The Kashi Tamil Sangamam’s second
edition, which aims at rediscovering, reaffirming and celebrating the age-old
links between Tamil Nadu and Kashi, will be held from December 17-30.
Kashi and Tamil Nadu are the two of the
country’s most important and ancient seats of learning. The first edition was a
month-long event organised last year.
“In Phase-2 of KTS (Kashi Tamil Sangamam)
it is proposed that around 1,400 people from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will
travel by train to Varanasi, Prayagraj and Ayodhya for an eight-day immersive
tour, including the travel time,” stated an official.
They will be divided into seven groups
of around 200 each, including students, teachers, farmers, artisans, traders,
businesspeople, religious, writers and professionals.
“Each group will be named after a sacred
river (Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sindhu, Narmada, Godavari and Kaveri),” said the
official of the Education Ministry.
Like the first edition, this edition too
is being organised by the Education Ministry in collaboration with other
ministries such as culture, textiles, railways, tourism, food processing,
information and broadcasting, and the Uttar Pradesh Government.
On the second edition, the official
said, “The delegates will see places of historical, tourist and religious
interest and interact with people of Uttar Pradesh from their domains of work.”
KTS 2.0 would have a crisper format with
emphasis on awareness generation and outreach, people-to-people connect and
cultural involvement.
Stalls exhibiting art and culture,
handlooms, handicrafts, cuisine, and other special products of Tamil Nadu and
Kashi will be set up.
“Cultural programmes blending the
cultures of Tamil Nadu and Kashi will be organized at Namo Ghat in Varanasi,”
he said.
Seminars, discussions, lectures, on
various facets of knowledge like literature, ancient texts, philosophy,
spirituality, music, dance, drama, yoga, ayurveda, handlooms, handicrafts as
well as the modern innovations, trade exchanges, edutech and other gen next
technology will be highlights of the event.
“Apart from experts and scholars, local
practical practitioners from Tamil Nadu and Varanasi will also participate in
these exchanges so that a body of practical knowledge and innovations can
emerge from the mutual learning in different fields,” he said.
To capitalise upon learning from the first
edition and given their reputation for research, IIT Madras will serve as the
implementing agency in Tamil Nadu and the Banaras Hindu University in Uttar
Pradesh.
“IIT Madras has called for applications
on the KTS portal launched today, from people of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry who
wish to participate in the programme. The selection of delegates will be done
by a selection committee constituted for the purpose,” the official said.
PTI
