E-Paper
Kashi Tamil Sangamam 4.0 to be held in two phases across UP and Tamil Nadu
The education ministry’s initiative, with this edition’s theme centred on Learn Tamil–Tamil Karkalam, will help students from Uttar Pradesh to learn Tamil
New Delhi: The fourth edition of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam (KTS 4.0) will be held in two phases — December 2 to 15 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, and December 16 to 30 in Tamil Nadu — to celebrate the “cultural and deep civilizational links” between Tamil Nadu and Kashi, officials said on Saturday.
The initiative by the Union education ministry is aimed at strengthening the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’, with this edition’s theme centred on Learn Tamil–Tamil Karkalam, enabling students from Uttar Pradesh to learn Tamil.
“Around 50 teachers from Tamil Nadu who also know Hindi will come to Kashi. Each teacher will teach 30 students in various schools in Varanasi, so nearly 1,500 children in Kashi will learn Tamil by the end of the programme,” higher education secretary Vineet Joshi said.
Upon completion of the programme, all participating students will receive certificates of participation, he added.
Joshi said that 300 college students from Uttar Pradesh, including Varanasi, will travel to Tamil Nadu in the second phase of KTS 4.0 from December 16 to 30 for a 15-day Tamil language learning programme.
The Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), Chennai, will provide orientation and learning materials, while host institutions will organise academic and cultural tours highlighting Tamil Nadu’s heritage, traditions and historic ties with Kashi, he said.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi, will once again serve as nodal institutions, supported by central ministries and the Uttar Pradesh government.
IIT Madras director V. Kamakoti said the theme aims to “promote the richness of Tamil language across the country.”
More than 1,400 delegates from Tamil Nadu will participate in KTS 4.0 across categories such as students; teachers; writers and media; agriculture and allied sectors; professionals and artisans; women self-help groups; and spiritual scholars.
Apart from Varanasi, delegates will visit Prayagraj and Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh and engage in seminars, cultural programmes and interactive sessions.
The activities planned for KTS 4.0 include Tamil learning sessions in Kashi and the Agasthya Expedition, a cultural trail from Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, following a route passing through Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh, and associated with Sage Agasthyar.
Awareness campaigns on Siddha medicine and classical Tamil texts will also be held through digital displays.
Around 110 stalls will be set up at Namo Ghat in Varanasi by various central ministries, along with sessions hosted at BHU on themes connecting the knowledge traditions of Kashi and Tamil Nadu.
The programme will conclude on December 30 with a valedictory event in Rameswaram, marking the symbolic culmination of this year’s cultural exchange.
The third edition of KTS was held between February 15 and 25 in 2025. The first and second editions were held in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
