CHENNAI: Coins made of terracotta, models made from paper, clay and ice cream sticks, and hand-drawn paintings made by the students hung on the walls mark the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the Akshaya Vidya Trust and the Vedavalli Vidyalaya Schools. Students from classes six to 11 prepared models and presentations around the theme “My Town My Pride” at the CP Arts Centre, Alwarpet, which highlighted the towns Walajapet, Arcot and Ranipet in Vellore.
The project is an attempt to spread awareness among locals and students on the rich heritage and history of these towns. “We worked with the communities and not just the students to create awareness. We are unable to reach out to people as they were unable to claim ownership of their heritage. This is an attempt to make them understand their town,” said Vidya Sampath, Dean and Director of the school. The idea was suggested by Vice Principal Deepa, who wanted history to be more accessible to the students.
The chief guest, His Highness Muhammed Abdul Ali Khan, the current Nawab of Arcot, expressed his happiness at the inclusion of communities in the exhibition. “History cannot be changed or erased at any cost. Nobody can distort history. We need to preserve our multi-cultural, multi-religious society. Secularism must be protected and preserved,” he said, adding that he wished for students to grow into accepting individuals by learning from India’s rich history. The guest of honour was Dr Nanditha Krishna, the President of the C P Ramasami Aiyar Foundation.
The students’ hard work reflected in their meticulous exhibits and their presentations. One such presentation was on the Kanchanagiri Temple located near Ranipet. The temple is located on top of a hill, where all the rocks are in the shape of lingams. A rock called Maniparai makes the sound of a bronze bell when struck. “I was amazed by the sound of the rocks when we went to visit the place. However, there is a lot of dust in the temple. Our God, who gave us life, stays there and we should not pollute his temples,” said M Priyadarshini, a class 8 student of Vedavalli Vidyalaya School.