A photograph of the school children at the occasion of the inauguration of Vanavani School, 1963

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Inaugurations , Students

Vanavani School was established on the IIT Madras campus in 1963. It was opened by Dr. A. L. Mudaliar (Chairman, Board of Governors) on 8 July 1963. According to the school website (as of 2021) the Vanavani School started with a strength of 52 children. As of 2021, the number has multiplied into around 2000 students. Father Murphy’s article in the Annual Number of 1965-1966 titled ‘The Vanavani Primary School’, explains that the school was given its name by the Director Prof. B. Sengupto. Father Murphy notes that the name combines ‘knowledge’ with ‘goddess of the forest’.

Seen in the photograph, seated first from right in first row, is Mrs. Shanti Sengupto, wife of Prof. B. Sengupto (Director of IIT Madras). The other persons in the photograph are yet to be identified.

Collection:

Gourishankar Collection

Album Name:

Inauguration of Vanavani School, 1963

Photograph ID:

001/0208/IMG_0203

Album ID:

0208

Date:

8 July 1963

Place:

Vanavani School

Photographer:

C. Gourishankar (1936-2002). A geologist by qualification, Gourishankar started his career as a photographer after working for many years with the Geological Survey of India. In everything that he did, Gourishankar strove to achieve flawlessness and impeccable quality. Thus his photography too was characterised by this drive for perfection. Every photograph that Gourishankar took was meticulously planned and shot and printed with diligence and patience. Gourishankar carried out most of the official photography at IIT Madras in the 1960s.