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Little custodians of heritage

Heritage is much more than history and only if children are made to experience it, they can learn best to love it and strive to preserve it. And so has it worked with 350-odd children drawn from 11 city schools during these past few months.

They were exposed and made aware of Madurai's ancient and remarkable culture.

Since visual images communicate far more, these students undertook several heritage walks, attended workshops, apart from researching intensively on a chosen topic to recreate the glory of the city.

Having documented their studies, they are now showcasing them to a larger audience in order to inculcate a sense of belonging among their fellow beings and even parents and teachers.

So, as a citizen of Madurai if you wish to culturally connect with your city, then TVS Lakshmi MHSS perhaps is an appropriate venue today (May 21).

The special event will be on there right through the day to bring to a close this academic year's projects taken up by the Heritage Clubs of 11 schools under the auspices of the Indian National Trust for Art & Cultural Heritage, Madurai Chapter. This is a chance for students – from any school and college, as all are invited -- to share and celebrate the cultural and historical background and heritage of one of the world's most ancient living cities.

There will be oodles of information on festivals like golu or the puttu thiruvizha (celebration of one of the thiru vilayadals of Lord Shiva), art and recreation like the traditional board games of Tamil Nadu and its classic Tamil literature, poikkal kuthirai, the influence of Jainism in and around the region to name a few. Spread over the day, 18 such significant projects would be presented by the participating schools. The presentations would be done in an interesting fashion either through skits, folk dance/music and traditional games in order to underline the relationship between everyday life and local economy and traditions, celebrations, heritage, literature and arts. The taste of city's culture can be further enhanced by trying out recipes from a “traditional canteen” set up to serve traditional food items. The entire effort is to help the present generation to discover the importance of maintaining and preserving their findings not only for self-enhancement but also for use by the locals and next generation of researchers.

Students have the best skills and abilities for learning authentically and productively. Such a learning experience also recognizes their active citizenship in the past and encourages them to respect, appreciate and protect the different forms of heritage, said a member. The INTACH Madurai Chapter which was started two years ago has been executing several projects successfully. The Heritage Club project was launched this June with an aim to create awareness of Madurai's rich heritage and also develop resources for heritage education. While the endeavour will surely continue, a slice of the exercise is being made public today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

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