தமிழ் பாரம்பரியம்
(Tamil Heritage Trust)
presents
A Scholar King – The Life and Times of Serfoji II of Thanjavur
by
Pradeep Chakravarthy
at 5.30pm on Aug, 4th, 2012
at Vinobha Hall, Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya, T Nagar.
Synopsis:
Serfoji II (1798
– 1833) is a king who many of us don’t know much about but should. He ruled
Thanjavur for a short period but his achievements are truly magnificent. He had
every excuse for wasting his life by drinking, hunting, womanizing. He was only
the ruler of the Thanjavur fort and had a pension from the British. Serfoji,
however choose to be universally regarded as a scholar prince.
He created
the Thanjavur style of painting that is so popular today, he maintained and
enlarged the library to such an extent that the library bears his name today,
he created a printing press, sponsored ship building, opened schools, wrote
text books with a creative touch, was a practicing surgeon, maintained a zoo,
and was a classic example of something we need much more today –
broadmindedness and true secularism!
The one hour lecture with visuals and music delve into some fascinating
contributions of a man who was much ahead of his times.
Speaker:
Pradeep
is today one of the most sought after speakers on heritage in Madras. A
graduate from LSE and an executive coach for one of India’s
multibillion USD IT organizations, he mixes history with socio-political
and economic trends. His talks and walks are appreciated for their
incorporation of music and his ability to make the past relevant for the
present and future. is the author of three critically acclaimed books
and has 3 more in press. His most famous book was on the cultural
history of Thanjavur.
RSVP:
A. Annamalai: Gandhi Study Centre - gandhicentre@gmail.com; 94441-83198
Badri Seshadri: Kizhakku-p-padippakam - badri@nhm.in; 98840-66566
S. Kannan: Bank of Baroda - 2498 5836
S. Swaminathan - sswami99@gmail.com; 2467 1501
R. Gopu, writergopu@yahoo.com, 98417-24641
T. Sivasubramanian, siva.durasoft@gmail.com, 98842-94494