Folk art forms should be preserved: Kanimozhi
The Hindu
P. Sudhakar
P. Sudhakar
THOOTHUKUDI
The objective of organising a rural folk art festival in modern days is to preserve these rich art forms that reflect the culture and the lifestyle of ancient Tamils and taking them forward to the generations to come, DMK MP M.K. Kanimozhi has said.
Inaugurating ‘Neithal,’ the four-day folk art festival here on Thursday, she said the folk art forms, the treasure of Tamil Nadu and Tamils that reflected the pride of a highly civilised society and raised questions against injustice and inequality, did not have caste or religious identity while some other art forms reflect are associated with religious faith.
The most popular ‘gana songs,’ a rural art form, were questioning injustice and inequality prevailing even today in a few parts and among some sections of the society.
“If we fail to preserve these art forms now and take them forward to the generations to come by organising festivals like this, only archaeological excavations will tell the world after a few hundred years like the artefacts we now retrieve in Sivakalai or Aditchanallur that these culturally-rich art forms once thrived in Tamil Nadu. Folk art forms that fostered brotherhood, social harmony and equality should be preserved, supported and passed on to the generations to come,” she said.
Minister for Fisheries and Animal Husbandry Anita R. Radhakrishnan recalled that ‘Chennai Sangamam’, organised by Ms. Kanimozhi in 2007 that gave an opportunity to the residents of Chennai enjoying the folk art forms of Tamils, had taken rebirth in Thoothukudi in the form of ‘Neithal’. Besides bringing to light the almost forgotten folk art forms, ‘Neithal’ had given space to traditional food and handicrafts of rural artisans, he said.