Visva-Bharati holds national symposium and exhibition on the Thirukkural
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Visva-Bharati University held a two-day national symposium and exhibition on the Thirukkural on October 7-8, 2026, with the Central Institute of Classical Tamil.
What Happened
Visva-Bharati University in Santiniketan, West Bengal, held a two-day national symposium and exhibition on the Thirukkural, the classical Tamil work attributed to the poet Thiruvalluvar, on October 7 and 8, 2026. The event was organised jointly by the Tamil Language Unit and the Marathi Language Unit of the university's Bhasha-Bhavana, in collaboration with the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), Chennai. It opened with an exhibition on the Thirukkural, followed by seminar sessions, and concluded on Thursday, October 8, according to a report on the event.
Key Facts
- Venue: Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal.
- Dates: October 7 and 8, 2026.
- Organisers: the Tamil Language Unit and Marathi Language Unit of Bhasha-Bhavana, Visva-Bharati.
- Partner: the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Chennai.
- Format: an exhibition on the Thirukkural, followed by a national-level symposium.
- Themes: sessions discussed the work's universality and contemporary relevance, and its literary, philosophical and social significance.
- Participants: scholars, teachers and researchers from different parts of the country, according to the report.
- The Thirukkural is an ancient Tamil work of ethical verse made up of 1,330 couplets.
Why It Matters
The Thirukkural is a work of ethical verse, and the symposium chose to discuss it as a source of universal human values rather than only as a piece of regional literature. That approach is exactly the kind of work that efforts to bring Indian knowledge traditions into higher education aim to encourage.
Where the event took place matters too. At Visva-Bharati, in West Bengal, a Tamil classic was studied through a partnership between the university's Tamil and Marathi language units and a national institute based in Chennai. That kind of cross-language scholarship is how a text written in one Indian language becomes part of a shared national conversation, and how students in one region come to read the classics of another.
The involvement of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil is also significant. Its partnership gives the event academic weight and links a campus in eastern India to specialist expertise in the south. Exhibitions of this kind also make an old text visible to students who may never take a formal course in Tamil.
For readers, the event is a reminder that India's knowledge traditions are not only Sanskrit-based. Classical works in Tamil and other Indian languages carry their own traditions of ethics and philosophy, and events like this one bring them into university study.
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Event | National symposium and exhibition on the Thirukkural |
| Host | Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan |
| Organisers | Tamil and Marathi Language Units, Bhasha-Bhavana |
| Partner | Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Chennai |
| Dates | October 7-8, 2026 |
Impact
Short-term: Students and faculty at Visva-Bharati were introduced to the Thirukkural through an exhibition and scholarly sessions.
Long-term: Collaborations like this between language departments and national institutes can help classical works in Indian languages reach students in other regions, supporting wider study of Indian knowledge traditions.
Who is affected: Students and teachers of Indian languages and literature, researchers in Indian philosophy and ethics, and readers interested in classical Tamil literature.
Key Takeaway
Visva-Bharati University held a two-day symposium and exhibition on the Thirukkural on October 7-8, 2026, with the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, focusing on the Tamil classic's universal values.
Questions and Answers
What event did Visva-Bharati hold on the Thirukkural?
It held a two-day national symposium and exhibition on the Thirukkural in Santiniketan on October 7 and 8, 2026.
Who organised the event?
The Tamil and Marathi Language Units of Visva-Bharati's Bhasha-Bhavana organised it in collaboration with the Central Institute of Classical Tamil, Chennai.
What is the Thirukkural?
It is an ancient Tamil work of ethical verse attributed to the poet Thiruvalluvar, made up of 1,330 couplets.
What did the symposium discuss?
Sessions covered the Thirukkural's universality and its relevance today, along with its literary, philosophical and social significance.
Disclaimer: Prepared by the Peepals newsroom from publicly available sources with AI assistance. Information is accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication and may change. Images may be representative. Not professional advice. Report an error via our contact page.
Sourced and fact-checked by the Peepals Global Editorial Team
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Reported, fact-checked and published by the Peepals Global Editorial Team.
