NEW DELHI: The centre has announced a month-long Kashi Tamil Sangamam, which aims to rediscover the links between the two ancient knowledge, culture and heritage centres, from November 16.
The announcement was made at a joint press conference addressed by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying L Murugan on Thursday.
Pradhan also launched a website for registration.
The month-long Sangamam will be organised in Varanasi from November 16 to December 19, during which academic exchanges – seminars, discussions etc. will be held between experts, scholars on various facets of the two ancient manifestations of Indian culture, with a focus on bringing out the links and shared values between the two, Pradhan said.
The minister announced that the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti (BBS) or the High Powered Committee for Promotion of Indian Languages, headed by Chamu Krishna Shastry, has come up with the proposal to rediscover, reaffirm and celebrate the links between the Tamil culture and Kashi that have existed for centuries. The Committee has been constituted by the Education Ministry.
The broader objective is to bring the two knowledge and cultural traditions closer, create an understanding of our shared heritage and deepen the people-to-people bond between the regions, he said.
Pradhan said that India is a symbol of civilisational connectivity.
He said the Sangamam would be an ideal platform to understand the unity in India’s civilisational assets through two historic centres of knowledge and culture.
The Sangamam, which will be held in the auspicious Karthigai Tamil month, has been organised under the overall framework and spirit of “Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat.” The idea is to create a bridge between ancient India and the current generation, Pardhan said, adding that it will also help in connecting people and languages.
IIT-Madras and Banaras Hindu University are the knowledge partners and will host organisers of the Sangamam.
The Sangamam will be centred on themes covering various facets of knowledge – literature, ancient texts, philosophy, spirituality, music, dance, drama, yoga, Ayurveda, handlooms, handicrafts, and as modern innovations, trade exchanges, edutech and other gen-next technology.
It will also be a unique learning experience for students, scholars, academics, practising professionals, etc., on various facets of Indian Knowledge Systems, education and training practices, arts and culture, language, literature, etc., he added.
It is proposed that practitioners of these knowledge streams from different parts of Tamil Nadu will be invited for an eight-day visit to Varanasi and its neighbouring areas.
It is proposed that around 210 people from different parts of Tamil Nadu, including from Chennai, Rameswaram and Coimbatore, will be taken in one group for a period of eight days. 12 such groups, comprising around 2500 people, can visit over a month, officials said.
These groups have been identified, including students, teachers, literary (authors, poets, publishers), cultural experts, professionals (practising arts, music, dance, drama, folk art, yoga, Ayurveda), entrepreneurs (Small Medium Enterprises, start-ups) business people, (community business groups, hoteliers,) artisans, heritage related experts (archaeologists, tour guides, bloggers) etc.
At the end of the Sangamam, the people of Tamil Nadu will get an immersive experience of Varanasi, which is the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the people of Kashi will also get to know the cultural richness of Tamil Nadu through a healthy exchange of knowledge-sharing experiences - events, visits, conversations, he added.