Many have written about Mamallapuram, but no one account is final when it comes to the ancient port town of the Pallavas. Arguments on its architecture, inscriptions and style still rage on. On the famous ‘Arjuna’s Penance’ in Mamallapuram, heritage expert R Gopu mentions Chicago-based art historian Michael D Rabe’s view that the great piece of art also means ‘the descent of the Ganges’. “If you look at it closely you will know there are a number of events based on various themes. That’s why scholars like Rabe say it is both ‘Arjuna’s Penance’ and ‘the descent of the Ganges’,” said Gopu, a software engineer.
From being a remote village with monuments buried under the sand to its revelation as a gallery of Pallava art, launching an era of historical fiction in Tamil and still concealing mysteries, the history of Mamallapuram’s rediscovery is as fascinating as the history of its construction, said Gopu on Saturday. He was speaking on ‘2000 years of Mamallapuram’ as part of Tamil Heritage Trust’s monthly lecture in the city.
The speech was, in fact, a journey in search of the history of the port town before it became kingdom of the Pallavas. “Ancient manuscripts like ‘Periplus’ (a 1st century AD document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks) talk about this port town. Astronomer Claudius Ptolemy (140 AD) also mentioned it in his work. Many ancient records also show it was a flourishing port town. So Mamallapuram was a great town even before the Pallavas,” he said.
Gopu used British surveyor general Colin Mackenzie’s maps and sketches to show how the port town was rediscovered by experts, poets and artists. “The map that Mackenzie prepared can even beat our satellite map today. It’s so clear and made creatively to suit the port town. We can say it was a satellite map during the time when there were no satellites,” he said. Veteran landscape painter Thomas Daniell’s sketches of Mamallapuram, during the time he toured India in 1784, still provide an old world charm of the port town. “The paintings of Daniell show some towers and landscape which are not seen today. It gives a clear idea of the old structures and towers. So it’s through these artists, scholars and poets, we should look at Mamallapuram. If not, the picture of this great historic town will be incomplete,” said Gopu.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN /June 07th, 2015
Although the city is yet to witness a lung transplant, it saw its first lung donation late on Friday night. The lung, which belonged to a 44-year-old tailor, was allotted to and retrieved by Chennai-based Fortis Malar Hospital. It airlifted the organ to the hospital the same night. The tailor, who died on Friday after intense bleeding in the brain, had donated five of his organs.
The Tirupur-based tailor suddenly fainted while working on June 11. He was rushed to a private hospital in Tirupur, where a severe issues in his brain was detected. He was moved to G Kuppusamy Naidu Memorial Hospital on Friday morning. The doctors at GKNM found there was severe bleeding in his brain. “Though he was given intensive care to control the bleeding, his brain functions began worsening. Over a few hours it began showing features of a brain stem dysfunction,” said a press statement from the hospital. Four different medical officers confirmed brain death.
Doctors were surprised because his condition looked like a hypertensive bleeding but the man did not have any history of illness. The patient’s family was counselled about his condition on Friday afternoon and they agreed to donate his organs. The Transplant Authority of Tamil Nadu was informed and they allotted his lung to Fortis Malar Hospital, his liver to Gem Hospital, the kidneys to PSG and SPT hospital, eyes to Aravind Eye Hospital and skin to Ganga Hospital.
While Coimbatore has seen donation and transplants of all other organs like the heart, kidneys, liver, skin and eyes, they were yet to donate lungs. The city has also not donated pancreas and small bowels yet. Tamil Nadu has seen 63 lung transplants so far.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / June 14th, 2015
Vintage Treasures: the car collection at Gedee Car Museum Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
G.D. Naidu’s love for automobiles is well documented at the Gedee Car Museum in the city.
So, this is how it feels to sit in Hitler’s favourite car. The bug-shaped vehicle has four seats. It is a so small that I have to duck my head while stepping out of the car. Yet, it is cosy and warm and just right for a family to enjoy a drive. At the GeDee Car Museum, the Volkswagen Beetle occupies pride of place. It is said the Fuhrer loved this car and urged his people to buy it as an investment. Called “the car at the price of a motorcycle”, it cost around Rs.850, those days. At the newly opened museum set up by G.D. Naidu Charities, I am tempted to hop into all the cars (there are 55 of them) – Chevrolet, Rolls Royce, Mercedes Benz, Porsche from the collection of the renowned industrialist G.D. Naidu. Some of them are Hollywood stars! For instance, the Love Bug has featured in almost six movies! The collection also includes rugged-looking vans of Fordson and Thames which were used as ice cream vehicles and carrier vans.
