Silvepura- A changing rural village in South India

Silvepura is a village 25km north of the rapidly developing City of Bangalore. The village consists of about 150 families. It was established as a settlement in the 1800's in order to provide land and homes for dalit orphans of the famine that was sweeping the area at the time. The village was originally a place for farming and agriculture, and the land around the village is very fertile. Still there are many families whose work is farming, but as the City of Bangalore grows and develops at a rapid pace the village of Silvepura is changing. The population of the village has multiplied and the work that people do has changed much over the years. Many whose parents or grandparents worked the land have chosen to sell their land (now much more valuable), and may commute into the city for work in factories, industrial areas, or the service industry. The environment of the Village reflects the changes it has been through.