Lanka Dahanam (60 min)

Lankha Dhahanam (The Burning of Lanka/60 min)
Tholu bommalata, traditional puppet theatre 

Presented by Chayanatakabrundram led by Sindhe Chithambara Rao from Dharmavaram

Presented by S. Chithambara Rao - Director and lead male
With Khande Viranjineylu (puppetry); Khande Chinna Anjinamma (female lead); Sindhe Sreenivasulu (puppetry); and Dalavai Kulkayappa (puppetry)

Accompanists: Sindhe Chinna Venkatamma (harmonium); Sindhe Kulkayappa (mridangam); and Sindhe Venkatamma (female chorus)

Chief Guest: Dr. Meenakshi Gopinath, Life Trustee

Festival  Schedule

Inauguration of the Festival

By Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC 

Followed by

Thiranottam - Mohiniattam Recital
By Methil Devika and troupe from Palakkad, Kerala

Artists: Sumasandhya, Shobha Madhu, Alex Raphael, Goutham Mahesh and Angitha Pushpajan

Envisioned as a journey through the history and heritage of this unique community. Beginning with its history, the exhibition weaves its way through the symbolism of the clan temples to the majestic homes of the Chettiars. The crafts, textiles and traditions preferred and patronised by the community will be displayed.

From the collection of M. Rm. Rm Cultural Foundation, Chennai
Curated by Visalakshi Ramaswamy
 
Inauguration of the exhibition by Shri Suhas Borker, Trustee, IIC on 28 October 2023 at 11.30 am

On view from 28 October to 10 November 2023

(Collaboration: M. Rm. Rm. Cultural Foundation, Chennai)

Stories from the Earth: Terracotta Narratives

An exhibition of terracotta sculptures from the Sanskriti Museum of Indian Terracotta. On view are select pieces from the common earthen pot for storing drinking water to the giant-size equestrian figures of the Aiyyanar cult of rural Tamil Nadu

Inauguration by Shri N.N. Vohra, Life Trustee, IIC on 27 October 2023 at 5 pm

(Collaboration: Sanskriti Pratishthan)
 

A People’s Library: Celebrating The Connemara Public Library 

An exhibition of texts, reproductions of archival photographs, facsimiles of rare books, digitised copies of illuminated manuscripts and other digital reproductions from the collection of The Connemara Public Library, Chennai

Inauguration of the exhibition by Shri Govind Mohan, Secretary, Min. of Culture, GOI on 27 October 2023 at 4 pm

(Collaboration: The Connemara Public Library, Chennai)

Sovereigns of the Sea: Omani Ambitions in the Age of Empire

By Seema Alavi (Penguin India: 2023)
 

Speaker: Mr Vytis Vidunas, Lecturer, Asian and Transcultural Studies Centre, Vilnius University

Chair: Professor Shashi Bala, Dean, Centre of Indology, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

Mr Vytis Vidunas is a Sanskrit scholar, who also works on comparative linguistics and similarities between Sanskrit and Lithuanian languages. He is the author of the Sanskrit-Lithuanian dictionary initiated by the Lithuanian Embassy in India and published by the Lithuanian Language Institute in 2016.

(Organised by IIC-International Research Division; and Embassy of Lithuania)

Speaker: Dr. Colleen Taylor Sen, independent food historian and writer based in Chicago, specializing in the cuisine of the Indian subcontinent. Her previous publications include Curry: A Global History (2009) and Street Food around the World: An Encyclopaedia of Food and Culture (co-editor, 2013)

Chair: Shri Sourish Bhattacharyya

Speaker: Patrick Olivelle, Professor Emeritus of Sanskrit and Indian Religions, University of Texas at Austin

Chair: Upinder Singh, Professor of History, Ashoka University

In 1958 the French anthropologist Louis Dumont published a small but seminal paper entitled “World Renunciation in Indian Religions.” It has been called “probably the most imaginative and insightful attempt to grasp Indian religions as a whole in the history of Indology.” Dumont himself says that this early paper “provides the main framework for all my later work, both on India itself and beyond that setting.” The talk takes issue with Dumont’s main contention, especially his opposition of the world renouncer to the man living in society, based on new understanding of the early history of the householder or grihastha.

(Collaboration: Ashoka University)

Speaker: Prof. Ajay K. Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government of India

Discussants: Prof. Ambuj Sagar, Founding Head, School of Public Policy, Vipula and Mahesh Chaturvedi Professor of Policy Studies, IIT Delhi; and Shri Rajesh Gopinathan, former CEO and Managing Director, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Ltd.

Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC