LOOKING BACK INTO HISTORY: A student explains to visitors the significance of a temple during a 3-day World Heritage Photo Exhibition organised at Shri Natesan Vidyasala Matriculation school, Mannivakkam on Monday. Photo: A. Muralitharan

TAMBARAM: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will be conducting summer training programmes in epigraphy for students to enable them read and understand inscriptions in Tamil. Of the one-lakh odd inscriptions in India, about 60,000 were in Tamil Nadu. And of the 60,000 inscriptions, only about 5 per cent were in other languages such as Telugu, Kannada, Sanskrit and Marathi; the rest were in Tamil, T. Sathyamurthy, Superintending Archaeologist of ASI, Southern India, said. To create an interest among students in inscriptions, their richness, value and messages, the ASI would be conducting summer training programmes from 2006 onwards, Dr. Sathyamurthy said.

He was speaking after inaugurating a three-day World Heritage Photo Exhibition organised by the ASI at Shri Natesan Vidyasala Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Mannivakkam, near Tambaram, on Monday. The programme would help students read and understand Tamil inscriptions. It would also inculcate in them an interest in history and archaeology. They had planned to conduct the training programme at the school for 50 students drawn from different institutions.

He told the students that there were about 50 valuable monuments in and around Mannivakkam area.

After the addition of Gangaikonda Cholapuram and Darasuram temples to the list of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites, the ASI was taking steps to add Kailasanathar Temple, Kancheepuram, and the Ginjee Fort to the list, he said.

Every exhibit had its own identity and had left behind several messages and was more than just a depiction of a puranic story, he told the students.

The school's correspondent N. Ramasubramaniam said about 3,000 students from different places were expected to visit the exhibition.

Photographs of temples and Pallava period coins are on display. An inter-school painting competition for students between sixth and eight standards on the theme, `Thamizhaga panpaattu thalangal' and an essay competition on `Mamallapuram — kalliley kalaivannam' will be held for students between ninth and twelfth standards on Tuesday.

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