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`Astika Ratna' title conferred on Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI FEB. 1. The Samskrita Academy, celebrating its platinum jubilee year, today conferred the title `Astika Ratna' on the doyen of Carnatic music, Semmangudi R. Srinivasa Iyer.

Presenting the award on the Academy premises, the former President, R. Venkataraman, said Vedas, Upanishads, puranas and epics had shaped the thoughts and actions of people in the subcontinent.

Ramayana and Mahabharata attracted the world attention since they brought to fore the unique concept of dharma. The rest of the world did not have such a concept and no other language had any equivalent to the term dharma, he added.

Stressing the harmonious co-existence of languages, he called for an end to the linguistic quarrels. ``Already we have enough quarrels'', he said, adding that adaptability would enrich both the languages concerned.

Mr. Venkataraman also handed over to the academy president, B. Madhavan, a cheque for Rs. 4 lakhs given by a retired IAS officer, R. Natarajan, for the academy development.

Mr. Iyer expressed concern over the caste clashes and commended Mr. Venkataraman's role in the freedom struggle and said unlike the current scenario, the Congress party of those days was a picture of unity.

He hastened to add that he would not like to talk about the topic at this function.

Mr. Madhavan noted that the former President and Mr. Iyer knew each other and had respect for each other for decades together.

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