar here: Different artists from Sathe Nagar community in Mumbai had created this architectural installation next to Cochin Club near the beach of Fort Kochi. They organised a series of events, performances and meetings in the installation. It included photographs, videos and soundscapes to present the life in Sathe Nagar.

The installation included some written panels. For example, a panel  talked about the lives of immigrants who have left their families behind in the villages. It started with, “Majhi Maina Gavavar Rahili, my Mynah, my love was left behind in the village, my heart stirs restlessly remembering her, her attractive body, her moon like face, good natured and large hearted, she is to me, what Sita was to Ram…”

Kissa Kursi Ka: A series of installations on the theme of chairs was organised at Heritage Art gallery near the Jewish Synagogue in Mattancherry. The installation by Gunajan Gupta had the background of traditional arts from Kerala and other parts of India. It explored the links between art and design.

CONCLUSIONS

Kochi Biennale 2016-17 with more than 90 artists from a large number of countries, was a wonderful opportunity to see how the ideas and concepts of art are evolving. My conclusion was that art has blurred boundaries.

I felt that short abstract videos, like an installation that explored the rain drops falling on a window pane, was easy to consider as art – because it was about sensations and emotions and not about a story. But “Inversus Mundus” was very clearly a film with episodes and short stories or ideas. I could have seen it as a part of a film festival. So there was this blurring of boundaries between the art-forms that seems to be part of the contemporary understandings about art.

I was also not sure about computer generated art, such as the three-D printed sculptures. I felt as if the artist had cheated by using the three-D printing instead of actually sculpting. Probably, this only means that I belong to an older generation!

I want to conclude this post with another image of an art installation that I liked. It was called Fish Cemetery. It was located on the Fort Kochi beach and was not part of the Art Biennale. Its objective was to creare awareness about environment. It was by Manoj Brahmamangalam and Pramod Gopalakrishnan.

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