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Pravega is the annual undergraduate festival of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). Various science, technology, and cultural events are organized as a part of Pravega. While the main Pravega festival is organized at IISc and usually lasts 3–4 days in the second half of each year, events are organized throughout the year.

·      History and general description

Pravega was born out of the efforts of the nascent UG (the program was established in 2011) community of IISc. Since then, Pravega has grown gradually and substantially, gaining a wider reach and popular acclaim. 2023 marks Pravega’s 10th edition, for which a redesigned logo was released on its official Instagram page, along with the announcement that the official name of this edition will be “Pravega X." "Ollie the Otter" was also announced as the new mascot, referencing a lone mascot sighting in IISc.

Pravega is best known for its prolific science quizzes and cultural events. Over the years, several new events have been added to Pravega, cementing it as one of the most versatile fests in India.

Pravega encourages scientific curiosity and artistic expression among students, providing them with novel experiences that enable learning and growth.

·      Events:

1.    Science and Technology events

¨    Decoherence: Decoherence is the physics and astronomy quiz of Pravega for high school students and undergraduates. It is conducted in two stages — online prelims and offline finals. Over the years, Decoherence has established itself as the forebearer to a novel approach to physics, posing unconventional problems that promote conceptual thinking. Decoherence sees international participation, seamlessly integrating theory with experiments.

¨    BioBlitz: Bioblitz is the biology quiz of Pravega for high school students and undergraduates. It is also conducted in two stages — online prelims and offline mains. BioBlitz challenges participants to think out of the box in all the sub-disciplines of biology. Several thought-provoking experiments are also conducted as a part of the mains.

¨    Chemenigma: Chemenigma is the chemistry quiz of Pravega for high school students and undergraduates. It is conducted in two stages — online prelims and offline mains. Practical awareness and clarity of thought are the focus of Chemenigma, encouraging participants to tackle problems using the fundamental principles of chemistry. Several interesting labs are organized as a part of the mains.

¨    Enumeration: Enumeration is the mathematics quiz of Pravega for high school students and undergraduates. Again, it is conducted in two stages — online prelims and offline mains. Enumeration is known for its non-routine mathematics approach, providing olympiad-style high quality problems.

¨    Quadsparks: Quadsparks is a quizzing competition for school students. It is conducted in two rounds — online prelims and offline mains. Questions span science, technology, pop culture, history, geography, and general knowledge, testing[KR8]  comprehensively the participants’ awareness in different spheres of life. Quadsparks sees heavy participation, making for a thrilling final moderated by accomplished quizmasters.

Several other events are also organized under the Science and Technology category. For instance, Bad-Ad Hoc Hypothesis asks its participants to come up with hypotheses that are obviously false but have significant explaining power and self-consistency. Exhibitions highlight various recent innovations in the domains of science and technology, engaging the public. Honour Code is a coding battle in which participants attempt to develop solutions to real-world problems. Ideathon is a brainstorming event where participants have to come up with novel ideas to help the world. Pravega Innovation Summit (PIS) encourages entrepreneurship by organizing various seminars and talks by experts in the field. In 2022, Ankur Warikoo, a famous educator and entrepreneur, gave a mesmerizing talk to a large crowd.

2.    Cultural events

Among college and university fests, Pravega has become well - known for its cultural events. Among the most popular is Lasya, a competition that encourages participants to express themselves by dancing. Crescendo is a popular musical event where participants display their musical prowess before judges who are accomplished musicians themselves. Alekhya is a painting event where participants express themselves on the canvas. Shutterbugs is a competitive photography event where participants submit their best shots for judging. Dianoia is an oratory event where participants cross heels at nuanced topics of interest, present grand speeches, and have impromptu discussions. Proscenium and Footprints are theatre events showcasing street plays and stage plays. It presents a novel opportunity for participants to express stories through the visual medium, bringing them to life. Battle of Bands is a 1-v-1 battle of musical bands where their stage presence and musical abilities are judged. Elegante is a new event for fashion enthusiasts, presenting a terrific opportunity for designers and models to display their talent to a large audience. IISc MUN is a flagship mock UN event where participants represent various countries on a global stage, demonstrating their political and diplomatic responsibilities and giving fresh perspectives on major global issues. Cooking Without Fire is a new event demanding participants to construct a complete dish without fire, forcing them to think creatively and use other cooking techniques.

3.    Pronites: -

Pronites is the most popular Pravega event, consisting of energetic performances by several talented musical artists from various genres like Rock, Metal, Pop, Indie, etc. It usually goes on for 2-3 nights. The final act is typically performed by a popular artiste and draws huge crowds. In 2022, Raghu Dixit headlined as the main musical act.

4.    Other events: -

Apart from the Science, Technology and Cultural events, Pravega organizes a host of recreational and other miscellaneous events, making it a memorable experience for everyone. Stalls for many nostalgic gaming events are set up, and competitive online gaming is organized. Thrilling events like Treasure Hunt send the participants all over the campus searching for clues. Escape Room is a challenging event i n which participants are locked in a r oom and must use the clues that are laid out for them in order to find the key. Various popular indoor sports like chess are also organized. A Speed cubing event is also organized where participants are in a race against time to solve a Rubik’s cube. A Crime Correspondence (ACC) is a suspenseful event where participants are shown the scene of the murder and given a rough timeline of the events, following which they must solve the mystery of the murder with the help of their observational and deduction skills. Carnival events are also organized, followed by Open Mic sessions where participants give impromptu performances in front of a large audience.

Pravega also organizes workshops on various topics that are on the cutting-edge of research. The Pravega Campus Ambassador program establishes links with other institutes and offers lucrative rewards. Pravega also participates in IISc outreach programs. It was a major attraction on Open Day 2023.