To bring awareness about this diverse culture, Periclean Scholars Class of 2023 organized two days event at �þ���. A food truck was set up with typical Sri Lankan food items on April 12 and 13, with a cultural show also taking place on April 13.

The celebration started with food and games and went into typical Sinhalese Traditional dances by Elon �þ��� Sitare Sadedhi and Tara Venkataraman (video below). finally, Tamil traditional Parai Music, and Tamil traditional martial arts techniques called Silambam and Kalari Adimurai were displayed by teams from Carolina Tamil Kalaikoodam and Academy of Kalari Adimurai (video below).

This program was well attended by students and staff who showed interest in learning about Sri Lankan culture and tasting Sri Lankan traditional food.

Carolina Kalaikoodam and the Academy of Kalari Adimurai selected Sivayogan based on his contributions to the Tamil language development here in North Carolina. Sivayogan worked with the Governor of North Carolina to get the proclamation of January as the “Tamil Language and Culture Month” from 2019 continuously until this year. He also made the proclamation to include the recent archeological excavation in two cities Keezhadi and Perunai in Tamil Nadu, India. Carbon dating on the artifacts obtained in these places showed that a well-developed civilization existed in those places nearly 3200 years back.

Sivayogan also voluntarily teaches Tamil language to American-born Tamil kids on Sunday afternoons. He initiated the systematic �þ��� of Tamil grammar in Cary Tamil School. For this, he prepared several handouts and shared them with students and teachers. He was also instrumental in training the Tamil teachers with the help of Elon faculty members Terry Tomasek and Nina Namaste. Many of the Elon Periclean �þ��� also learned Tamil due to his efforts before their educational trip to Sri Lanka. Sivayogan writes Tamil poems. He expresses his experience of war in Sri Lanka in his poems. He also presented his poems at the poetry night organized by Elon. He migrated from Sri Lanka to the United States in 2010 and has been �þ��� at �þ��� since 2011.

Carolina Tamil Kalaikkoodam is a nonprofit organization based in Cary, N.C., and its mission is to preserve and nurture Tamil culture. The organization also promotes Tamil arts and literature for the benefit of the local community.​ Its members teach and promote one of the oldest Tamil martial arts named Silambam, an ancient Tamil musical instrument named Parai, and a Tamil dance called Oyilattam, etc. Academy of Kalari Adimurai, teach and promote ancient self-defense of Tamils, known as Kalari, they also teach the pressure points in the human body and how to activate them. Anyone who wants to learn these ancient lessons can contact Sivayogan.

Congratulations to Sivayogan for making a bridge between the Tamil community and local populations and receiving this prestigious Tamil Heritage Award.