What is in news : Government of Karnataka has identified Roerich estate as a biodiversity heritage spots in Bengaluru

About :

• Area – 460 acres
• Partly maintained by the Forest Department.
• Original owners : Russian painter from the early 20th century Svetoslav Roerich and Devika Rani, the first lady of Indian cinema.
• As the couple neither had any children nor had they willed the property to anyone, Karnataka government owns it legally
• It is an Elephant corridor between Bannerghatta and Savandurga

Devika Rani

• Devika Rani was the first lady of Indian cinema, grandniece of Rabindranath Tagore and founder of Bombay Talkies, India’s first modern movie studio.
• Roerich was the son of Russian painter, archaeologist and theosophist Nikolai Roerich and an eminent artist himself. His portraits of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi continue to hang in the Central Hall of Parliament.