Tamil Nadu government allots funds to set up Tamil chair at Harvard

CHENNAI: Prestigious Harvard University in Massachusetts in the United States would soon boast of a Tamil chair that is expected to give “huge impetus” to research in one of the oldest languages of the universe, preserve palm manuscripts in digital format using world-class infrastructure and carry out comparative studies with other classical languages. With a public campaign by two US-based Tamil-origin doctors to collect funds for setting up the chair gaining momentum, the Tamil Nadu Government on Friday did its bit by announcing Rs 10 crore for the project and also showing interest to lead the fundraising campaign through the International Tamil Research Institute.

“I have directed that a sum of Rs 10 crore be granted on behalf of Tamil Nadu government, which follows Amma's (Jayalalithaa) footsteps, towards setting up a Tamil Chair at Harvard University and implement the (poll-time) promise,” Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami said in a statement on Friday. Cardiologist V. Janakiraman and his oncologist friend Thirugnanasambandam have already contributed close to Rs 3.50 crore each as seed money for the project that will cost Rs 40 crore including a recruitment fee and a running fee.

Tamil Development Minister ‘MaFoi’ K. Pandia-rajan told Deccan Chronicle that Tamil joins the elite club of six other classic languages – Sanskrit, Hebrew, Chinese, Latin, Greek and Persian – that have exclusive chairs at the Harvard University. “We are proud that Tamil is the only language other than Sanskrit to be allotted a chair at the Harvard. And we are also equally proud that apart from Chinese, Tamil is the only living language to be accorded the honour,” he said.

Once the chair is established, it would pave the way for research focused on Tamil language, the trails left behind by Tamil rulers across the world, detailed study of literature that are spread across libraries in the world and digitization of palm manuscripts. “Harvard has excellent infrastructure to digitize palm manuscripts. It takes quite lot of time and energy to digitize the palm manuscripts which are in lakhs in numbers across Tamil Nadu. Once the chair is established, it would be easy to digitize them,” Pandiarajan said, giving “full credit” to Palaniswami for allotting “huge sum” of Rs 10 crore.

The chair, once established, would provide opportunity for 6 Ph.D scholars at any given time to indulge in research and would serve as an avenue to bring out several hidden factors that are attached to the Tamil language. “The chair would give big impetus to Tamil research and raise the status of Tamil as classical language. Harvard would also contribute the equal amount of money (Rs 40 crore) for the chair and we are hopeful that we would raise the entire amount by September 2018 so that the chair can be set up,” the Minister said. Tamil was accorded classical language status by the UPA Government in 2004 at the insistence of the DMK which part of the dispensation, but Pandiarajan said his government has taken the right step in taking the “oldest language” onto the world map through an endowment chair at the Harvard University.