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2020
Award Lecture by Madhusudhanan Kalaichelvan, Winner of the first THT-Prof S Swaminathan Heritage Award at 5.30 pm, on Saturday, October 3, 2020
Topic: "Chenganma: A Cultural Map" / "செங்கண்மா: ஒரு பண்பாட்டு சித்திரம்"
YouTube Link
The Award Lecture:
The Tamil Heritage Trust-Prof S. Swaminathan Heritage Award aims to
recognize an individual who has made exceptional contributions towards
the understanding, dissemination and preservation of Indian Heritage,
thus encouraging interest and involvement of the general public and
raising the awareness and appreciation of India's rich history,
literature, arts and culture. The Winner of the Award is invited
to deliver an Award Lecture.
The Speaker:
Madhusudhanan Kalaichelvan is the Winner of the inaugural edition of the THT-Prof S Swaminathan Heritage Award.
A Graduate in Architecture and a gold medalist in his Post Graduation,
Madhusudhanan specializes in conservation and architectural research. He
has been an academic for a decade mentoring students of popular schools
of architecture. He is well versed in fields of art, architecture,
heritage, cultural studies and vernacular practices. He is a
popular speaker on a wide range of topics associated with heritage,
religion and literature, with over two hundred hours of content on
YouTube. He is the founder of RATHAM, a non-profit organization
that curates guided Heritage tours to heritage sites and structures of
historic, architectural and archeological importance.
Madhusudhanan serves on Government instituted panel for conservation of
temples in Tamil Nadu. In 2014-15, he worked as the Senior
Consultant to document around 300 heritage structures in Kanchipuram for
the prestigious HRIDAY project.
Madhusudhanan was conferred the Vedhavalli Memorial award for
outstanding contribution towards heritage promotion by a young achiever
in 2018. He won the Best Lecture award in 2016 from the Madras Music
Academy for his lec-dem on Araiyar Sevai. In 2019, he was conferred the
title “Ilakkiya Chemmal”, recognizing his proficiency in Tamil
literature. In 2020 Kumaraguru College of Technology, Coimbatore,
recognized him as the Youth Icon of 2020.
Madhusudhanan is currently pursuing his doctoral research on “Temple Town Planning”.
The Topic:
Chengam, a constituency in Tiruvannamalai district with a
meagre population has several layers of history embedded on it. Situated
on the banks of Cheyyaru that jogs its way down the Javadi hills forms a
natural boundary to the northern side of the village. It was on the
banks of this river 2000 years back a not so rich poet wandered in
search of the mighty gates of the fort of Nannan Sei Nannan, a king who
ruled this part of south India. Indeed, this village with dusty streets
and narrow lanes now once served as the capital city of an ancient
kingdom.
On the southern side of the village runs an ancient highway that
connects Karnataka through Hosur. For several centuries this has been an
active trade route connecting the eastern shore further south. Several
archaeological studies conducted in the recent past has helped us
ascertain the antiquity of the place. Chola inscriptions, Vijayanagara
temples, local legends, colonial vestiges and more have painted this
village’s cultural fabric with a splash of colours.
Madhusudhanan has specially chosen this topic for the Award Lecture to
honour Prof. Swaminathan’s cherished dream of collating what he calls a
“Culture Atlas” - a manual that documents every settlement for its
history, culture, arts, flora, fauna and more. In this lecture, Madhu
will create this map for Chengam, drawing on its rich cultural,
political and archaeological history.
Tamil Heritage Trust
Contact: T Ravishankar 9500074247
THT Website:
tamilheritage.in
THT Facebook Page:
TamilHeritageTrust
THT Twitter:
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