Mini-Tamil Nadu: Connecting Kashi with Kanchi 

Express News Service

VARANASI: For the 250-odd households dwelling in Hanuman, Kedar and Harishchandra Ghats of Varanasi – referred to as mini Tamil Nadu within the coronary heart of the holy metropolis – the just-concluded Kashi Tamil Sangamam (KTS) rekindled the traditional join between Kashi and Kachi. 

The bond between this cultural metropolis in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is centuries-old, as a number of mutts and temples – some even having Dravidian architectural designs – have been attracting hundreds of Tamil pilgrims not solely from India however overseas – primarily to carry out the after-life rituals of deceased households conduct for his or her pricey ones.

Ok Venkat Ramana Ghanapati, the primary individual of Tamil origin, to be appointed because the Trustee at Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust by the UP authorities. (Photo | Express)

“The ties between Kashi and Tamil Nadu are centuries-old as it is the abode of Lord Shiva. We are delighted that this first-of-its-kind initiative was taken to revive and further strengthen our connection,” Ok Venkat Ramana Ghanapati, a Vedic pandit and the primary individual of Tamil origin, who has been made Trustee at Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust by the Uttar Pradesh authorities, informed TNIE. The announcement was made throughout KTS.

“The Kashi Tamil Sangamam not only brought to limelight the flourishing Tamil culture and traditions, which is so much part of this temple-town but also helped in highlighting the many contributions of our ancestors and saints in the areas of arts, culture and education,” added Ghanapati, who’s the fifth-generation priest and lives in a 100-year-old home close to Harishchandra Ghat.

Ghanapati, whose great-grandfather was the one who had come to Varanasi, and selected to cool down right here, stated it was certainly a “proud feeling” when he met and interacted with the two,500 delegates, together with monks, farmers and college students from all throughout Tamil Nadu for the month-long KTS,  which ended December 16.

As one enters his home, within the labyrinth of lanes and bylanes, it’s simple to identify boys and younger males, clad in white dhoti, with their foreheads smeared with horizontal tilak, talking in Tamil. Even the signage is in Tamil in some locations and boasts of a ‘New Madras Café, ‘New Madras Tour Travels’ and ‘Hotel Tamil Nadu.’

“I feel honoured and proud that I am the first Tamilian to be made the trustee of the Kashi Vishwanath temple,” stated Ghanapati, who each day feeds over 100 to 150 folks, who go to him, scrumptious staple south Indian meals. 

Just a number of metres from Ghanapati’s place is the home the place famend Tamil author, poet and freedom fighter late Subramania Bharati lived. A small portion of the home, which was renovated right into a museum, was just about inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Ok Stalin on December 11.

Though the beautifully-renovated portion, close to Hanuman Ghat, is but to open for the general public, passers-by nonetheless pause to admire it as a result of of its historic significance.

In the primary home, Bharati’s grand-nephew, Prof. Ok V Krishnan, 96, lives together with his youngest daughter, Dr Jayanti Murali, and her household.

“We all are so happy that this event was held. It was not only successful in celebrating the many contributions of Tamilians living here for generations but who helped in shaping the history of this ancient city.”

“The most wonderful thing about the Tamilians who have been living here for many generations is that they kept their traditions and culture alive. They never left it,” Dr Murali, a professor of Hindustani music on the Chaudhary Devi Lal University, informed TNIE.

“We talk in our mother tongue, Tamil; we eat the same food, follow the same festivals, and even our marriage rituals are the same. Each generation carried this tradition forward,” she stated, and proudly narrated how everybody in her household, together with her, bought married on the small shiva temple located within the central courtyard of the home.

She added that the world is called mini-Tamil as a result of, from the boatmen to pandits to shopkeepers, everybody talks in Tamil, although a few of them aren’t even Tamilians.

“What we are celebrating today was written by Subramania Bhartiji at that time. He had said that ‘sit in Kashi and listen to Kanchi, and sit in Kanchi and listen to Kashi.’ Now, that is what is happening,” stated Dr Murali, the sixth-generation dwelling together with her household.

Dr Murali, who throughout KTS acquired delegates, wanting to go to the nice freedom fighter’s home, each various day, stated, “no one ever thought earlier of organising such a mega event that has revived the age-old connections between Kasi and Kanchi.”

