A biography titled Rao Bahadur HC Javaraya: A Gardener and a Gentleman, penned by Meera Iyer, was released at the Bangalore International Centre on Friday. The book details the life of H C Javaraya, one of the early Kew Gardens-trained gardeners in India.
Javaraya was the first Indian Superintendent of the Government Gardens Department and the first Indian Director of Horticulture in Mysuru. He also worked on gardens in Mysuru, Srirangapatna, Nandi Hills, and Bengaluru.
"Javaraya made horticulture and gardening a means of social uplift and part of the larger agenda of the kingdom's identity," said Chiranjeevi Singh, former IAS officer and ambassador to UNESCO.
Ecologist Ullas Karanth said that Javaraya's life and work must be known to "all who care about the past as well as the future of our Kannada land".
A documentary on Javaraya, directed by Ganesh Shankar Raj, was also screened.
The book and the documentary were commissioned by Harish Padmanabha, Vivek Bhaktaram, and Sharmila Bhaktaram, the grandchildren of Javaraya.
The book is available for sale in independent bookshops in Bengaluru, and the documentary will be available on MINDIA's YouTube channel.
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