Mitafest is the inter-college cultural festival of Madras Institute of Technology. [1] The festival is held during the month of January or February every year. [2] It is claimed to be the oldest inter-college festival in Chennai. [3] [4]
Mitafest is the oldest and biggest annual cultural festival of Chennai in existence today. It is the flagship event of MIT and an event of grandeur and extravaganza, drawing footfalls of more than 20,000 students from 100+ colleges for participating in 50+ events across the span of 3 days. It has thrived for more than 40 years and has blended along as the pride of the institute. Famous personalities who have endorsed and made their presence felt at Mitafest in the past are Indian film actor Kamal Haasan, playwright Sujatha, music exponents such as the actor Karthik, Benny Dayal, Naresh Iyer, the singer Karthik, Krish, Anuradha Sriram, Gana Bala, Saindhavi, Shakthisree Gopalan, Anitha Karthikeyan, Pragathi Guruprasad etc.
Mitafest is organised by the student body of the Madras Institute of Technology, The Athenaeum. More than 300 students take part in organizing this festival from scratch every year. Like many other festivals such as Mood Indigo and Saarang, Mitafest is a sponsor driven event with some financial support provided by the university's management. Performing venues range from the Hangar showcased in the Tamil movie Five Star, Rajam Hall and the open-air theatre right next to the library on campus. Off-stage events typically take place in the classrooms in the various departments, or in the Lecture Hall complex and Golden Jubilee Hall complexes.
Loyola College, Chennai is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Chennai Province of the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French Jesuit priest, Rev Fr Francis Bertram, SJ along with other European Jesuits. It is an autonomous Jesuit college affiliated with the University of Madras. Loyola commerce association celebrated its 75th year in 2019. Loyola college has more than 8000 students studying as on 2021.
The College of Engineering, Guindy (CEG) is a public engineering college in Chennai, India and is Asia's oldest technical institution, founded in 1794. It is also the oldest technical institution to be established outside Europe.
Down Sterling was the name of the Loyola College's cultural festival before being cancelled for various reasons. It was named after the college's well-known rock band - Down Sterling.
Popularly called the "Gateway to the South India", the culture of Chennai is distinct from that of any other Indian city. Being a cosmopolitan hub, the city's culture reflects its diverse population that has resulted in a unique blend. Though a modern metropolis, Chennai continues to be traditional and conventional in certain ways. Traditional music, dance and all other art forms of Tamil Nadu are very popular in the city. One can find a peculiar cultural blend in city, from traditional foods to fast foods, from ancient temple architecture to modern high-rises, and from classical music and dance to the growing nightlife.
Madras Medical College is a public medical college located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was established on 2 February 1835 during British Raj. It is the third oldest medical college in India, established after Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry and Calcutta Medical College.
Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institution from its main campus in Tambaram, Chennai.
Chennai Mathematical Institute (CMI) is a research and education institute in Chennai, India. It was founded by the SPIC Science Foundation in 1989, and offers undergraduate as well as postgraduate programmes in physics, mathematics and computer science, besides its key strength in the form of high-end research in Mathematics. CMI is noted for its research in the field of algebraic geometry, in particular in the area of moduli of bundles.
Indian Institute of Technology Madras is a public technical and research university located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. As one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), it is recognised as an Institute of National Importance. Founded in 1959 with technical and financial assistance from the former government of West Germany, it was the third IIT established by the Government of India. IIT Madras has been ranked as the top engineering institute in India for five years in a row (2016–2020) by the National Institutional Ranking Framework of the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
Chennai is home to many educational and research institutions. IIT Madras, located in South Chennai is considered as the premier centre of engineering education in India. Anna University and the University of Madras are the oldest state owned universities which are ranked among the best universities in India. The College of Engineering, Guindy and Madras Institute of Technology, which are the constituent college of Anna University along with Alagappa College of Technology are the pioneer institutes of engineering education in India. Some of the oldest medical colleges India, the Madras Medical College (1835) and Stanley Medical College (1938) are located in the city. Notable, liberal arts colleges in the city include Loyola College, Madras Christian College, Presidency College, Stella Maris College, Women's Christian College and Ethiraj College for Women.