Vintage Treasures: the car collection at Gedee Car Museum Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
Automobile history unfolds before you as you walk down the curving hallway. There are interesting bits of information and stories wherever you turn like how Tutankhamun used the wheel in ancient Egypt. There are also pictures of steam engines and electric cars that were in vogue in Victorian England. “We are planning to extend the space. There are also workshops for restoration inside this campus,” explains Prem Saravanakumar, the museum guide.
Vintage Treasures: the car collection at Gedee Car Museum Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
Each car has a story to tell and is linked to world history. For instance the Bubble Car of the 50s and 60s was designed for the common man to commute during World War II in Europe. It can seat only the driver and a passenger. There are no doors on the side and the windshield of the car doubles up as the exit. These micro cars were manufactured for cheap transport for the locals.
Vintage Treasures: the car collection at Gedee Car Museum Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
The Rolls Royces tell a love story. The bonnet ornament has a lady leaning forward with her arms outstretched behind her. The emblem is called the “Spirit of Ecstasy”. The billowing robes of the lady stream past her like wings. According to legend, the bonnet ornament commemorated a secret love affair of John Montague, a pioneer of the automobile movement and Eleanor, the model for the emblem.
Vintage Treasures: the car collection at Gedee Car Museum Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
There is also a tribute to the good old ambassador. Cartoon strips show how the car has become indispensable to the Indian way of life. Caricatures show the car being used to bear the bride and groom at their wedding, hang out laundry and so on. Of course, it is also the status symbol for politicians and gangsters. Don’t miss the luxurious black limousine. “You can even host birthday parties here,” says Saravanakumar in all earnestness. I realise he is not exaggerating when I peep inside.
Vintage Treasures: the car collection at Gedee Car Museum Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
Inside there is a fridge, shining glassware, a television set and a phone for the passenger to talk to the chauffeur! At the end of the hall, a young man on a bike surveys you from a black and white photograph. G.D. Naidu looks happy riding a Rudge Multi, a vintage bike made in 1912. Saravanakumar tells me why he looks so happy in the photo.
Vintage Treasures: the Rudge Multi used by G.D. Naidu Photo: S. Siva Saravanan / The Hindu
While working in his father’s farm, G.D saw a British officer zipping past him in what he thought as a ‘strange looking vehicle having two wheels creating a funny noise’. It was love at first sight. He tracked down the officer, helped him clean the vehicle and service it. He vowed to save up enough money to buy a similar bike for himself some day. He did not have to wait long as the officer was so taken with his passion that he sold it to him for Rs. 300. There are other black and white photographs of G.D. Naidu taking classes, holding workshops and shaking hands with other automobile tycoons. The museum is indeed a tribute to this man of humble beginnings, who emerged to become one of the biggest automobile entrepreneurs in the world.
(The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays. The fee is Rs.50. For details, call 0422-2222548.)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Parshathy J. Nath / June 11th, 2015
Dr. R. Kalaikovan with Dr. M. Nalini and Dr. R. Akila at the Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple in Srirangam. Photo: M. Srinath
This trio of scholars has been steadily working to chronicle the temple heritage of southern India
“The history that has survived for so long surely knows how to take care of itself,” says Dr. R. Kalaikovan, an ophthalmologist who balances his medical practice with his ardent love for researching the state’s past, particularly through its temples.
Assisted by his former students and now experts in their own right, professors M. Nalini and A. Akila, Dr. Kalaikovan has been the brain behind the Tiruchi-based Dr. M. Rajamanikkanar Centre for Historical Research Centre, named after his father, the outstanding scholar and Reader of Tamil at the Madras University.
A distinction student at school-level history, the young Kalaikovan opted to study Medicine at the Madras Medical College, and followed it up with a Diploma in Ophthalmology. He shifted to Tiruchi after marriage in the 1970s. “From 1975-80, I was strictly an ophthalmologist. I had no knowledge of history but for what I had learned in my school days,” he recalls.
In 1980, the priest of Woraiyur’s Panchavarna Swamy temple invited Dr. Kalaikovan for a prayer of thanksgiving after the successful cataract operation that he had done on him.
“After the prayer, while taking a look around, I came across the carving of a bicycle on a pillar behind the Amman temple,” says Dr. Kalaikovan. “It was so funny and intriguing to see the picture of a cycle in an ancient temple. But neither the officials nor the scholar who wrote its history, were able to explain how it came there. I started researching this fact.”
