Kashi Tamil Sangamam 5.0 to focus on Thirukkural – 28 Nov to 12 Dec 2026
22-10-2026 · English
Topics: Tamil Nadu · 22 October 2026 Current Affairs (UPSC / TNPSC / SSC / RRB)
News
The fifth edition of the Kashi Tamil Sangamam (KTS 5.0) will be held from 28 Nov to 12 Dec 2026 on the theme 'Thirukkural Payilvom – Thirukkural Abhyas Karen' (Let us learn Thirukkural). Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi launched the registration portal on 22 Oct 2026. About 1,400 people from Tamil Nadu (7 groups of about 200) will make an 8-day trip to Varanasi, Prayagraj and Ayodhya. A Thirukkural student engagement programme will run in 1,000 higher education institutions across India.
Key facts
| Theme | 'Thirukkural Payilvom – Thirukkural Abhyas Karen' |
| Dates / venues | 28 Nov – 12 Dec 2026; Varanasi, Prayagraj, Ayodhya |
| Organisers | Ministry of Education (Dept of Higher Education); IIT Madras, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT), UP Government |
| Delegates | About 1,400 in 7 categories – students, teachers, writers & media, agriculture, professionals & artisans, women, spiritual leaders |
| Registration | 22 Oct – 13 Nov 2026; kashitamil.iitm.ac.in |
| Student programme | One student from each of 1,000 colleges learns Thirukkural in own language; one-month internship, ₹10,000 stipend (implemented by CICT) |
Background
- Earlier editions: KTS 1.0 – 2022 (one month; inaugurated by PM Modi in Varanasi on 19 Nov 2022); 2.0 – 2023; 3.0 – Feb 2025 ('Legacy of Sage Agastya'); 4.0 – from Dec 2025 ('Learn Tamil – Tamil Karkalam'). 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' (EBSB) – announced in 2015 on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's 140th birth anniversary; nodal ministry – Education.
- Thirukkural: by Thiruvalluvar; 1,330 couplets in 133 chapters; three sections – Aram (virtue), Porul (wealth/polity), Inbam/Kamam (love); also called 'Ulaga Podhumarai' and 'Muppal'; one of the Eighteen Minor Classics (Pathinenkilkanakku).
- Translations: first – Latin by Beschi (Veeramamunivar), 1730; first English (partial) – N.E. Kindersley, 1794; Drew and Lazarus prose (1840–1885); G.U. Pope – complete English verse translation, 1886.
- Kashi–Tamil links: in the 15th century the Pandya king Parakrama Pandya built the Kasi Viswanathar temple at Tenkasi; in the 17th century Kumaraguruparar renovated the Kedareswarar temple in Kashi and founded the Kumaraswamy Mutt on land given by Dara Shikoh.
Tamil Nadu link: Mahakavi Bharathiyar (Ettayapuram, Thoothukudi district) stayed in Varanasi after his father's death and learnt Sanskrit, Hindi and English; BHU has a 'Subramania Bharati Chair of Tamil Studies' (announced 2021). Kumaraguruparar was born at Srivaikuntam. A 133-ft Thiruvalluvar statue stands at Kanyakumari (1 Jan 2000).
Source: PIB, DD India, 22 Oct 2026; KTS 5.0 portal (CICT); GKToday; Drishti IAS (KTS 3.0); Wikipedia (translations)
Join our UPSC classroom or online batch: UPSC coaching in Coimbatore · Fees · Call 99941 46662.
Link to this page from your website / blog (HTML code)
TNPSC Achievers
-
NAGAMANIKANDAN
TNPSC TNPSC
