Tamil Sangam of Greater Washington, Inc. (A Registered Non-Profit Cultural and Secular organization) 12100 Franklin St, Beltsville, MD-20705 EIN: 52-1186158 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.washingtontamilsangam.org

International Conference on Purananuru ( Executive Board 2012 ) Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area

August 31, 2013 – September 2, 2013 President

John Peter Benedict 703-942-8232 Purananuru has a unique place in classical . In the absence of a well recorded history of the Tamil people, Purananuru is the source of Vice President important historical information about the and their lifestyle during the Kalpana Meyyappan (300 B.C. – 300 A.D). In order to promote Purananuru and its 410 - 461 – 7508 messages, the Tamil Sangam of Greater Washington and the Federation of Tamil Sangams North America have jointly decided to hold an International Secretary Conference on Purananuru during August 31, 2013 – September 2, 2013 Kolandavel Ramasamy (Labor Day Weekend 2013) in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. We 443-254-4775 cordially invite all Tamil enthusiasts to attend and participate in this memorable conference, first one of its kind in the western world. Treasurer Jayanthi Sankar Consistent with the objective of the Conference, it has been decided to conduct 410-418-9488 several competitions to increase the awareness of Purananuru among the . The details of the proposed competitions are as follows: Joint Secretary Sundar Kuppusamy Essay competition (First Prize - $1,000; Second Prize - $500) 410-262-3610 Rules pertaining to the Essay competition:  The essay should be about Purananuru or on the contents of Purananuru in English or Tamil. The essay should contain original ideas with a critical analysis of Purananuru. Board of Directors  The essay must be submitted in electronic form, typed in a font size not Balagan Arumugasamy less than 12. It should be submitted in MS Word and sent via email to Peter Yeronimuse Jude Arulpragasam [email protected] on or before April 30, 2013. Vijayakumar  If the essay is in Tamil, it should be in Unicode with font size not less Muthusamy than 12. Radhakrishnan  Essay should not exceed 10 pages in length and should be in standard Kunnath paper sizes (A4 or 8.5”x11”). Subahar Sabapathy  Each essay should contain an abstract which does not exceed 300 words (or one page).  Please include a brief bio-data not exceeding 150 words in length.  Any paper that exceeds the above prescribed length of the essay or abstract will be rejected without review.

Quiz Competition for Students (First Prize – $500.00+; Second Prize – $250.00++) Rules pertaining to the Quiz competition:

 High School Students in North America are the ones who are eligible to participate in this competition.  An essay (in English) containing the description about Purananuru and its contents will be sent to the Tamil schools in USA through the American Tamil Academy. Each Tamil school will conduct a quiz competition based on this essay and the final competition will be held at the conference.  The essay will contain the answers for all the questions that are likely to be asked in the Quiz competition.  Those who do not belong to a Tamil school can find the essay at www.classicaltamil.org and contact the conference organizers via email at [email protected] for further details.

Quiz Competition for adults (Prizes will be awarded to members of the winning team#)

For details regarding this please visit www.classicaltamil.org

Music Competition (First Prize – $500.00+; Second Prize – $250.00++)

For details regarding this please visit www.classicaltamil.org

Drawing Competition (First Prize – $500.00+; Second Prize – $250.00++)

For details regarding this please visit www.classicaltamil.org

If you have any questions regarding this announcement, please contact the Conference organizers at [email protected]

Regards, Dr. R. Prabhakaran Chairman, Steering Committee International Conference on Purananuru 2013

# Prizes will be announced later + $500.00 or an item of equivalent value ++ $250.00 or an item of equivalent value