A long way from the language debate, Kashi Tamil Sangamam a blend of faith, companionship

Many on the boat have never been this far north.

Seven categories of delegates – students, teachers, writers, media professionals, artisans, women, and spiritual groups – are to arrive for this edition of Kashi Tamil Sangamam, between December 2 and December 15. For each batch, an all-expenses-paid five-day itinerary is planned – including a visit to the Ghats and Banaras Hindu University (BHU) for academic exchanges, followed by trips to Prayagraj and Ayodhya.

Officials say participation in the Sangamam has held steady since the first edition in 2022. This year, about 1,400 delegates are expected. While anyone can apply, the shortlisting is done based on a multiple-choice quiz related to Kashi.

Priya Raj, 30, a former IT Engineer and now sells jewellery and sarees on Instagram and also runs a youtube channel. (Express Photo)

The Sangamam is organised by the Union Ministry of Education and its collaborating institutions include IIT Madras and BHU, plus other ministries such as Culture, Tourism, Textiles, MSME, and the government of Uttar Pradesh.

The 4.0 edition includes Tamil teachers travelling to Varanasi schools to teach Tamil. In return, students from Uttar Pradesh will be visiting Tamil Nadu to learn the language there.

Earlier this week, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan took a swipe at the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu for accusing the Centre of pushing Hindi, saying “a few friends of Tamil Nadu, due to their parochial interests, want to create a division on the plea of language”.

In the past, the DMK has expressed its unease with the Sangamam. After the inaugural event in 2022, while PM Modi emphasised there was no political motive behind the programme, the CPI(M), an ally of the DMK, urged the Tamil Nadu government to stop it and accused the PM of holding it to “induct college students into the RSS”.

Here on the river, politics feels distant.

On the top deck of the cruise boat, Madurai-based Priya Raj, 30, a former IT engineer turned YouTube creator, who sells jewellery and sarees over Instagram, calls the trip “a dream come true”. Brushing her wind-swept hair away from her eyes, she says: “If it wasn’t for the Tamil Sangamam, I would have had to put together money for Kashi for so long.”

Raj is also excited about the acquaintances she has made. “We didn’t know each other when we boarded the train on December 3. But after two days… we are singing bhajans together, sharing food. Everyone has their own story of Lord Shiva to tell.”

On the lower deck, a young boy is teaching an old man from Coimbatore how to take a “proper selfie”, capturing the ghats behind them.

Harishwetha, 27, a content creator on the cruise boat , along with her friend Sai Priyadarshini, a journalist from Chennai. (Express Photo)

Ragini Priya, 45, and Jagadeeshwari Jaikumar, 52, are talking like old friends. Priya talks about her two children, while Jaikumar rues that her son in Canada shows no inclination to get married.

Praveen Kumar Shreedhar, 29, a linguistics PhD scholar from Coimbatore, sees in the visit a chance to learn new languages and experience pilgrimage. “My grandmother told me stories of Kashi when I was a child. Since then, I have wanted to come.”

Hinting at the Tamil vs Hindi debate, Shreedhar says: “The more languages one knows, Hindi, Tamil, anything… the more the mind expands.”

As the boat approaches Manikarnika Ghat, whose fame as a place where funeral pyres never go out precedes it, there is a buzz of anticipation. Devadas, 68, calls up his daughter on video, and pointing his camera to the pyres, cries out, “Masaan! Masaan!”, a reference to the award-winning film based in Varanasi.

As the boat docks at Lalita Ghat, the group step out barefoot. There is a separate queue for them to have darshan inside the Kashi Vishwanath Temple. Seeing the crowds around, Raj is grateful. “We are so lucky.”

When she sees the Shiva linga in the sanctum sanctorum, tears flow down her cheeks. Outside, she greets Jaikumar, 52, a Chennai schoolteacher: “Romba santosham (Very happy).”

“My heart is too full,” Jaikumar replies. This is her third trip to Kashi, and she says she will come again. “Even 300 times won’t be enough.”

Participating in a bhajan session in the afternoon, Hari Shwetha, 27, who has come from Karaikudi and is a supporter of Hindu right-wing politics, calls herself a content creator. “God summoned me at the right time. My life felt derailed.”

Jaikumar and Priya, both from chennai who have become good friends on the journey visiting the temple together. (Express Photo)

She also speaks of “the changing face of pilgrimage”. “Earlier, only old people came to Kashi. Now so many Gen Z people write to me saying they want to come. The Sangamam has changed tourism.”

About the “anti-Hindi sentiment” in Tamil Nadu, Shwetha says: “Where I live, Hindi is not taught. Politically, there are apprehensions… But here, Hindi speakers and Tamil speakers exchange words, stories… That exchange is healing.”

They don’t see the Sangamam as “politics entering religion”, many delegates stress, but as “the government enabling something our families dreamed of for generations”.

Adds Shwetha: “Just because the government organises Kashi Yatra, that is not going to give them an upper hand in winning elections in Tamil Nadu… The BJP can only influence a few people through such initiatives.”

In fact, she hopes the Centre will provide Tamil Nadu more tourist destinations, such as the Statue of Unity in Gujarat. “That would probably have a larger impact on the people of Tamil Nadu to vote for the BJP.”

Raj says the warmth they have received in Varanasi shows these “differences” are artificial. “Even before we open our mouths, the shopkeepers ask, ‘Tamil Nadu?’… They are curious about Tamil words, food, and temples.”

With Tamil teaching in schools an addition to the Sangamam this time, one of the institutes chosen for the classes is Banaras Hindu University’s Central Hindu Girls’ School. On Monday morning, a line of sixth graders greet their Tamil teacher – 20-year-old Veena Kumari, a psychology student from Chennai – with a cheerful “Vanakkam, ma’am”. She welcomes them with “Ulle vaanga” and hands out sheets of Tamil letters.

Veena is one of 50 teachers posted across government and private schools in Varanasi, as part of the Sangamam’s 15-day Tamil teaching initiative. She is surprised at the “excitement” among students. “Students from other sections keep asking, ‘Ma’am, when will you teach us Tamil?’.”

Veena Kumari, a final year post graduate psychology student from SRM University in Chennai teaching student tamil in the 6th grade at BHU’s Central Hindu Girl’s school. (Express Photo)

Veena, who studied Hindi in school and has a certificate from the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha after level-wise exams, is a registered pracharak and has been giving private tuitions in Hindi to students in Tamil Nadu. “The interest for southern languages in Varanasi is surprising. You don’t find this everywhere in the north,” she says.

Veena believes the BJP has a winner in its hands with this Tamil teaching initiative of the Centre. “In earlier Sangamams, people were only given tours across UP,” she says.

Central Hindu Girls’ School Principal Madhu Kushwaha, however, wishes there had been better coordination. “It is tough to learn a language like Tamil in 15 days, with weekends off. It would have been nice to implement this programme longer.”

Back at Namo Ghat, the delegation is treated to performances in both Tamil and Varanasi traditions in the evening. Under white tents, volunteers draw large Tamil letters on boards, inviting locals to try writing them.

The day wraps up with another boat ride, for the Ganga aarti.

Ragini says she is looking forward to what comes next. “ I am most excited about Ayodhya.”