St George's Anglo- Indian Higher Secondary School was founded in 1715 as the Military Male Orphan Asylum and is one of the oldest schools in the world and the oldest in India. It is affiliated to the Anglo-Indian Board of Education.
“Kalaimamani” Gayathri Girish is a Carnatic vocalist. Her introduction to music began as a child at the age of 6 years under the guidance of her mother Padmini Srinivasan. She subsequently came under the tutelage of Vidwan Vaigal.S.Gnanaskandan and Padma Bhushan, Sangeetha Kalanidhi Madurai T.N.Seshagopalan. She is an “A-grade” artiste of All India Radio, Chennai and performs for Doordarshan and other private television channels. She specialises in lecture-sessions, thematic multi-media presentations integrating Bhakti and Carnatic Music and lecture-demonstrations. She undertook an archival project for Doordarshan - Podhigai TV titled “Azhwargalum Amudha Tamizhum” to render the Azhwar Pasurams on DD Podhigai television every week for 8 consecutive years. She also serves on the artist panel for the ICCR which is an autonomous organisation of the Government of India, involved in India's external cultural relations, through cultural exchange with other countries and their peoples.
Masquerade - the Performance Group is a Chennai based English theatre group. It is one of the few theatre groups in Chennai that survive without commercial financial sponsorship or funding from business houses or the likes, backed by public faith and smaller donorships from patrons, parents of tweens and teens who pay for training workshops. Public performances are rarely priced and income from performances are invariably through hat collections, done consciously as a tool to gauge audience appreciation of the show.
C.S.I Ewart Matriculation Higher Secondary School is a private Christian school founded in 1913 in madras. It gained matriculation status in 1945, and is managed by the Church of South India, Madras Diocese. The school mainly serves the communities of Purasawalkam, Vepery, Egmore, Kilpauk, Perambur, Sowcarpet. Ewart is fully accredited and is a member of the State School association. The classrooms are co-educational until 5th standard after which they become girls only.
Alarmel Valli is a leading Indian classical dancer and choreographer and the foremost exponent of the Pandanallur style, in the Indian classical dance form, Bharatanatyam. She is widely acclaimed for her ability to turn a traditional grammar into a deeply internalized, personal dance poetry.
Saarang is the annual social and cultural festival of IIT Madras. It is a 5 day long festival usually in the second week of the year. Founded in 1974, Saarang is the second oldest college festival in India. It was started in the name of 'Mardi Gras' with a small number of quizzes and music events. It adopted the name 'Saarang' and grew with the help of corporate sponsorship, collaboration with large-scale event organizers and international artists.
People's Park is a recreational park in the city of Chennai, India. Constructed between 1859 and 1861, the park is one of the oldest parks and the most famous one in the city.
This is a timeline of major events in the history of Chennai.
Chennai, with historically rich records dating from the British era, houses 2,467 heritage buildings within its metropolitan area (CMA), the highest within any Metropolitan Area limit in India. Most of these buildings are around 200 years old and older. Some of them are Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore, Ripon Building, Senate House, Bharat Insurance Building, and so forth. Chennai is home to the second largest collection of heritage buildings in the country, after Kolkata. The official list of heritage buildings was compiled by the Justice E. Padmanabhan committee.
Loyola College, Chennai is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Chennai Province of the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French Jesuit priest, Rev Fr Francis Bertram, SJ along with other European Jesuits. It is an autonomous Jesuit college affiliated with the University of Madras. Loyola commerce association celebrated its 75th year in 2019. According to NIRF 2020 the college is ranked 4th.
R. W. Alexander Jesudasan is an Indian entomologist credited with the discovery of more than 60 species of whiteflies in South India. He was a prominent educationist and served as Principal of Madras Christian College (2009–2020) and have been part of many education-related committees including NAAC Peer Team.