bangalore the gloom is lifting but for the roerichs pet dogs which no one kept track of the 468acre tataguni estate has been restored almost to its old glory even as it was thrown open to the public on sunday to mark the centenary of russian painter svetoslav roerichthe house and studio have been renovated roerichs 1948 chevrolet restored to running condition and painted a spanking blue the linolae factory is functional again and swans preen themselves in the redone lake the only shadow on the centenary celebrations which was launched at the estate was the pending supreme court judgment on the karnataka government decision to acquire the roerich estatespeaking at the inauguration revenue minister mp prakash expressed hope that the judgment would come out by yearend we want to recreate the history and art that thrived sidebyside in this place we have begun work here we hope the final verdict will come soonofficials said the state had taken permission from the supreme court division bench which heared the case it has now gone to a constitutional bench permission was given for renovation of the buildings just for the centenary celebrations an official saidfor those who came to tataguni on sunday be it the public or politicians it was time for memories of the gracious roerich couple svetoslav and devika raniunion planning minister mv rajashekaran recalled his boyhood when coalfueled buses transported people from kanakapura to bangalore city as soon as the bus climbed the hill outside this estate it would stop as all water dried up so i have wonderful memories of the smell of linolae trees i also visited the roerichs with former lok sabha mp hc dasappa and drank tea made by devika rani herself the contrast between their beautiful house then and the ruin it was two years ago is mindbogglingrussias south india consulgeneral mikhail m mgeladze said the celebration of the roerich centenary was yearlong in his country roerich wanted this estate to be a world hub of young and seasoned painters i hope that will happen he saidthe roerichs close friend and aurobindo school principal aditi vashisht expressed joy that the estate had come up from zero towards regaining its lost sheen but local mla r ashok bjp sounded a warning note land developers have their eye on this estate it is up to us the people of kanakapura to retain our heritage