Jeyanthi S
The World Tamil Conferences are a series of occasional conferences held by the government of Tamil Nadu, which aim to unite Tamil people around the world.
The ninth World Tamil Conference (and the first world Classical Tamil Conference) was held in the city of Coimbatore in June 23 to 27, 2010. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi unveiled the logo at the Secretariat in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, Information Minister Parithi Ellamvazhuthi, scholars V.C. Kulandaiswamy and Iravatham Mahadevan, Chief Secretary K.S. Sripathi, Tamil University Vice-Chancellor M. Rajendran, and Special Officer for the conference K. Allaudin. With Coimbatore getting ready to host the World Classical Tamil Conference in June 2010, industrial associations in Tamil Nadu have sought measures on a war-footing to improve the roads and water bodies in the city.The image of saint-poet Thiruvalluvar’s statue in Kanyakumari, lashed by tsunami waves and encircled by seven icons from the Indus Valley Civilization, forms part of the logo of the World Classical Tamil Conference to be held in Coimbatore in June. The number of icons stresses the importance of ‘seven’ in the lives of Tamils.
The logo emphasizes the ideal of the mankind that it should always be free of narrow walls of race, creed and caste differentiation. The message is found in a palm leaf manuscript at the bottom of the statue and has been declared the motto of the meet.
According to an official release the figures of the Indus Valley Civilization icons, found in the logo, symbolize the Dravidian civilization, which is regarded as one of the four ancient civilizations. Tamil, a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent has an official status in the Indian state of TamilNadu. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore. It is one of the twenty-two scheduled languages of India and the first Indian language to be declared as a classical language by the government of India in 2004. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in Malaysia, Mauritius and Réunion as well as many people of Tamil origin around the world.
President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore, Mahendra Ramdas, who was part of the delegation reported that the delegation focused primarily on short-term infrastructure development as visitors would be coming from different countries and other parts of the State. The existing roads would not be enough to handle the traffic to and from the CODISSIA Trade Fair Complex, the venue for the conference. In May 2010, Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi launched the website (www.ulakathamizhchemmozhi.org) for the World Classical Tamil Conference to be held in Coimbatore in June 2010.According to news sources the website which is designed in Tamil and English, has various sections relating to the theme of the conference. Announcements made on the meet, the significance of Coimbatore and the historical background of the declaration of Tamil as a classical language. A provision for online registration has also been made on the website.
Also included on the website are links to the Tamil University, Tamil Virtual University, and International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil (INFITT), Thinnai and Project Tamil has been provided in the website.
According to news releases M. Rajendran, Tamil University Vice-Chancellor and coordinator of the Academic Committee for the meet, explained in detail features of the website.
Later, Mr. Karunanidhi told reporters that a massive rally would be taken out on June 27, 2010, the final day of the conference. The meet would begin on June 23, 2010. Several committees are being formed in connection with the meet. The expenses of the conference would be monitored by the Chief Secretary, Finance Secretary, Special Officer and the District Collector. The government would meet whatever requirements indicated by the officials.
The theme song by the renowned music director of international fame A.R.Rahman for the World Classical Tamil Conference, encapsulating the contributions of Tamil culture and literature down the ages, was officially launched by its author and Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi at a function during May 2010.
Mr. Karunanidhi said that it was no mean feat to illustrate in a poem the glory of different classical works written in various periods ranging from the Sang am era to the post-Sangam period, including those of Kamban and Kalamegam.
Explaining the central message of the song, the Chief Minister said all were equal by birth and they should have the feeling that they remained so even later and they should live as one race.
The conference, to be held in Coimbatore in June 2010, would begin with the rendering of the theme song.
Pointing out that the song would popularize the Tamil meet; the Chief Minister said 205 scholars from 27 countries would attend. There would be 53 experts from Sri Lanka, 37 from Singapore, 29 from Malaysia, 22 from the U.S. and 14 from Canada.
He said that for nearly 70 years, he had devoted himself to the promotion of Tamil language. He respected those who worked for the language.
A.R. Rahman is scoring the music for the song. As per the Chief Minister, the music director who is still recovering after a spinal surgery, was an example of how confidence and hard work would make one successful and his life would serve as a role model for youth.
Tamil is a universal language, according to Mr. Rahman who said it should not be confined to a small circle. How would the Coimbatore conference be different from the earlier World Tamil Conferences? The Coimbatore meet would be as special as the Chennai meet that had been held under C.N. Annadurai’s leadership several years ago. The Chief Minister added that infrastructure improvement schemes would be taken up in Coimbatore district. The Conference should be used to foster unity among Tamils, said the Chief Minister and was keen that political parties should transcend their differences on occasions that would reflect Tamil sentiments and promote the language. Participants are a total of 1,244 delegates from various countries.
Click here to cancel reply. There had been a controversy regarding the non-inclusion of the poet Kamban, or his work, Kamba Ramayanam by a few scholars including Indira Parthasarathy. Respecting the sentiments of such scholars, Mr. Karunanidhi had a relook at the song and included a reference to the poet. On May 15 2010, the revised theme song, scored by A.R. Rahman and filmed by Gautham Vasudev Menon, was launched at a function here.
Kamban is an extra-ordinary poet who is hailed as Kavi Chakravarthi. Subramany Bharatiyar identified Kamban, Thiruvalluvar and Ilango Adigal as the trinity of Tamil poets. K.A. Nilakanta Sastri (1892-1975), historian and author of the seminal work, A History of South India, described Kamba Ramayanam as the greatest epic in Tamil literature.
