Strolling down BP Wadia Road from MN Krishna Rao Park, it could be laborious to overlook the Indian Institute of World Culture (IIWC) in Basavanagudi. In the 80 years since its inception, the Institute has at all times drawn guests, courtesy its large library, efficiency corridor and serene environment.
“An interesting addition has been the art gallery within the premises. Artists now have a chance to display their work within a space that boasts an old world charm, complete with red oxide flooring and timber rafters on the high ceiling. IIWC is housed in an acre of land,” says Arakali Venkatesh, Secretary, IIWC.
According to Arakali, BP Wadia arrange IIWC in Bengaluru to cater to college students of Theosophy, who volunteered their time and power for the trigger of common brotherhood by artwork and tradition — an obligation they thought of paramount. Wadia’s involvement was awe-inspiring. “Back then, Bangaloreans would quip that if North Bengaluru had the Tata Institute (IISc), the South had the Wadia Institute,” Arakali says, including IIWC has future on a strong volunteer base.
The artwork gallery on the Indian Institute of World Culture in Bengaluru.
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Special Arrangement
Visitors to IIWC discover it fairly enjoyable to go to this INTACH-listed heritage constructing, housed in a tranquil location, only a stone’s throw from Lalbagh and Krishna Rao Park. The proximity to previous Bengaluru buying localities resembling Gandhi Bazaar and Chamarajapete in addition to an abundance of eating places, make it a favoured vacation spot, to say nothing of IIWC’s handy parking house throughout the premises.
Bahmanji Pestonji Wadia, born in 1881 in erstwhile Bombay, was the eldest son of Pestonji Cursetji Wadia and Mithabai. Belonging to a household of shipbuilders from a village in Surat, younger Wadia joined the household textile enterprise after matriculation, going on to take over following his father’s demise.
In 1904, Wadia offered the flourishing textile enterprise and grew to become concerned with the philosophy of the Theosophical Society based by Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott. Over the years, he resolved to dedicate his life to sharing Theosophy and even moved to Madras in 1908 the place he managed the Theosophical Publishing House working beneath Annie Besant. In the next decade he turned a prolific creator with over 30 titles to his credit score.
In Frames | B.P. Wadia, a theosophist and humanist
A file photograph of B.P. Wadia, who based the Indian Institute of World Culture in addition to the primary commerce union in Madras, printed in The Hindu on October 09, 1981.
B.P. Wadia and his spouse, Sophia Wadia, founders of the Indian Institute of World Culture in Bengaluru.
B.P. Wadia seen with then vice-president of India Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Dr. T.M.P. Mahadevan, and A.G. Ramachandar Rao, Minsitry for Education, Mysore, through the inauguration of
a seminar on The Great Scriptures. The picture was printed in The Hindu on May 31, 1955.
A file picture of BP Wadia in the US.
B.P. Wadia with the then Vice-President Dr. S. Radhakrishnan throughout The Great Scriptures Seminar at Indian Institute of World Culture.
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Founder’s dream
IIWC was established in Bengaluru on August 11, 1945, by Wadia and his Columbian spouse Sophia Wadia, “to make available those nuggets of knowledge that make people noble, and self-sacrificing in spirit.”
What made it simpler for Wadia’s imaginative and prescient of IIWC take off in town, was his earlier brush with Home Rule Movement the place his interactions with literary and political bigwigs helped him garner folks and funds. “Public lectures from political leaders, Nobel laureates, scholars, scientists and public representatives, as well as music and dance performances from leading artistes were arranged every week. Books from various fields were housed over the years in the library to make it a comprehensive cosmopolitan movement,” says Arakali.
The library on the Indian Institute of World Culture in Bengaluru.
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Special Arrangement
Nonagenarian, and former Chief Justice MN Venkatachaliah, Chairman Advisory Committee IIWC, says it was clear from its inception that the institute was an academy not just for students, but additionally a platform to advertise artwork and tradition, with litterateurs, educationists and statesmen sharing their views in the creation of worth methods.