Through multiple forays into the history of the bicycle (which was invented in Germany in 1800s), and the Chola-era Woraiyur temple, he theorised that the vehicle was possibly a novelty in Tiruchi of the 1920s, when the temple had been renovated. “Perhaps the sculptor had seen someone on a cycle, was impressed by it and had recorded it forever on stone,” says Dr. Kalaikovan. “After this I got so interested in temple history, that I could no longer leave it.
“The builder of the temple, Kochengannan Chozhan, was the first to develop the typical temple complex in the 5th century. He premiered the concept of building temples on a maada (raised platform), followed by the Vimana (tower above the sanctum-sanctorum), to protect the structure from the flooding of the Cauvery.”
The centre has since found 34 such temples in the State.
Detailed projects
Among the many achievements of this trio of scholars is a district-wise directory of all the 105 cave temples of the State, a seven-volume magnum opus that took ten years to complete. “There is a line of thought among English-language historians that cave temple architecture doesn’t belong to Tamil Nadu, and was an idea copied from Maharashtra or the Kalinga empire. We have only 20 large cave temples, but the sculptures are excellent. And there is a difference in style and presentation, which we want to prove conclusively in our next publication,” says Dr. Kalaikovan.
The other major work of archival value that the team has undertaken is a detailed exploration of the nine monoliths of Mamallapuram.
With a sense of a teacher’s pride in his brilliant students, Dr. Kalaikovan credits Nalini and Akila for their dedication in highlighting temples as centres of history. “Around 1000 inscriptions have been found by these two scholars,” he says. “There are a lot of people, but few with dedication in historical research. Of the 60 students I have coached, 50 are women, but they have disappeared after graduation, due to domestic constraints. I request more women to come forward to work in archaeology, history and temple study, because they have a sense of devotion and attention to detail that is missing in men.”
Epigraphic snapshots
Dr. Nalini, associate professor of history at the Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College, describes the cave temple directory as her best work to date. She was drawn towards epigraphy as a specialisation in her Ph.D, when she compared temple inscriptions between a fertile and barren area of Perambalur. “We were able to discover many details about the life and agricultural output of the villages through these inscriptions,” she says.
“When we discover an inscription, we inform the print media first and then the government authorities, so that they can copy it when they are on a tour here. Even though the Tamil alphabet has evolved, most of the meanings are to be interpreted through palaeographic study and through the historical references of the period,” she adds.
“Inscription study gives real history,” says Dr. Kalaikovan. “An inscription is like a register of events, showing the connections of the temple to society and political authorities. For example in Thirumayam, there is a Perumal temple and Sivan temple in the same campus. At the end of the 13th century, it was separated for worship. The details of this partition were decided by a committee of villagers, scholars and outside observers. The treaty discusses how the two temples would be separated, and also how the common areas would be used. It really surprised us to see the amount of balance and objectivity despite the quarrel behind the issue,” says Dr. Kalaikovan.
Guiding youngsters
Dr. Akila, who is an assistant professor of history at Arignar Anna Government Arts and Science College, Musiri, joined the centre as a student in 1989. Unable to secure a place in M.Phil after her Masters degree, she was advised by Dr. Kalaikovan to apply directly for her Ph.D at Bharathidasan University instead. Her highly-commended thesis on the Pazhuvur temple was the first to be written in Tamil.
Her work on the Mamallapuram monoliths, which included identifying the builder and recording the epigraphy, is perhaps the most detailed project of its kind on the historical relic.
“Since I’m now in the field, and want to improve, I try to guide the students in temple study, in its architecture and inscriptions,” says Dr. Akila. “Recently, a third-year student told us about a slab with an inscription at the Thirukameswar Temple, Vellore, which Nalini was able to identify and decipher. We usually give the credit to the students who spot the inscriptions, to help them with their projects.”
Save the legacy
Some facts may never emerge from the veil of times past, concedes Dr. Kalaikovan. “There is no doubt at all that our temple builders had real scientific knowledge. But unfortunately they have not recorded it in either literary or epigraphic form,” he says. “The temple builders never cared for their names, they only wanted to leave the structures behind as their legacy.”
Which makes it all the more important for the succeeding generations to take care of them, says Dr. Kalaikovan. “Temples should be treated as sacred history spaces, and maintained by the community. We must teach the people how to enjoy the temple and keep it clean for worship.”
