Snow-capped peaks of the Himalayan ranges and the enchanting forests and jungle streams of the Western Ghats, all alluring images for the city residents reeling under the rising Fahrenheit, come alive at a three-day photographic exhibition that opened in the city on Friday.
The exhibition features a collage of photographs of J.Ramanan, an avid mountaineer and founder of Science and Adventure Club, Tiruchi. Aptly christened, ‘The Mountains of our destiny,’ the pictorial exposition, organised jointly by the club, Indian Mountaineering Foundation and Youth for Conservation, not only seeks to highlight the importance of the influence of the two mountain ranges on the country’s destiny but also spur young minds towards nature conservation.
Photographs of the sensuous mountains, the wildlife, rivers and glaciers of the Himalayas, including the Gangothri glacier watershed, the Chadar trek over the frozen river Zanskar and Tibet, and the teeming flora and fauna of Kalakad Mundanthurai, Eravikulam and Anaimudi, all bring to fore the shifting moods of the nature, captured for posterity.
“The Himalayan ranges in the north and the Western Ghats in the south greatly influence the country’s climate, vegetation, wild life, people and their lifestyle. They also house a huge variety of bio-diversity. It is imperative that we need to protect their fragile eco-system as they decide our destiny,’ explains Mr.Ramanan. The exhibition, declared open by Collector Jayashree Muralidharan, features about 110 photographs taken over the past seven years by Mr. Ramanan, who along with his wife and secretary of Science and Adventure Club Vrinda Ramanan and other members take up annual expeditions to the Himalayas and treks to the Western Ghats. This is the third photo exhibition being organised by the club in the city over the past few years. Mr.Ramanan held a similar expo in Chennai recently.
Apart from being a visual treat for shutterbugs, the exhibition seeks to stimulate youth to take to mountaineering and photography. Towards this end, Mr.Ramanan made an audio visual presentation on ‘Chadar- The Ice Trail’ and gave an introduction to mountaineering skills and photographing in the Himalayas in the evening. The exhibition is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. till Sunday. On Saturday evening, there will be a screening of Shekar Dattatri’s documentary ‘Save Our Sholas’ and an interaction with Ramnath Chandrashekar, founder, Youth For Conservation.
