Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a month-long event titled ‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’ today , in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The ‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’ is being organized in Varanasi from November 17 to December 16 with the objective to rediscover, reaffirm and celebrate the age-old links between Tamil Nadu and Kashi.Guided by the vision of the Prime Minister, promotion of the idea of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ has been one of the major focus areas of the government. In yet another initiative reflecting this vision, ‘Kashi Tamil Sangamam’, a month-long programme, is being organised in Kashi (Varanasi )

The objective of the programme is to celebrate, reaffirm and rediscover the age-old links between Tamil Nadu and Kashi – two of the country’s most important and ancient seats of learning. The programme aims to provide an opportunity for people from all walks of life including scholars, students, philosophers, traders, artisans, artists etc. from the two regions to come together, share their knowledge, culture and best practices and learn from each others’ experience. More than 2500 delegates from Tamil Nadu will be visiting Kashi. They will participate in seminars, site visits etc to interact with local people of similar trade, profession and interest. A month-long exhibition of handlooms, handicrafts, ODOP products, books, documentaries, cuisine, art forms, history, tourist places etc of the two regions will also be put up in Kashi.

The endeavour is in sync with NEP 2020’s emphasis on integrating the wealth of Indian Knowledge Systems with modern systems of knowledge. IIT Madras and BHU are the two implementing agencies for the programme.

Students of (Banaras Hindu University) BHU and other Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs) will be participating in the academic programmes. They will study the comparative practices pertaining to various sectors in the two regions and document the learnings. The first group of delegates consisting of 200 students started their tour from Chennai on November 17.

Along with this, a month-long exhibition of handlooms, handicrafts, One District One Product (ODOP) products, books, documentaries, cuisine, art forms, history, tourist places and others of the two regions will be put up in Varanasi for the benefit of the local people. During the inaugural programme, the Prime Minister will interact with the delegates coming from Tamil Nadu. The inauguration ceremony will witness various cultural performances such as vocal renditions by Ilaiyaraaja, and book releases.