KTS 4.0: 50 TN teachers to teach Tamil in Kashi schools, 300 students to visit Tamil Nadu

Prof Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi, Vice Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), said on Saturday that a unique feature of this year’s Kashi Tamil Sangamam is the arrival of Tamil teachers proficient in Hindi to Varanasi.

These teachers will teach students in various schools across Kashi the basics of the Tamil language and its rich cultural heritage.

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The Tamil Section of the Department of Indian Languages, Faculty of Arts, BHU, is coordinating the initiative in collaboration with the Varanasi District Administration.

Fifty teachers and two coordinators have been trained using study material prepared by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) in Chennai.

These teachers will be assigned to 50 government and private schools selected by the district administration, where they will conduct 15-day modules to teach basic Tamil conversation to selected groups of 30 students each.

The five-volume study material prepared by CICT is specifically designed for teaching Tamil through the Hindi medium. In total, 1,500 students will learn spoken Tamil, further strengthening the core theme of this year’s Kashi Tamil Sangamam: “Let Us Learn Tamil.”

Another major highlight of Kashi Tamil Sangamam 4.0 is an educational tour to Tamil Nadu for 300 students from Varanasi. These students are being selected through an online quiz hosted on a dedicated portal developed by BHU. The quiz will be held on December 7. Selected students will learn Tamil and visit various culturally, spiritually, and historically significant sites and institutions in Tamil Nadu.

In addition, the Sayajirao Gaekwad Central Library of BHU will host a special exhibition of rare manuscripts and books featuring Tamil teaching resources. Beginning December 3, the exhibition will attract delegates from Tamil Nadu as well as BHU students and faculty. The library will also showcase audio-visual content and online resources available for teaching and learning Tamil.

Through this collaborative programme, BHU and IIT (BHU) aim to promote knowledge exchange, technological awareness, and cultural integration between different regions of the country—fully aligned with the broader vision of Kashi Tamil Sangamam 4.0. An Agastya Car Rally will also be organised from Tenkasi to Kashi.

Prof. Chaturvedi added that the programme is likely to be inaugurated on December 2 by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.