#KashiTamilSangamam: Celebrates Confluence of Cultures

• Kashi Tamil Sangamam Phase 2 to be held from December 17 to 30, 2023

• IIT Madras launches Registration Portal; Calls for application from people of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry

• Nearly 1400 people to travel to Varanasi for immersive experience

• Exchange of domain specific knowledge, fostering people to people connect towards the objective of this Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat Programme

The stage is all set for Kashi Tamil Sangamam Phase 2 with the launch of its registration portal by IIT Madras on 27^th November, 2023. The second edition of this Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme is proposed to be held from December 17^th, the first day of the holy Tamil Margali month, to 30^th December 2023. Like its first edition, this programme proposes to take forward the objective of reviving the living bonds between Varanasi and Tamil Nadu – two important centres of learning and culture in ancient India – by facilitating people to people connect across different walks of life.

In Phase 2 of KTS it is proposed that around 1400 people from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry will travel by train to Varanasi, Prayagraj and Ayodhya for an 8 day immersive tour, including the travel time. They will be divided into 7 groups of around 200 each, comprising students, teachers, farmers & artisans, traders& businessmen, religious, writers, professionals.  Each group will be named after a sacred river (Ganga, Yamuna, Saraswati, Sindhu, Narmada, Godavari and Kaveri)

The delegates will see places of historical, tourist and religious interest and interact with people of UP from their domains of work.  KTS 2.0 would have a crisper format with emphasis on awareness generation & outreach, people to people connect and cultural immersion. The focus would be on increased engagement and interaction with local counterparts (weavers, artisans, artists, entrepreneurs, writers etc) to get insights into best practices, enhance learning and cross pollination of ideas.

The first edition of Kashi Tamil Sangamam was held from November 16^th to December 16^th 2022, with a whole of government approach. Over 2500 people from Tamil Nadu, representing  12 different walks of life, had travelled to Varanasi, Prayagraj and Ayodhya on 8 day-tours, during which they had an immersive experience of different aspects of life in and around Varanasi.

For further details, please visit : https://kashitamil.iitm.ac.in/