மங்காப் புகழும் மங்கிய சுவடும் - சமணத் தமிழனின் சரித்திரம்

தமிழ்ப் பாரம்பரியம்

(Tamil Heritage Trust)

presents

மங்காப் புகழும் மங்கிய சுவடும் - சமணத் தமிழனின் சரித்திரம்

by 

Prof. Kanaka Ajitha Doss

at 5.30pm on Saturday, June 1st, 2013

at Vinoba Hall, Thakkar Bapa Vidyalaya, T Nagar.

About the Topic:

Jainam (Samanam) has had a long but chequered, recorded history over a period of more than 2500 years in peninsular India (Dravida desa). Playing a dominant role in the cultural milieu of the Tamils, it had left indelible marks on the thought and life of the people.

Jaina vestiges in the form of monuments, sculptures, paintings, inscriptions etc. are found throughout  the length and breadth of Tamizhagam. Their contribution to literature and grammar is immense and there is no parallel anywhere. The Tamil script is the singular contribution of the Jains. These throw light on the socio, economic and religious life of Tamil people and speak about the glorious heritage of the past .

As to the Samanas, the glory is there due to their contributions to Tamil literature, grammar and ethics but the pity is that they are completely forgotten by the other Tamils.

About the Speaker:


Speaker Prof. Kanaka Ajitha Doss retired as Head of the Department of Plant Biology and Plant Biotechnology, Presidency College, Chennai. He otained his PhD from Presidency College & Madras Medical College. He has published many research articles in his field.

A practising Jaina, he has written three books on Jainism in Tamil covering an introduction to Jainism, Jaina Temples of Thiruparuthikunram/Kanchipuram and on Digambara Munis who developed Tamil as a classical language and their contribution to Ahimsa. He has translated two Jaina works from English and Manipravala to Tamil, written three plays and a novel on Jaina themes and has written a commentary on Kiriya Kalabam, a very old and sacred work of Jaina Acharyas, editing and expanding an older commentary by Vidur Poornachandra Sasthriyar.

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

Summer camp - some pictures

Around 25 children participated in the summer camp Tamil heritage Trust conducted yesterday and today at the Ragasudha Hall, near Nageswara Rao Park in Mylapore.

Day 1, first session was a multimedia introduction to Gandhi by VR Devika.

Second session was Arvind Venkatraman talking about bronzes, bronze making and bronze statues.

Third session was Bhushavali doing a workshop on block printing. A piece of cloth transformed in to a சுருக்குப் பை (cloth bag with strings).

After Day 1, children left home, happy and dirty with acrylic paint, but also a bag that they could show their classmates and teachers.

Day 2 started with a short session by Pradeep Chakravarthy, explaining a "double-meaning" poem of Poet Kalamekam (காளமேகப் புலவர்). The poem, comparing and eventually declaring a coconut and a dog to be the same is given below:

ஓடும் இருக்குமதன் உள்வாய் வெளுத்திருக்கும்
நாடும் குலைதனக்கு நாணாது - சேடியே
தீங்கான தில்லாத் திருமலைரா யன்வரையில்
தேங்காயும் நாயுமெனச் செப்பு

Session 2 was Udhayakumar talking about 50 common vegetables consumed in India today. We started planning for 100 vegetables in the beginning, then cut it down to 50, but eventually managed to only talk about around 30 or so for lack of time. 

The last session was Oviar Chandru, interacting with children, getting them to understand the basics of drawing and painting. Children sketched flowers, vegetables and leaves and coloured them with water colour. You can see what they have done here.

I have videographed the four lecture sessions and will add them online soon.