A course in temple architecture

I am an 18year old student pursuing graduation in Kurnool, I am keen to a course in temple architecture as I belong to a priest's family. Are there any courses to suit my desire? - Sreetan Shastry, Kurnool

Indian temples found everywhere, varying from small villages to the metropolitan cities are not only a place of worship and the abode of God forming the link between God and man, but they are also the cradle of knowledge, art, architecture and culture. The Tirumala Tirupathi Devacthanams has started a training centre, SV Institute of Traditional Sculpture and Architecture, which offers a course (affiliated to state board of Technical Education and Training, Hyd AP) imparting practical knowledge in traditional sculpture, Temple architecture and Traditional Painting.

It also provides all the facilities for boarding and lodging during the tenure of the course, with the whole expenditure being met by the management of TTD, with a view to promote the Indian art and culture which is a the need of the hour. Please refer site http://www.tirumala.org/svista.htm for the required details.

A diploma course is being offered by Somnath Sanskrit University Mandir Vyavasthapan. It deals mainly on aspects of religion as well as practical management of temples. Subjects include temple architecture, rituals, event management, crowd management, Sanskrit, English, accounts and law. Eligibility for admission is XII class pass. Experts from various fields are called as faculty.

Medicine from a good college

I finished my Class X in ICSE syllabus from St Ann's High School. My primary goal is to pursue medicine. I am confused as to whether I should join a corporate college which provides EAMCET coaching simultaneously with intermediate boards or just a normal CBSE college? - Rabab Nanderbadwala

Hi, if you are keen on writing your Eamcet/NEET(maybe in 2015) then you should join an institute that has mastered the art of coaching. It could be joining corporate colleges like Chaitanya, Narayana etc. which provide a well designed state syllabus coupled with excellent coaching which integrates all the curriculums. Off late these corporate institutions have achieved awesome success, of course together with the hard work put by the students. But, before joining these colleges you will have to fully prepare yourself to sacrifice all your other interests, your socialising, other pleasures of life to a major extent and dedicate these two years primarily only for studies.

This is possible if you have a strong desire to get a good rank in EAMCET. You should ask your parents to visit these institutes personally and talk to the students. The other option would be join a CBSE XI XII college/school, either KV Picket, which is close to your residence or NASR, Khairatabad which has a school bus facility and also has an interesting combination of physics, chemistry, math's with biotech, wherein you have a plethora of options; you can opt for MBBS/BDS/B Pharm/any stream of Engineering/career in Biotechnology too.

These organisations will give you an overall exposure to all fields and also they get over by 2 � 2.30 and you could get time to relax, and also attend a good coaching centre. Coaching has become necessary for all entrance exams, which could either be short term or long term. If you can concentrate on self study then you can go through practice sets and take short term coaching's. But, it is always advisable to go for a long term coaching. However, even if you join a coaching institute, self study has to be a major part of your preparation, because the coaching institutes does nothing but mainly catalyses your potential to peak so as to bring out the best from you.

Aakash Academy , Himayathnagar, Hyderabad, for the past 19 years has been producing rankers in various medical exams provides both short term as well as long term coaching as well as distance learning facility. The long term cost's about Rs 1.4 lakh with classes four days a week in the evening, 4.30 to 8.15. Refer: http://www.aakash.ac.in/ for more details. Deeksha Education in West Marredpally also offers EAMCET coaching, which charges around 28,000 for the long term course, four days a week. The other institutes are Kaktiya academy, SR Nagar; Ideal coaching centre, Dilsukhnagar, etc.