Kashi Tamil Sangamam 5.0 will centre on the Thirukkural, with 1,000 paid student internships

Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi launched the registration portal for the fifth Kashi Tamil Sangamam on Thursday, The Indian Express reported. This year's theme is the Thirukkural, the classical Tamil text by Thiruvalluvar, under the line "Thirukkural Payilvom, Thirukkural Abhyas Karen", or "Let us study the Thirukkural".

The programme runs from 28 November to 12 December and will bring about 1,400 participants from Tamil Nadu, in seven groups of around 200, to Varanasi, Prayagraj and Ayodhya. Each group makes an eight-day journey, four days of travel and four of visits, with cultural, academic and spiritual programmes.

One thousand students chosen through a test from colleges across the country will get a month-long internship and a ₹10,000 stipend to study the text, Hindustan Times reported. Interns will read the Thirukkural in a language they know, learn and teach at least ten couplets, and write a paper on its moral values, with orientation from the Central Institute of Classical Tamil.

Tamil scholars will visit schools and colleges in Varanasi, and the National Book Trust will run reading and storytelling sessions there. Joshi said many people have long travelled to Kashi and Rameswaram as part of their religious tradition, reflecting old bonds between north and south.

The Sangamam is run under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, launched in October 2015. The Indian Express noted that PM Modi recently gifted a Russian translation of the Thirukkural to President Putin at the BRICS summit.