The 23rd Classical Tamil winter Seminar (CTWS ’26)

9 February 2026

Photo: Neela Bhaskar

We are thrilled to announce the upcoming 23rd Classical Tamil Winter Seminar (CTWS) from 9th of February 2025 to 27th of February 2025, at Pondicherry Centre of the École Française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO). The first part of seven days  (9th to 17th, weekend holiday) will be a beginner’s intensive course on classical Tamil and the second part of eight days (18th to 27th, weekend holiday) a reading of select poems from the Paripāṭal.

Part 1: Intensive Course on Classical Tamil for Beginners

In the first part of the workshop (9th of February until 17th of February) the basics of classical Tamil grammar and syntax will be explored through a careful reading of select poems from the Caṅkam corpus. This course is aimed at those who have no prior experience with classical Tamil. It will be conducted by Neela Bhaskar, Leo Nelson-Jones and Maanasa Visveswaran.

Part 2: Selected Readings from the Paripāṭal

In the second part of the seminar (18th of February until the 27th of February), we will be looking at some poems from the Paripāṭal, carefully selected by Indra Manuel, Eva Wilden, Maanasa Visveswaran and Neela Bhaskar. 

Program Fromat

All three weeks will follow the usual format, following a double morning session: the first part of the morning will be dedicated to teaching grammatical concepts (for the beginner's course) and exposition of the text (for the reading of Paripāṭal), and the second part to a revision conducted by students. In the afternoons, the beginner's will be followed by group exercises (such as construing a poem without the teacher’s help) or special lectures on Tamil poetics and adjacent subjects. The afternoons after Paripāṭal readings will be dedicated to the reading of smaller texts. There will be lectures in the late afternoon by experts.

Who Should Attend?

For the first part of the workshop, we are delighted to welcome all participants who can read, write and speak in modern Tamil. Proficiency in English is welcome. The classes will be conducted primarily in modern Tamil. Please be prepared to do some homework. For the second week, all participants possessing at least basic knowledge of classical Tamil are most welcome. Students are requested to prepare the assigned poems in advance. Participants of the beginner’s course in week 1 are most welcome to attend the readings in week 2.

For more information, please contact Neela Bhaskar(neela.bhaskar"AT"uni-hamburg.de).