“From time immemorial Dravidian culture has been the neglected one and at the sametime Aryan culture has always been considered superior,” said H S Shivprakash from Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi.
Addressing the gathering at the discussion on ‘recent studies on preliminary stages of Dravidian thinking’ on Tuesday at SDM College premises, Mr Shivprakash said that though Aryan culture and language was considered superior, Sanskrit, a Aryan language saw a set back as it failed to be a language of a territory, while Dravidian languages and culture grew to be close to the hearts of the people as Dravidian languages found a base and became territorial.
Talking about the ‘Brahminical’ influence in Aryan literature, he said that in the story of Punyakoti the aryan literature portray the tiger as an antagonist who witnesses death at the end as against the Dravidian version of Punyakoti where the Tiger too lives.
In Aryan culture and literature the aspects of inferiority and superiority is widely prevalent while it is not found in Dravidian culture and literature, which is clear and free from obscurity.
Releasing ‘Shangam Tamilagam Kannada Nadu Nudi’, authored by historian Prof S Shettar, Mangalore University Department of Kannada Professor Chinnappa Gowda said that Arya-Dravida discussions have often portrayed Arya and Dravida to be opposing each other.
It has always given a impression that Aryan culture is superior and Dravida is inferior, but said book treats the  Arya-Dravid relation with a difference. It has successfully seen the issue on cultural grounds.
Speaking about history, Prof Gowda said that history should not be treated as a subject concerning the history of the state.
“History must define the law and history of the land. It must not only look up at the kings, empire and their rule, it must look down at the land, people and their culture too,” he added.
He said that the writer S Shettar has dealt on an intricate issue of Cauvery and asks a question in the context of cauvery water dispute that how can one fix a boundary to Cauvery and where exactly is the said boundary.
“Cauvery cannot be treated as a river as it is a culture and way of life. It ceases to be a river,” he says.
SDM College of Business Management Principal K Devaraj presided over the programme.
Author S Shettar, critic G Rajashekar and Kavitha Rai were present.