In his biography the Hindi film star Dilip Kumar says Chennai or Madras is the most cultured city he has ever come across
on that happy note let us celebrate
Madras Week
and talk about Chennai or Madras' culture
So when you talk about culture, language
is the first thing that comes to mind
The first language to be printed was Tamil. 
 That is the first language to be printed
outside of Europe,  is undoubtedly Tamil.
From 1400-1500, Tamil was the first language printed by the Portuguese.
In the 1800's, Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg printed the first book in Tamil.
Hence outside of Europe, the oldest language to be printed is Tamil
Tamil is one of the oldest classical languages
of the whole world. There are no scriptures without the Tamil Language
Tevaram, Thiruvachakam, Thiruppavai, Pasurams and Thirukkural are the assets of the Tamil language
Tamil is an extraordinary language.
There are many Tamil language books in Chennai
These could be secondhand or new books. Even in 2020 you will find many books written in Tami
In 2000’s - which is the age of Internet, kindle, iPad .. you will still see people in Chennai buying Tamil books.
Among the oldest book stores of India is Higginbothams. This is functioning since 1844 on Mount Road.
This is functioning since 1844 in Mount Road, Chennai and still continues to be maintained.
Recently United Nations has recognised Chennai as a 'Creative City'
This has been given to the city because of its music
There are various varieties of music here- Gaana songs, Cinema songs, Nadagam songs and Carnatic music.
My favourite kind of music is Carnatic.
Every year in the month of december, we celebrate Carnatic music.It is called the Music Season.
All music enthusiasts from around the world visit Chennai and enjoy the Music Season
There are many Music Sabhas in Chennai that organise this music festival
This is conducted purely to showcase the interest, talent and love towards music
There is no commercial benefit or commercial purpose for conducting the music festival.
Dheerar Sathyamurthy, a freedom fighter was the one who conceptualised the Music Academy
so in many ways it was founded because of the Indian Independence struggle
and for the past 93 years it has been conducting the December music festival
Listening to music in the Music Academy is an experience by itself
lots of people say that they just come
there to soak in the atmosphere that it offers
so it is something special and something
to cherish always
Just as Carnatic music has a celebratory event in December, so does classical dance or Bharatha Natyam.
Chennai is now the home of Bharatha Natyam
Only in Chennai, will we find teachers specially for this dance form.
Many students from out of India come to our city to learn Bharata Natyam.
Kalakshetra is an institution started by Rukmini Devi Arundale.
This is now run by the Government of India.
So in South India, Bharatha Natyam is given a lot of importance in Chennai
Therefore Chennai is home to language, music, dance and literature
The city of Chennai stands as a great example of culture
 
