Mesmerizing Udupi: The coffee table book experience

“Udupi- The Mystical Collage ” is a Coffee table book commissioned by Department of Tourism , Udupi which showcases the diversity and richness of the district through photographs.

features of the book

• The book size is 32″x  24″  with 132 pages printed to International print standards
• There is a colorful info-map of the district showing important tourist spots
• Book has illustrations of Udupi district’s special features
• The book has sections such as Nature, Heritage, Culture, Lifestyle and Eco Tourism with small introductions
• There are more than 260 photographs with captions and credit line of every contributors
• There are many photos given by Department of Tourism , Udupi and Karnataka Forest Department
• Cover page title is Goldfoil embossed

The book is not for the sale and still under production. I think it will be used for only tourism promotional activities. They might release a PDF version but I am not too sure about it.

Background:

First book “The Dreamland”  Captivating glimpses of most diverse district Uttara Kannada “  that I worked , turned out to be a huge success. It saw 500 more prints due to the demand which is rare for a government promotional book. It has also set a benchmark for many other districts. I had many other district officials contacting us for similar projects but I turned down due to timing and travel efforts. But I could not resist taking up Udupi as I owe Udupi district big time!   I studied 2 years of my 11th and 12th in Udupi, living in a small four walled room in the first year and as  paying guest in second year. The knowledge I gained through those wonderful teachers of my college is something I will be indebted forever .  Also the beauty and rich culture of the district is unparalleled which I already knew after several trips I made after I took up my photography as serious hobby.

How it happened ?

First assignment was to photograph around 62 places given by the department where we come across various challenges such as bad weather, closed spots , bad light  etc . And then  we had to wait  for the tender process. I was advised by the Flowergraffic , the  design and printing company,  not to start work on the book till the tender is not confirmed but I was already reading gazetteers just out of curiosity. After finally confirmed , the toughest job was to convince the officials about the tight timeline. I thank my corporate skills using which I made a presentation putting entire idea of the book, timeline , resources, challenges  etc and also showing the challenges of getting the right information . We had to visit the district to  capture some important  photos, meeting important people of the district etc.  Suresh U T , artist and owner of the company Flowergrafic , Bengaluru ,  who designed this book has put tremendous effort to fine tune and print it. The officials  then- DC Priyanka Mary Francis , AD Anitha Bhaskar and many others also worked very hard to give a final shape to the book.

The book was released by Dr. Jaimala , Minister for Women and Child Empowerment of Differently Abled and Senior Citizen and District In-charge Minister, Udupi, Karnataka State on March 6th , 2019  in Udupi.

Word of Thanks

I would like to thank Flowergrafic , Bengaluru  for giving me an opportunity to work for this project. I would also like to thank Department of Tourism , Udupi and District Administration office , Udupi  for the opportunity and the help through out the course of making of the book. There are many direct and indirect people such as resource persons,  photo contributors, proof reader, illustrator , trip coordinators, friends who accompanied me during the trips, friends and strangers who helped  me to get information and contacts  and many more.

Here is a list of people whom I want to thank and who find mention in the book as well .

Photo Contributors

Adithya Biloor
Ajay Giri
Ashwini Kumar Bhat
Chethan Shetty
Daya Kukkaje
Dinesh Shenoy
Focus Raghu
Gurudath Kamath, Udupi
Kedarnath Bhat
Kishore Ganti
Manjunath Bhat
Murali M Abbemane
Muqthar Uchila

Padmaprasad Jain
Puttaraju Kaiga
Praveen Vitla
Santhosh Pai
Shiva Shankar Manjunath
Shuhas Premkumar
Shreeram M V
Suresh U T
Vishwanath Pai

Illustrations – Praveen Bhat
Drone photos – Nithinraj Kotian

Special thanks to

Priyanka Mary Francis, IAS
S S Nakul, IAS
Smt. Vidya Kumari, KAS
Additional Deputy Commissioner, Udupi
Dr Anand C Kallolikar, Commissioner Nagarsabh,
Malpe Development Authority, Udupi
Department of Tourism, Udupi
Karnataka Forest Department
S Janardhan Maravanthe
Gurudath Kamath, Udupi
J N Shamarao
Keshava Malagi
Ramya Shenoy
Raveendra Beliraya
Manjunath Kamath, Karkala
Dheeraj Bhat

Balakrishna Vaidya

Highlight video of the Book