T.N. CM Stalin unveils foundation for Tamil Knowledge Campus in Chennai

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Thursday (July 3, 2025) virtually unveiled the foundation for the construction of the Tamil Knowledge Campus (TKC) being set up by Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL) at Taramani in Chennai at a cost of ₹40 crore. The TKC would house the RMRL, Indus Research Centre, and the Centre for Study in Public Sphere.

Minister Duraimurugan, Chief Secretary N. Muruganandam, State Planning Commission Executive Vice Chairperson J. Jeyaranjan, RMRL trustees R. Balakrishnan, Mariam Ram, R. Ramachandran, B.G. Rajendran alias Indran, and Sundar Ganesan, architect B. Rajendran, and RMRL’s Centre for Catalouging and Preservation head R. Prakash were among those present on the occasion at the Secretariat in Chennai.

“The Tamil Knowledge Campus would house the Roja Muthiah Research Library, the Indus Research Centre, and the Centre for Study in Public Sphere. The building will have four floors and would come up in a land of about 30,000 sq.ft. provided by the State government. We expect the construction to be completed within 18 months,” RMRL Trust’s founding trustee and director Sundar Ganesan said.

The collection of nearly 50,000 books, along with an equal number of items such as periodicals, ephemera, and pamphlets, belonging to the late artist Roja Muthiah of Kottaiyur near Karaikudi in Sivaganga district, formed the foundation of the library named in his honor.

In 1992, the University of Chicago launched an effort to save the collection. In 2004, the RMRL Trust was formed, which eventually expanded its scope from collection, development, cataloguing, and preservation of books to conserving books and conducting public lectures, seminars, exhibition, and research activities. In 2007, the RMRL Trust inaugurated the Indus Research Centre and in 2021, the Centre for Study in Public Sphere.