How a Dikshitar Celebration at IIT Madras Turned Into a Platform for Pseudoscience
P. A. Krishnan | 01 April 2026 | The Wire
For decades, I have listened to Carnatic music, and few composers have moved me as deeply as Muthuswamy Dikshitar. His kritis – elevating, serene and marked by impeccable, sonorous Sanskrit – possess a grandeur that is uniquely his. I must have heard “Sri Kantimathim,” his composition in praise of the presiding goddess of my birthplace, Tirunelveli, countless times, yet it has lost none of its power for me. I know I am not alone; there are thousands of admirers of Dikshitar who feel the same.
It was, therefore, natural to welcome IIT Madras’s announcement that it would celebrate the 250th birth anniversary of Dhikshitar on March 23. One expected that such an occasion would introduce a great cultural legacy to the bright and curious students of that venerable institution. That the event would instead be used to peddle pseudoscience would have seemed unthinkable….