THANJAVUR: Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Tuesday inaugurated the five-day cultural festival organised by Sangeet Natak Akademi at South Zone Cultural Centre. Speaking on the occasion, he said Tamil Nadu is home to a rich repertoire of folk, tribal and devotional hymns and Tamil music dates to the ancient times. Various references to the musical tradition could be found in the ancient Sangam literature, he said adding the ancient Tamil grammatical work Tolkappiyam mentioned the various musical expressions pertaining to the five landscapes.
Purohit, further, said that in post-Sangam period, Tamil music evolved to a different level of sophistication. Silappatikaram described music based on logical, systematic and scientific calculations in the arrangement of the dancers on stage to represent the notes and tunes, he said.
Purohit, who is the chairperson of SZCC, said it was important to establish cultural exchanges between people of different regions, to further bonding and nation-building. He also He appealed to the artists, the people and institutions engaged in the promotion of fine arts to carry forward the rich legacy, culture and tradition of our nation. The Governor also inaugurated ‘Cultural care centre for specially-abled children’ at the SZCC.
R Doraikkannu, Minister for agriculture, R Vaithilingam, Rajya Sabha MP, Shekhar Sen, Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi, A Annadurai, District collector, M Balasubramoniam, the Director of South Zone Cultural Centre were among those present. This festival is being jointly organised by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and South Zone Cultural Centre.