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Showing posts from March 18, 2009


Pure Tamil Calendar with No Trace of Sanskrit or Foreign Language

Sanskrit terms are widely used is many regional languages in India especially to denote auspicious days, auspicious time, festivals etc. But all these regional languages have specific terms in the respective language for these auspicious occasions; but most people prefer the Sanskrit terms. B. Shrinivas, a software entrepreneur and publisher of Dheivamurasu, a spiritual Tamil magazine, has launched a pure Tamil Calendar with no trace of any foreign language influence. The calendar published by Dheivamurasu magazine is fully in Tamil – even for numerals. Today, English numerals are used in most regional language calendars and most people are not even aware that each regional language has their own set of numerals. The Hindu reports For instance, the full moon is not Pournami, but Niraimathi, according to the calendar. Similarly, the new moon is not Amavasai, but Maraimathi. This may come as a surprise to even lyricists who have been penning songs in Tamil apparently not

Documentary and Book – Return of the Rituals: Rites of Passage of Nagarathar Children

‘Return of the Rituals: Rites of Passage of Nagarathar Children’ is the title of a documentary film and book by Dr Kala Shreen. As the title indicates, the book deals with rituals that were forgotten but which are slowly being picked up by the modern generation of the Nagarathar community in South India . The documentary film focuses on old rituals and older generations who had participated in the rituals shares their knowledge and experience. The New Indian Express reports The Documentary film has captured the ceremonies, which had become obsolete over the last century. Kala spent three days for shooting, when the ceremonies were enacted as one could not capture live performances of these obsolete rituals. People who were over 80 years of age were interviewed for the documentary. They shared their experiences of the past. Indigenous songs of the community were documented and tunes composed for them. The book has two sections. The first section is a description of three