It is a disturbing custom that people living in the north prefer to come to Rameswaram and Hindus living in Tamil Nadu prefer to go to Kashi. Kashi and Rameswaram are important destinations for Ramayana pilgrims.
A month-long program called ‘Kashi Tamil Sangam’ was started on 16th November in Kashi, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated the event on 19th. He highlighted that the purpose of this cultural festival is to celebrate the ancient connection between Tamil Nadu and Kashi and to restore and continue those glories. Organized jointly by IIT Chennai and Banaras Hindu University, 12 teams from Tamil Nadu of various abilities will participate in this event consecutively. Then the art and culture of Tamil Nadu will be displayed to the people of Kashi city.
So why is Kashi so important in Tamil Nadu? It can be seen through these Puranas that these two parts have been connected since the time of Ramayana and Mahabharata. Many parts of Tamil Nadu like Mylapore, Rameswaram, Tirupullani, Dhanushkodi come in Ramayana. Similarly, studies suggest that the characters Aravan, Ponnuruvi, Aravalli-Suravalli in Mahabharata are all based on Tamil Nadu.
Kashi came in contact with many sages like Kumaragurupara, King of Tanjore Saraboji, Ativirarama Pandyar, Sundara Samis of Kodakanallur, Kanchi Mahaperiyava, Muthuswamy Dikshidar, Bharatiyar. The city of Kashi grew with their contribution. Kashi and Kanchi are one of the 7 holy cities. It can be seen that there are many connections between these two. Both are shrines for Shakti and Shiva. There is Kamakshi, here is Visalakshi. Ekambareswarar there, Vishwanathar here. Both are soil sites. Both places have Kanchi Mutt. Bharti contacted the two places and said, ‘Let’s make a device to listen to the text spoken by the Kashi Nagar poets in Kanji’.