JOIN USTamil Nadu declares 'Tamil Thai Vaazhthu' as state song
Tamil Thai Vaazhthu (Invocation Song) penned by renowned scholar Manonmaniam Sundaranar was on Friday declared as the state song of Tamil Nadu.
Chief Minister M K Stalin made the announcement in a press statement in which he said all should remain standing when the song is sung at the beginning of functions organised by the state government and educational institutions.
“The following lines penned by Manonmaniam Sundaranar known as Tamil Thai Vaazhthu is declared as state song of Tamil Nadu. The song should be sung in 55 seconds,” Stalin said in the statement recalling a recent order that the song should be sung at events, avoiding recorded versions of the same.
He said everyone, barring physically-challenged, should stand when the song is sung. The Chief Minister said the state song should be sung mandatorily at all government functions and events hosted at educational institutions across the state.
In the statement, Stalin also said private companies will be encouraged to play Tamil Thai Vaazhthu at the beginning of the functions or events organised by them as part of the efforts to take the tradition of singing the anthem to the younger generation.
The announcement by the government comes close on the hells of the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court observing that Tamil Thai Vaazhthu was just a prayer song and that there was no order requiring attendees to stand up when it is played.
The court was hearing a petition relating to a controversy over Vijayendra Saraswathi Swamigal, then junior pontiff of the Kanchi Kamakodi Peetam, not standing up for the Tamil Thai Vaazhthu at an event in Chennai in 2018 even as the then Governor Banwarilal Purohit was standing.
Vijayendra Saraswathi’s act in 2018 had triggered a massive controversy with many accusing him of “deliberately insulting” Tamil. Political parties had sought action the pontiff for sitting through the Tamil Thai Vaazhthu. However, the pontiff had justified his action, saying he was “meditating” when the song was played.
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