Now the bridge has been established, we hope it will proceed, she hoped.

VARANASI: For the 250-odd households dwelling in Hanuman, Kedar and Harishchandra Ghats of Varanasi – referred to as mini Tamil Nadu within the coronary heart of the holy metropolis – the just-concluded Kashi Tamil Sangamam (KTS) rekindled the traditional join between Kashi and Kachi. 

The bond between this cultural metropolis in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu is centuries-old, as a number of mutts and temples – some even having Dravidian architectural designs – have been attracting hundreds of Tamil pilgrims not solely from India however overseas – primarily to carry out the after-life rituals of deceased households conduct for his or her pricey ones.

Ok Venkat Ramana Ghanapati, the primary individual of Tamil origin, to be appointed because the Trustee at Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust by the UP authorities. (Photo | Express)“The ties between Kashi and Tamil Nadu are centuries-old as it is the abode of Lord Shiva. We are delighted that this first-of-its-kind initiative was taken to revive and further strengthen our connection,” Ok Venkat Ramana Ghanapati, a Vedic pandit and the primary individual of Tamil origin, who has been made Trustee at Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust by the Uttar Pradesh authorities, informed TNIE. The announcement was made throughout KTS.

“The Kashi Tamil Sangamam not only brought to limelight the flourishing Tamil culture and traditions, which is so much part of this temple-town but also helped in highlighting the many contributions of our ancestors and saints in the areas of arts, culture and education,” added Ghanapati, who’s the fifth-generation priest and lives in a 100-year-old home close to Harishchandra Ghat.

Ghanapati, whose great-grandfather was the one who had come to Varanasi, and selected to cool down right here, stated it was certainly a “proud feeling” when he met and interacted with the two,500 delegates, together with monks, farmers and college students from all throughout Tamil Nadu for the month-long KTS,  which ended December 16.

As one enters his home, within the labyrinth of lanes and bylanes, it’s simple to identify boys and younger males, clad in white dhoti, with their foreheads smeared with horizontal tilak, talking in Tamil. Even the signage is in Tamil in some locations and boasts of a ‘New Madras Café, ‘New Madras Tour Travels’ and ‘Hotel Tamil Nadu.’

“I feel honoured and proud that I am the first Tamilian to be made the trustee of the Kashi Vishwanath temple,” stated Ghanapati, who each day feeds over 100 to 150 folks, who go to him, scrumptious staple south Indian meals. 

Just a number of metres from Ghanapati’s place is the home the place famend Tamil author, poet and freedom fighter late Subramania Bharati lived. A small portion of the home, which was renovated right into a museum, was just about inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Ok Stalin on December 11.

Though the beautifully-renovated portion, close to Hanuman Ghat, is but to open for the general public, passers-by nonetheless pause to admire it as a result of of its historic significance.

In the primary home, Bharati’s grand-nephew, Prof. Ok V Krishnan, 96, lives together with his youngest daughter, Dr Jayanti Murali, and her household.

“We all are so happy that this event was held. It was not only successful in celebrating the many contributions of Tamilians living here for generations but who helped in shaping the history of this ancient city.”

“The most wonderful thing about the Tamilians who have been living here for many generations is that they kept their traditions and culture alive. They never left it,” Dr Murali, a professor of Hindustani music on the Chaudhary Devi Lal University, informed TNIE.

“We talk in our mother tongue, Tamil; we eat the same food, follow the same festivals, and even our marriage rituals are the same. Each generation carried this tradition forward,” she stated, and proudly narrated how everybody in her household, together with her, bought married on the small shiva temple located within the central courtyard of the home.

She added that the world is called mini-Tamil as a result of, from the boatmen to pandits to shopkeepers, everybody talks in Tamil, although a few of them aren’t even Tamilians.

“What we are celebrating today was written by Subramania Bhartiji at that time. He had said that ‘sit in Kashi and listen to Kanchi, and sit in Kanchi and listen to Kashi.’ Now, that is what is happening,” stated Dr Murali, the sixth-generation dwelling together with her household.

Dr Murali, who throughout KTS acquired delegates, wanting to go to the nice freedom fighter’s home, each various day, stated, “no one ever thought earlier of organising such a mega event that has revived the age-old connections between Kasi and Kanchi.”

Now the bridge has been established, we hope it will proceed, she hoped.