Minister for Tamil Culture and Language K. Pandiarajan on Sunday said that a crafts cluster will come up at Mamallapuram at a cost of ₹100 crore with Central government funds.
The cluster will mainly provide marketing and skill linkages.
Speaking to the media after participating in the inauguration of an eight-day-long music festival Mega Isai Vizha at Kamaraj Arangam, he said that the State will also sign an MoU with Fujian province in China for research and exchange in sculptures.
“Ancient statues from Tamil Nadu have found their way to that province. The Central government has asked the State to sign the MoU,” he said.
Mr. Pandiarajan also said that the Central Institute for Classical Tamil at Perumbakkam was ready and the State government hoped that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate it.
Earlier, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan presented awards to actor Sachu, Carnatic musician Papanasam Ashok Ramani and Gemini Group of Companies chairman Sudhakar Rao for their contribution in to their respective fields.
Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Soundararajan said that as ancient as Tamil music was, it was also modern and young.
Mr. Pandiarajan said that efforts were on to include the Chettinad palaces in Kanadukathan in the Unesco’s heritage sites list. “It has been kept in the pending list. The government is also taking steps to retain the Creative City tag for Chennai. This year, 4,000 concerts are happening during the December music season. The year we got the tag, it was only 2,700 events,” he added.