It was important to ensure that relevant research was undertaken in the area of culture to find out what Tamil music’s pann offered to Carnatic and Hindustani music, said Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture Minister Ma Foi K. Pandiarajan here on Monday.
Speaking after releasing Tamilisai Peragaraathi — a book on Tamil pann , which is an equivalent of raga in Carnatic music —, brought out by the Tamil Isai Centre for Research of Thiagarajar College, the Minister said that the book ought to reach across schools and colleges.
Along with this book on 100 panns in Tamil, a collection of Tamil songs in the form of a CD was also released on the occasion. The Minister praised Tamil music researcher N. Mammadhu for bringing out this detailed collection.
“Such initiatives will be supported by the government and this centre should become a centre of excellence,” he said. He added that the book provided a deep understanding of the Tamil word pann and that the Tamil word for culture, panpaadu , sprouted from here.
Praising the work, Minister for Revenue, Disaster Management and Information Technology R. B. Udhayakumar and Minister for Cooperation Sellur K. Raju, said that such books and dictionaries must be cherished.
College president Karumuttu T. Kannan, secretary Hari K. Thiagarajan and Paul Pandian from USA also addressed the gathering.
