Monumental pictures of Hampi feature in Akka coffee-table book

HUBBALLI: For Shivashankar Banagar, an amateur photographer from Hosapete, this World Photography Day will be one of the most memorable days of his life. His incredible photos of the monuments of Hampi will feature in 'Aisiri - Glimpses of Unesco Heritage Sites of Karnataka,' a coffee-table book to be released on August 19 at the Akka-2016 world Kannada conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Sharing details about the book with TOI, Aheesh Bharadwaj, one of the organizers of Akka-2016, said that the book is being released as part of Akka conference. It highlights the rich heritage of Hampi, Pattadakal and Western Ghats, captured in camera by photographers including Shivashankar Banagar, Anand Kumar, Sunil Sachi, Uday Hegde, Vishwas Krishnamoorthi, Amogavarsha, Ashwini Kumar Bhat and Binoy George. The book, measuring 12x10 (landscape) will have about 175 high quality photographs. This is probably the only coffee-table book which has covered all three Unesco heritage sites of Karnataka, he added.
Another organizer Ashok Kumar Kattimani said that with beautiful pictures and fabulous prints, the book will be a collectors' piece. After the launch, people can order for the book online at souvenir2016@akkaonline.com. Photographer Banagar said that half of the photos in the book are of Hampi clicked by him. Pattadakal photographs are by Banagar and Anand Kumar. Banagar said the collection has come out as a result of his hard work for over eight years. He said he spent 2-3 hours a day clicking 200-300 photos at Hampi. He received a lot of appreciation for his work on social media.
Chandru and Saritha Bharadwaj, other organizers of Akka, said that the way each location is photographed and displayed in this book makes readers explore more about these places and promotes tourism.