“In the Tamil literary firmament, Kampar shone like a star, inaccessible to others,” M. Varadarajan (1912-1974), known as Mu.Va and widely regarded as an authority in Tamil studies, wrote in A History of Tamil Literature, an English version of which was published by the Sahitya Akademi in 1988.
Both Mu.Va (widely regarded as an authority in Tamil studies) and Nilakanta Sastri did not accord much value to other works of the poet. In fact, Mu. Va wrote that Kamba Ramayanam was the only work that upheld Kamban’s fame as a poet. On the question of the quality of work produced by Kamban, both Mu. Va and Nilakanta Sastri were emphatic in saying that though Valmiki Ramayanam was the basis of the work, Kamba Ramayanam was neither a translation nor a prototype of the original.
He had also recorded the position of some scholars that it was only due to Kamban the cult of Rama spread to the whole of the country. Besides, Kamban’s work is characterised not just by the beauty of the language, magnificent descriptions and embellishments but also the poet’s insight into human nature.
The first World Classical Tamil Conference got off to a rousing start in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu India on 23.10.2010 in the presence of a massive gathering. Distinguished speakers, led by President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, hailed Tamil, which has the oldest literature among the living languages of the world.
Inauguration
Inaugurating the five-day event on 23.06.2010, the President of India Pratibha Patil said that many concepts intrinsic to India’s society and critical to its polity were found in Tamil discourse over the millennia. The message of peace, universality and the spirit of equality was propounded in a Sangam poem more than 2000 years ago, she said, referring to a poem in Purananooru.
Award
She presented the Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Award to Asko Parpola, renowned Indologist, for his work on the Dravidian hypothesis in the interpretation of the Indus script. He said Old Tamil was best preserved in Dravidian linguistic traditions.
Classical status
Presiding over the inauguration, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi said there was a worldwide consensus that Tamil possessed greater merits than the 11 parameters laid down for declaring a language classical. “Tamil is not only an international language; it is like a mother for all the languages of the world,” he said.
Governor Surjit Singh Barnala, who handed over the first copy of the conference souvenir to Ms. Patil, referred to the influence of the Tamil language in several important language families of the world and said the language had been ever-growing.
27.06.2010
The first World Classical Tamil Conference, 2010 in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India came to an end on 27.06.2010 with Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi announcing a plan of action for Tamil promotion and development.
Delivering the valedictory address of the five-day conference (23.06.2010 to 27.06.2010), Mr. Karunanidhi said a Rs.100-crore fund would be established for Tamil development. This would be a follow-up to the “good work” done at the meet.
The Chief Minister said efforts would be taken for translating well-known Tamil works into other Indian, Asian and European languages. Significant works of other languages would also be translated to Tamil. The government would create “genetic heritage gardens” in five distinct zones of the State as spelt out in the Sangam poetry.
Noting the presence of Union Ministers for Finance and Home Affairs Pranab Mukherjee and P. Chidambaram on the occasion, the Chief Minister appealed to the Centre to extend financial assistance for a number of initiatives announced by him.
The proposed Tholkappiyar Classical Tamil Sangam at Madurai would take efforts for conducting the World Classical Tamil Conference periodically. Referring to the 15-year long gap in holding a mega Tamil meet, he assured people that this would not recur. On the Sri Lankan Tamils question, Mr. Karunanidhi said no political solution had been found so far. “This is a matter of pain and deep concern to lakhs and lakhs of world Tamils who have gathered at this World Classical Tamil Conference.”
He called for a detailed plan to carry out marine archaeological research on the mythical Kumari continent and Poompuhar. He reiterated his request made earlier to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for locating the proposed Indian National Institute of Epigraphy in Chennai.
Presiding over the function, Mr. Mukherjee expressed the hope that lessons from the conference would inspire many more accomplishments in future.
Describing the Chief Minister as a man of perfection, he commended him and the State government for the successful conduct of the Conference. Referring to the popular response to three exhibitions held as part of the WCTC, he said this was evident in the fact that the duration of the exhibitions was extended by a week.
Mr. Chidambaram wanted Tamil books to be published in different disciplines such as science, law, economics and geology. He suggested that at least 100 titles be published in such disciplines, for which a sum of Rs. 10 lakh would be required by authors and publishers for each title. Totally, Rs. 10 crore would be needed and this was not a big amount for the State government.
The Union Minister requested the Chief Minister to ensure that the amount was set apart. Mr Karunanidhi, in his address, responded to his suggestion positively.
Next World Classical Tamil Conference
The World Classical Tamil Conference (WCTC) will be held in Tamil Nadu State once in five years, according to Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.
Giving an account of the scale of participation in the conference, he said 913 papers on 55 subjects were presented. Of the total number of papers, 152 were submitted by foreign delegates. There were 2,605 delegates, including 840 foreigners. About 1.7 lakh people visited the general exhibition in the last four days. The WCTC souvenir contained 129 articles and 34 poems.
Around 1.5 lakh people witnessed various events at the conference complex every day. About five lakh people watched the pageantry taken out on the inaugural day on 23.06.2010. The Rs.30-meal was provided to four lakh people.
As for the Tamil Internet Conference (TIC) that was held concurrently, there were 500 participants and 110 papers presented. Over one lakh people visited the Internet Exhibition. The TIC souvenir had 130 articles.
Noting that Rs.68.5 crore was spent on organising the WCTC, the Chief Minister said a sum of Rs.243 crore was set apart for infrastructure development in and around the city of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu.
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