When Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam decided to found an institute in the name of Bharata, the ‘legendary’ author of the Natya Sastra, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu suggested the name of Ilango – no less ‘legendary’ for that matter and the author of Silappadhikaram, one of the foremost epics in Tamil – be also included. The celebrated and scholarly exponent of Bharatanrityam did not hesitate to add his name (the more the merrier), as what we know as of now about our ancient Indian theatre is primarily from these two books, though it cannot be ruled out that both names ‘Bharata’ (‘actor’) and ‘Ilango’ (‘younger prince’) could be fictitious.

Though it becomes a loaded political debate in the contemporary context to discuss to what extent these two ancient languages Sanskrit and Tamil influenced each other, there is no denying the fact that the concept of a pan-Indian theatrical vision existed in the collective cultural consciousness of the people from Kashmir to Kanyakumari from time immemorial.