“Opportunities were created for global events, academic discussions, cultural evenings, and for accessing the best books — as part of the “hallmarks of Humanism” that Wadia insisted on. The institute acquired its lecture and efficiency corridor, and public library by Wadia’s contributions and donations from philanthropists and the general public. “The Wadia couple respected local culture, integrating themselves with their thought processes and in their style of dressing too,” says Venkatachalaiah.
A be aware in the espresso desk guide introduced out by IIWC throughout its Platinum Jubilee in 2020 states that the institute made fast strides a lot earlier than Independence because of Wadia’s foresight, for almost 14 years earlier than his demise in 1958, and his capacity to attach with leaders from numerous fields the world over and in India.
Book by guide
The library was began in 1945, and included 2,000 of Wadia’s personal books. A beneficiant donation of 3,000 books by the then Vice-President of IIWC, Sister Sophia TenBroeck in 1957, was a significant breakthrough. An enormous assortment of uncommon and helpful classics with a everlasting endowment, was donated in 1963 by a distinguished doctor from France, Dr KT Behenan, who was a World War II veteran and had made Bengaluru his residence.
This gesture strengthened the endeavour, and with folks’s generosity over time, the library now boasts over one lakh titles throughout genres resembling fiction, biographies, travelogues, faith, philosophy, sports activities and science, making it a big public-use library. The journal part boasts some of the rarest collections of Chandamama from the Nineteen Forties to the oldest Tintin collection in addition to Tinkle, Champaka, Indrajal and Bombemane. Educational books are offered for a minimal value throughout guide gala’s yearly, and almost 120 titles have been printed by the IIWC itself.
IIWC collaborates with organisations resembling IGNCA, BIC, Mythic Society, Lalithakala Academy and the ICCR, to host exhibitions on pictures, portray and sculpture
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Special association
Looking forward
Vidushi TS Sathyavathi, president of IIWC, who can also be a vocalist and Sanskrit scholar, says lecture collection and performing arts circulation concurrently like a serene river at IIWC, with almost 300 packages rolling out annually. Partnering with NFDC, Suchitra Film Society and the Bangalore Film Society, they display screen movies from the world over.
IIWC additionally collaborates with organisations resembling IGNCA, BIC, Mythic Society, Lalithakala Academy and the ICCR, to host exhibitions on pictures, portray and sculpture. “Going forward, we plan to curate more art forms from Indian and global streams, making them relevant to the contemporary cultural milieu. Any institution disseminating culture should not be in an existential angst; we plan to be pertinent to the times in culture, arts, music and literature,” says Vidushi.
Indian Institute of World Culture
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Special Arrangement
To preserve Wadia’s 80-year-old dream alive, the institute has plans for a renovated campus with two massive auditoriums and a multi-utilitarian house, whereas retaining its library to protect the studying behavior. “Upgradation will equip us for the next 80 years, helping future generations enjoy and safeguard values nurtured so far,” provides Venkatesh.
Points for posterity
Entries from Sister Sophia TenBroeck’s diary are a document of a number of talks and occasions. She notes how IIWC would see uncontrolled crowds surging in even throughout pre-Independent days, particularly through the participation of distinguished audio system, regardless of the availability of loudspeakers in the close by gardens.
Halls, corridors and free areas exterior have been packed throughout talks by Governor General C Rajagopalachari, Presidents S Radhakrishnan and VV Giri, litterateurs DV Gundappa and Masti Venkatesha Iyengar and others. IIWC has additionally hosted the likes of sitarist Ravi Shankar, Mysore Royal, Jayachamajaja Wadiyar, American activist Martin Luther King Jr, Tibetan religious chief Panchen Lama and 19 Nobel laureates, together with Julian Huxley and CV Raman.
It is claimed Wadia had insisted, “Our idea is to have open-to-public programmes for inclusive participation; no restriction in admission rules shall prevail,” when a re-consideration on entry guidelines was steered.
The Indian Institute of World Culture was a well-liked cultural house in south Bengaluru for internet hosting talks and occasions.
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Special Arrangement
Published – February 25, 2025 12:49 pm IST
