Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam Begins In Somnath; Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Gujarat CM Bhupendra Patel and Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan Present At Inauguration

The 10-day Saurashtra Tamil Sangamam under the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat initiative has begun today (17 April) at Somnath in the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

The Sangamam would celebrate the cultural links between Gujarat and Tamil Nadu that have been formed due to the large Saurashtra Tamil community.

Other venues for the programmes are Dwarka, Rajkot and the Statue of Unity at Kevadia.

This comes after the successful completion of the month-long Kashi Tamil Sangamam that celebrated the cultural and civilizational links between Kashi and Tamil Nadu.

The community is believed to have migrated in the 11^th century CE due to the repeated attacks of Mahmud of Ghazni on Gujarat. They were mostly silk traders and weavers.

Almost half of the estimated 12 lakh population of the community in the state is settled in Madurai due to the patronage of local rulers like Tirumala Nayak.

The community speaks the Saurashtra language which has words similar to Gujarati. The language also has its script but its usage has declined.

Some of the famous Saurashtra Tamils are TM Soundararajan, a Tamil playback singer and NMR Subbaraman, a freedom fighter, popularly known as ‘Madurai Gandhi.’