Photo exhibition showcases Saraswat Brahmins’ history

The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage’s (INTACH), Mangaluru Chapter, is showcasing unique historical contributions of the Saraswat Brahmin community to Mangaluru through a photo exhibition in the city.

The exhibition aptly titled, “Tracing the Roots”, will display over 50 photographs capturing buildings and localities in Mangaluru built by the Saraswat Brahmin community.

The photographs will be on display at Kodial Guthu (West) in Ballalbagh from November 23 to November 30. The exhibition will screen snippets from oral history on preserving the memories of the community which had migrated from Goa to the coast of Karnataka.

The photographs were taken by Deekshith Pai, an alumnus of Nitte Institute of Communication, and was part of his final semester of the bachelor’s degree project. Deekshith is pursuing MA at the Azim Premji University of Bengaluru.

“The Saraswat Brahmin community’s migration and establishment in Mangaluru was narrated from generation to generation to keep the history alive, which is why I wanted to show this through a combination of photographs, recorded history, and snippets of conversation, which is oral history,” Deekshith stressed.

“The major milestones in Mangaluru’s history including some of the oldest printing presses, mechanised oil mills, hotels, and cinema theatres were built by the Saraswat Brahmin community, which we have attempted to preserve through photographs,” said Nemiraj Shetty, a curator of this exhibition, and founding member, INTACH, Mangaluru Chapter. The exhibition was inaugurated on Friday.