***
Fact file
Dr. M. Rajamanikkanar Centre for Historical Research was established in 1982 by his son Dr. R. Kalaikovan, an ophthalmologist. Dr. M. Nalini and Dr. R. Akila are its honorary assistant-directors.
The centre publishes an annual magazine called Varalaaru. Its monthly web-zine titled varalaaru.com is run by five software professionals with an interest in history, and has 109 issues online so far.
Besides a vast database of research material generated by its own scholars, the centre also periodically guides students and holds awareness programmes on temple preservation.
Dr. Kalaikovan may be emailed at kalaikkovanr@yahoo.com
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Nahla Nainar / June 12th, 2015
There is a theory that Cooum, a polluted river in Chennai is a corruption of Komaleeswaram.
In South India, any spot where a river suddenly turns north is considered particularly holy. A temple usually comes up at this bend. Our polluted Cooum River is no different. After flowing placidly west to east, it takes a turn northwards at Egmore, forms an oxbow around Chintadripet and then flows east to the sea. The little hamlet that nestles in this bend is Komaleeswaranpet.
The village takes its name from its Shiva temple where the Lord is Komaleeswarar and his consort, Komalambika. There is also a theory that Cooum is a corruption of Komaleeswaram. This must have been a sylvan locality around 400 years ago, the river sending wafts of cool breeze. It became an urban settlement in the 1730s when Chintadripet on the opposite bank developed. The main thoroughfare of the village led from the temple and came to be known as Pagoda Street, after the British term for any Hindu place of worship.
This street, backing as it did on to the river, became the place of residence of the well-to-do. Chief among these was Dubash Pachayappa Mudaliar, who in a short lifespan of 40 years (1754 to 1794), earned an enormous fortune, most of which is today used for running educational institutions. Srinivasa Pillai, who wrote Mudaliar’s biography in the 1840s, has it that Pachayappa built his house “at the hermitage like Komaleeswaranpet which takes its name from Lord Shiva.”
Pachayappa’s neighbours on Pagoda Street were Muniappa Pillai, a wealthy businessman and Swami Naick, a Native Dresser in the Army. All three have streets commemorating them in Komaleeswaranpet. Swami Naick is also remembered in a small monument set within a triangular park. Pagoda Street is now Harris (Adithanar) Road, a broad thoroughfare.
Local tradition has it that all the aristocrats of the village worshipped Komaleeswarar. Pachayappa’s will, however, does not mention any donation to it. The temple had a unique festival when flowers would be brought in coracles along the river. Today, this can only be imagined. The flourishing grey market for automobile parts that constitutes Pudupet has cut off the Cooum from Komaleeswarar. Sailing in the Cooum would be impossible anyway.
When you enter Temple Street, you are transported back to the 1800s. Old houses line the sides. The temple has acquired a tower in recent years. A broad courtyard leads to the small sanctum, which has sadly been modernised with polished granite and vitrified tiles. But the pillars and ceiling of the pavilion fronting it retain their antiquity with carved figures on them. A stone slab in the kitchen records a renovation done in 1818 by one Kuppammal, wife of Triplicane-based Baba Sah, a cloth merchant of the Saurashtra community. Donors of this century have not been as aesthetic as her in recording their munificence. Huge black granite slabs set out their deeds in gaudy gold lettering.
Komaleeswaranpet brings a whiff of old Madras, and sadly, a lot of the Cooum.
(Sriram is passionate about Chennai history and Carnatic music, and has several books to his credit)
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Sriram V / June 12th, 2015
The silver ring with the emblem of a fish found on the Amaravathi riverbed. Photo: Special Arrangement
A silver ring with an inscription in the ancient Tamil Brahmi script has been found reportedly from the Amaravathi riverbed at Karur in Tamil Nadu. The highly stylised script depicts the punctuated Pandya fish emblem.
Ms Beena Sarasan, an expert in numismatics, who purchased the ring from an antique dealer, suggested that the script reads “peruvazhuthi.”
Peruvazhuti is the name of a Pandya king who, according to the Tamil sangam tradition, has performed several vedic yagas and rituals . The letters are engraved in bold and legible characters.
The full name of this Pandya king was Palyagasalai Mutukutumi Peruvazhuthi who finds mention in several early Tamil sangam songs.
Dr. M.R. Raghava Varier, former Professor of Epigraphy, Calicut University said the letters on the ring can be attributed to an early stage of evolution of the Tamil Brahmi characters on the basis of the palaeographical features of the script.
