THE WORLD CLASSICAL TAMIL CONFERENCE INAUGURATED BY THE PRESIDENT.
The
President said in her speech that many concepts intrinsic to
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
Tamil is an old living language with an extraordinary volume of literature and grammar, the President said Tirukkural, written by Thiruvalluvar, was a remarkable treatise on life in total Silapathikaram and Manimekalai were classics, as were the epics of Jeevakachintamani, Kamba Ramayanam, and the soul-stirring hymns of Nayanmars and Alvars. The poems and songs of Subramania Bharati evoked in the minds of the people “deep feelings of patriotism during our freedom struggle.”
Emphasizing
that “the history of the Tamils is our nation`s pride,” she said the Tamil
ethos based on pluralism, tolerance and a humanistic approach had contributed
in a variety of ways to
The next generation of Tamils must anchor as well as equip themselves with knowledge of Tamil culture, literature and values, the President said.
Professor Parpola said the Union government had rightly recognised Tamil as a classical language, the status that it fully deserved in view of “its antiquity and its rich literature that in quality and extent matches many other classical traditions of the world.”
