Amphitheatre for cultural events on BORI campus nears completion

PUNE: The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI) has been putting final touches on an

amphitheatre

for cultural programmes at its campus. The amphitheatre was conceived nearly two years ago.

The architecture and surroundings of the space, named Samavsharan, uses sub-continental designs for common public spaces. The design of the space by architect Nachiket Patwardhan also borrows from the title of the space itself, an

important facet

in Jain philosophy. Samavsharan, implying a refuge or all to sit in, were divine spaces where the

Tirthankaras

would preach.

The stage, to be used for cultural performances, is dominated by a large Banyan tree, planted in the early 1940s, as well as some other large trees that have now been tended to.

“The large trees are very important to the space and to our campus. An ecology report about our campus, commissioned a few years ago, showed that there are dozens of indigenous trees here. Not a single tree has been cut for the new space, and 70 plants, all of indigenous variety, have been replanted,” said Bhupal Patwardhan, executive chairman of BORI.

Much of the funding and ideas for the amphitheatre, expected to be open by January 2021, have come from city-based industrialist Arun Firodia. Patwardhan added that issues that had cropped up with the heritage department of the Pune Municipal Corporation have also been sorted out.

“For all of these years, we have been an institution for research. The time has come for us to take that research to the larger public. This space is one of the interfaces for that. The amphitheatre can seat up to 1,800 people. With physical distancing measures, 300 people can be accommodated,” he said.