Dr. Varier observed that the characters representing the peculiar Dravidian sound “Zha” show the earliest form of the letter found in the cave labels of Arittappatti- Mangulam group of inscriptions of the 3rd or 2nd century BCE.
The characteristic rightward stroke of the Tamil Brahmi letters as suggested by earlier scholars are also present in the third letter “Va”. The artefact is a valuable find in the historical and epigraphical studies of ancient Tamilakam, Dr. Raghava Varier added.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Kerala / by E. M. Manoj / Kalpetta (Kerala) – June 01st, 2015
Growing up in Delhi, Mohan Verghese Chunkath used to play ‘kitchen table scrabble’ with his siblings and parents. What started out as a pastime became a passion and today, despite a demanding career, the senior bureaucrat is a force to reckon with in the war of words. Chunkath recently won the Bayer National Scrabble Championship 2015 held in Mumbai from May 29 to 31.
“I have been playing scrabble since my childhood, but it was a family game and never played one on one, there were always three of four of us playing together,” says Chunkath, who began playing competitive scrabble in the 1990s.
“I had gone to the US on study leave, and began going to the local club to play. I got interested in competitive scrabble and went from rookie to expert level while I was there,” says Chunkath, director, Anna Institute of Management, and additional chief secretary and director general of training, Tamil Nadu.
He became the first person to represent India in the world scrabble championship held in Melbourne in 1999. “I also participated in the world championships in 2001 and 2007 but work pressure was building up,” says Chunkath. The demands of his growing career meant that he couldn’t devote as much time for competitive scrabble though he did play on the net or sometimes with friends. “I almost drifted out of competitive scrabble, but after my change of job in December 2014, I came back to the scrabble scene,” he says. In January 2015, he participated in iGate International Scrabble Tournament held in Bangalore.
For the voracious reader, scrabble is chess with words. “There is a lot of strategy involved, and a lot of nuances to the game — you track tiles that are played, work with probability, know what is in your bag, what your opponent is likely to have in his bag, how to maximize your offence and defence. It is an interesting hybrid between skill and luck,” says Chunkath.
The championship he recently won saw him pitted against the best. “Indian scrabble players have become very strong and the games were fought very keenly,” says Chunkath. “Younger players have an advantage as don’t get fatigued easily. We played a fairly gruelling number of games – on the first day we played eight games, nine on the second day and though I was supposed to play eight games on the third day, I was able to wrap up after playing just seven,” says the 59-year-old, who beat Sherwin Rodrigues, a player in his mid-20s.
According to him, the future of scrabble in India is very bright. “With the stellar spelling bee performances by Indians in the last decade, scrabble is just waiting to explode in India,” he says. “There is tremendous potential.”
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / by Priya M. Menon, TNN / June 04th, 2015
If all goes well, Coimbatore will be the first city in Tamil Nadu to get a Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS). The final City Mobility Plan report submitted to the commissioner of municipal administration in Chennai on June 8 found that this system was feasible for Coimbatore.
The civic body is discussing the project with a government agency from Germany for funds. “We have sought 853crore for the first phase of BRTS and the delegation has responded positively. Soon after funds are allocated, the city corporation will lay a separate road for BRTS on Avinashi Road and Mettupalayam Road,” a senior corporation official said. Officials also plan to look at other avenues of funding including the World Bank.
To begin with 90 AC buses will be purchased to ply on the route. The BRTS envisages two dedicated lanes for buses to ply at high frequency. “As of now, more than 42% of residents use some form of public transport in the city. This will only increase in future. Thus, the ideal solution is BRTS,” the officer said.
The corporation had come up with the proposal to introduce BRTS, aimed at improving the public transport system and decongesting roads, last February. Soon after an announcement to this effect by former mayor SM Velusamy, commissionerate of municipal administration ordered a feasibility study by ICRA Management Consulting Services Limited.
Subsequently, ICRA picked Avinashi Road and Mettupalayam Road and conducted a detailed study. “The final city mobility plan was submitted a few days ago. We discussed the plan regarding the first phase, with officials in Chennai,” said the officer.
The civic body is now awaiting approval from the state government. Once the approval comes, the corporation will acquire land from Ukkadam to Thudiyalur on Mettupalayam road and from Ukkadam to Chinniyampalayam on Avinashi Road.
A few people are however skeptical about the project. “Mass Rapid Transport Systems have not yielded desired results in several cities in India. In Coimbatore, land acquisition poses a major hurdle. We need at least 30m of land along the entire stretch to implement BRTS. Besides, there are several connecting roads on either side of Avinashi and Mettupalayam Roads. The BRTS should not block these roads,” said D Nandakumar, president of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore chapter.
