‘Vaazhiya Vaiyagham,’ a cultural extravaganza to celebrate Mother Earth begins in Chennai

Cultural extravaganza 'Vaazhiya Vaiyagham' in Chennai celebrates Tamil Nadu's rich heritage and environmental conservation efforts.

Tamil Nadu is a major centre for music, arts, dance and literature with Chennai being the cultural capital, Chief Justice of Madras High Court K.R.Shriram said here on Monday.

While speaking at the inauguration of ‘Vaazhiya Vaiyagham’, a week-long cultural event organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Bengaluru-Chennai) and Infosys Foundation, Bengaluru, he said, the State has an independent literary tradition dating back to over 2,500 years from the Sangam era and that this is an ideal platform to show respect to Mother Earth. 

“This cultural extravaganza ‘Vaazhiya Vaiyagham’ is an expression of concern and love for Mother Earth. As everyone knows, there are threatening factors, one of which is human activities, like deforestation and pollution of natural resources. These factors accelerate climate change and biodiversity loss,” he added.

Anita Sumanth, Judge, Madras High Court, said, “We must acknowledge the profound reverence for the environment embedded in the cultural heritage. This festival is like a clarion call for the little that we can do towards the preservation of the earth”.

N. Ravi, chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai Kendra, said the theme [of ‘Vaazhiya Vaiyagham’] is Mother Earth and all the performances are centred around it. The series, includes vocal, instrumental music, dance, theatre, villupaatu and literary expositions.

K.Venkitachalam, deputy director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Chennai Kendra, said there would be nine performances and an exhibition, across seven days.

Nalli Kuppuswami Chetty, vice-chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Sudha Seshayyan, director of SASTRA, Chennai campus and Suryanarayanan M S, associate vice-president of Infosys, Chennai also spoke.