The Prime Minister inaugurated ‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’ – a month-long programme being organised in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on November 19.
About Kashi Tamil Sangamam
- The programme is being organised under the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’. The objective of the programme is to celebrate, reaffirm and rediscover the age-old links between Tamil Nadu and Kashi – two of the country’s most important and ancient seats of learning.
- More than 2500 delegates from Tamil Nadu will be visiting Kashi. They will participate in seminars, site visits etc to interact with local people of similar trade, profession and interest.
- A month-long exhibition of handlooms, handicrafts, ODOP products, books, documentaries, cuisine, art forms, history, tourist places etc of the two regions will also be put up in Kashi.
- The endeavour is in sync with NEP 2020’s emphasis on integrating the wealth of Indian Knowledge Systems with modern systems of knowledge.
- IIT Madras and BHU are the two implementing agencies for the programme.
Key facts
- During the programme, the Prime Minister also released a book ‘Tirukkural’ along with its translation into 13 languages.
- He also witnessed a cultural programme followed by aarti.
- The Prime Minister underlined Tamil Nadu’s contribution to the development of Kashi and recalled that Tamil Nadu-born Dr Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan was the Vice Chancellor of BHU.
- He also mentioned the Vedic scholar Rajeshwar Shastri who lived in Kashi even though he had his roots in Tamil Nadu.
- He said that the people of Kashi also miss Pattaviram Shastri who lived on Hanuman Ghat in Kashi.
- The Prime Minister informed about the Kashi Kaam Koteshwar Panchayatan Mandir which is a Tamilian temple on the banks of Harishchandra Ghat, and the two-hundred-year-old Kumarswamy Matt and Markande Ashram on Kedar Ghat.
- The Prime Minister also mentioned the great poet and revolutionary, Shri Subramania Bharathi who hailed from Tamil Nadu but lived in Kashi for many years. He informed about BHU’s pride and privilege in establishing the chair dedicated to Subramania Bharati.
