Proposals to create an internet-based effort to preserve in
digital form of Tamil cultural heritage-related materials have
been discussed for few years in Tamil.net and Project Madurai
mailing lists. After some brain-storming with few interested
parties (N. Kannan, K. Kalyanasundaram, Subashini Kanagasundaram,
Arun Mahizhnan, Muthu Nedumaran to name a few), a concrete proposal
outlining specific tasks to be undertaken in the form of "tamiz
marapu" project was drafted early this year. Search for possible
sponsor(s) was also underway for few months. When the first
opportunity to present the case to a global audience came via
TI2001, Dr. N. Kannan made a strong plea for this in his talk.
Digitization of rapidly decayaing palm-leaf manuscripts was
cited as a typical example where urgent efforts are needed.
Dato Seri Samy Vellu (Minister for Works, Malaysia), who was in
the audience, reacted instantly by offering an immediate grant
of US$10,000 on behalf of Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC)
for the establishment of Tamil Heritage Foundation.
Designed by: Suba