23rd June 2010 would be a day lettered in gold within the annals of our glorious history. It was the day when the World Classical Meet, a conference of one of its kind was inaugurated by H.E The President of India. Why classical language status for Tamil? What is the background of this conference? Let us examine these questions in the course of this article.Tamil, as a language has an undisputed history of more than 1,500 years, to say the bare minimum. Its literature is replete with texts of moral importance and literary richness. The culture of the Tamil country has been described in its fullest length by the TAMIL TEXTS. History has it that Tamil as an oriental language has attracted and mesmerized not only its speakers, but also foreigners and overseas visitors. On the early summer morning of June 14(notwithstanding the tsunami alert), I was taking a long stroll along the Marina along with my father, when I crossed a certain distance the statues which line shore began to steal my attention.However, to me, two statues were an apparent misfit. One was a statue of the Rv.George Uglow pope, who was a foreigner and Veeramamuinvar(Constanzo Beschi); both these names were new and surprising to my mind. Back at home, I did a bit of research and came to know of the fact that both these personalities were Tamil scholars. This is an evidence to prove my earlier statement. The former was one of the first men to translate the evergreen Thirukkural and the later a Tamil savant of national repute. This is what is called true service to world heritage. This is just one example which is easily recallable. Zooming to the next question, as to what does classical language status mean and why should such a place be awarded for Tamil, the answer is an effortless one, any language,in order to be elevated tothe status of a classical language status needs to fulfill some decisive criteria like antiquity, large body ancient texts etc; Tamil has fulfilled all these criteria in a fitting manner. In the year 1924, a scholar named Suryanarayna Sastri, the self-styled Parthimar Kaliangar made a demand to declare Tamil a classical language, ever since there has been constant requests to elevate Tamil to the status of a classical language. In lieu of such requests Tamil was given the unique honour of joining Sanskrit, a language of venerable importance in the honorary list of World classical languages and the UNESCO Memory of the world register.
 |
| Dr.Asko Parpola receiving the Classical Tamil award from the President of India |
In 2004, the govt took a decision to declare Tamil a classical language, once a language is given this status it is binding on the govt to allocate funds for the purpose of development of the said language. Following this decision, the govt established the Central Institute of Classical Tamil in Chennai. Several Tamil conferences have been held in the past to promote Tamil and its heritage, but this conference stands out in glowing singularity due to its grandeur and public response. The conference as a whole aimed at arranging for academic discussions and public speeches by established scholars and linguists, at the start of this historic conference,Dr.George.L.Hart who holds the chair in Tamil studies at the University of Berkley made a magnificent speech in chaste Tamil, which was peppered with verses form the Purananoru and the Thirukkural amazing everyone who was present at the conference.Next,Dr.Asko Parpola,a historian and linguist at Finland was awarded the first Kaliangar Karunanidhi Classical Tamil Award, in recognition of his magnum opus titled, DECIPHERING THE INDUS SCRIPT. The conference went on for a period 5 days. The valedictory function which was held on the evening of the 27th was chaired by the Minister of Finance, Shri pranab Mukherjee who gave a glittering end to this conference by his brilliant oration. All in all, this conference was an eye-opener to many, a knowledge gaining experience for many. At this eventful point in time my heart goes out to all those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of studying and preserving this language which was rescued from near extinction by a scholar named U.V.SWAMINATHA IYER in the late 1800s as it was he who retrieved the Tamil classics from the decaying plant leafs and manuscripts and breathed life into it by doing so. May the glorious language of Tamil continue to be a beacon for all those who wish to follow moral values and preserve our timeless heritage, which has permeated our social fabric, and is by itself a product of a priceless civilization, which is unmatched and unrivalled.
 |
| Hon.Finance Minister,Shri Pranab Mukherjee presiding over the valedictory function |
 |
The magnificent venue which housed the conference
|
