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 The Mylapore Trio organize Indian Culture Congress December 12, 2019 Sri Sumukhi Rajasekharan Memorial Foundation organised the second annual INDIAN CULTURE CONGRESS on 8th December 2019 at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore, Chennai. The conference organized by the Mylapore Trio (Kalakshetra alumni and cultural ambassadors of Mylapore) on "Indian culture and civilization" was for scholars and connoisseurs. Professors and Heads of Dept. of History, Archaeology, Tamil from various city colleges, historians, archaeologists, cultural activists, heritage lovers, artists, Ph.D and M.Phil scholars and foreign students, actively participated. The conference was presided by Leela Ganapathy, an art historian and an octagenarian - Prof and Head, (Retd) Department of History of Arts, Govt. College of Fine Arts, Chennai. The chief guest was versatile personality Revathy Sankkaran. The highlight of the conference was the presense of a group of Chinese students in traditional attire, who have come to India to study Tamizh culture. They have christened themselves in pure Tamizh names and spoke in chaste Thamizh. An assistant professor in history from Stella Maris College presented a research paper. Dancer Swathy Mohan decked up in typical traditional Devadasi style, danced with the traditional Kumbha Arathi which engulfed the audience in a spell. This was an extension of Sugathan's research paper on the "Cultural life of the Devadasis".  The program began with the Foundation Anthem. Dr.S.Amarnath welcomed the audience and spoke about the importance of culture. He emphasized the importance of Mylapore in the cultural arena. He further said that Nataraja being the symbol of Indian culture, all disciplines weave around him. Surendranath opined that the Sumukhi Rajasekharan Foundation has been a pioneer in promoting unsung heroes in Fine Arts and likewise this venture would support academic novice into limelight. Surendranath, an art director by profession, expressed love and gratitude to Prof. Leela Ganpathy, who was Sumukhi Amma's student and also happened to be his own Professor. Aparna introduced the research scholars, their topics and their research supervisors and professors. She also shared her experiences in Kalakshetra with Guru Sharada Hoffman under whom she learnt dance for nearly a decade. Leela Ganapathy commended the efforts of the Mylapore Trio in endorsing culture and tradition, their Golus in temples and other cultural value based events. The conference was for the students, by the students and of the students. The highlight of the culture congress was that all of them were in traditional attire of dhothis and sarees. Research scholars presented their findings on various genres of culture - temples, dance, music, sculptures, architecture, puppetry, inscriptions, koovagam, devadasis, Tamil culture, Kalakshetra etc. Many interesting questions were shot at the scholars. The Chairperson, Chief Guest and the President of the Foundation, Aparna and Amarnath added facts and flavor to the students' content. The whole session lasted for three hours. The research students were given a platform to express their views for more than 10 minutes. The conference is the brainchild of Surendranath who designed the brand. Lord Nataraja became the symbol of the culture conference since He is the representation of Indian culture. The banner, invite, folders, files, writing pads, certificates were all created with that in mind. A traditional temple style wood carving design was adapted in all these to give an ethnic and traditional look. |