At a meeting called recently by collector Archana Patnaik and corporation commissioner K Vijayakarthikeyan with stakeholders to discuss the mobility plan, questions about land acquisition and compensation for land owners were raised. For now, the authorities seem confident that land acquisition would go smoothly.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by A. Subburaj, TNN / June 12th, 2015
He could not meet the man who sent him palm leaf manuscript of Tamilvidu Thoothu
It may sound like a tragic romantic story in which the lovers never get to meet each other.
U. Ve. Swaminatha Iyer, the grand old man of Tamil, had a lasting regret that he never got to meet a man who had sent him a rare palm leaf manuscript of Tamilvidu Thoothu , an anonymous Tamil literary work in 264 stanzas.
In an essay, ‘Innum ariyen’, Iyer narrated his failure to meet the man who had brought the manuscript. Apparently, the man was in financial trouble and was hiding from his creditors. He was not able to preserve the manuscripts and sent them through Swaminatha Iyer’s student Sambasivam Chettiyar in 1900 in Kumbakonam.
“Iyer’s regret was that not only was the author ofTamividu Thoothu unknown, he could not meet even the person who preserved the manuscripts,” said P. Saravanan, who is compiling 165 articles written by Swaminatha Iyer during various periods.
Most of these articles had appeared inSwadesamitran , Kalaimagal , Ananda Vikatan ,Kalki and little known journals such as Darul Islam , Aadal Paadal and Silpasree . Twenty of these were never published.
Book release in August
Mr. Saravanan, a postgraduate Tamil teacher at the Chennai Corporation School, said the book would run into 1,000 pages and ‘Kalachuvadu’, the publisher, had plans to bring it out in three volumes .
It will be published in August with a preface by Professor A.R. Venkatachalapathy of Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS), who encouraged Mr. Saravanan to take up this venture.
“While compiling the book, I have depended on the first edition, and the second edition that contained corrections carried out by Swaminatha Iyer himself. I am saying this because subsequent editions are rampant with errors,” said Mr. Saravanan, who has already published the prefaces of Swaminathan Iyer titled Saminatham.
In search of
missing flowers
In Uthirntha Malar , Iyer had explained his journey in search of three flowers mentioned inKurinjipattu .
Nilavil Malarntha Mullai talks about the surprise discovery of a work called Mullaipattu .
Mr. Saravanan said Swaminatha Iyer had also reviewed Sangakaalathil Chera Mannargal , a book penned by Raghava Iyengar in 1937. Sanga Tamizhum Pirkala Tamizhum , originally delivered as a 10-day lecture at the Madras University, runs into 200 pages.
“A news reporter in Swaminatha Iyer can be spotted in the essay he wrote in 1904 about Tiruvidaimarudhur Vasantha Mahotsavam,” said Mr. Saravanan.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by B. Kolappan / Chennai – June 02nd, 2015
A patient being examined at the Department of Neurology at Thanjavur Medical College on Tuesday.— Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam
The Thanjavur Medical College has been granted its first Medical Super Speciality Course – DM Neurology.
The Medical Council of India (MCI) has permitted one seat of three-year DM Neurology course from the 2015-16 academic year.
Already the college has three surgical super speciality courses .
Disclosing this to The Hindu , TMC Dean P.G.Sankaranarayanan said the MCI gave its nod after approving faculty, special equipment and infrastructure for the department. Candidates who have completed MD General Medicine and MD Paediatrics are eligible for selection through entrance examination for the course.
Apart from addressing the neurological care needs of poor patients, particularly from rural and semi-urban areas, the course would usher in a definite improvement in the teaching component in the medical colleges in the zone, Dr.Sankaranarayanan said. Treatment for brain and spinal chord conditions such as stroke, myelitis and demyelinating disorders would see significant improvement.
The Thanjavur Medical College was started in 1959 and at present offers postgraduate courses in psychiatry, orthopaedics, general surgery, general medicine, anaesthesia, dermatology, chest medicine, anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, paediatrics, ophthalmology, and surgical super specialty courses such as neurosurgery, plastic surgery and paediatric surgery apart from the staple 150 MBBS seats every year.
Candidates who have completed MD General Medicine and MD Paediatrics are eligible for the course
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National / by L. Renganathan / Thanjavur – May 30th, 2015
