TEMPLE OF FINE ARTS

The Temple of Fine Arts (TFA) is the creation of Swami Shantanand Saraswathi, the disciple of Swami Shivananda of Rishikesh. After the demise of Swami Shivananda, Swami Shantananda came out of the Ashram and started his service to humanity. His devotees are called the Shiva family and they are spread all over the world. The Temple of Fine Arts (TFA), a school that teaches Indian music and dance was started on the basis that no poor boy or girl who has the desire to learn music or dance should be deprived of the opportunity. The TFA conducts free courses for those who are unable to afford the fee.

It is a multi-faceted cultural organisation which is run by volunteers from all walks of life, both young and old. Every year TFA stages a dance drama, which is usually held at the Kamraj Memorial Hall. Since the organisation believes that music, dance and art should be enjoyed by all who desire it, these productions are staged free, there are no tickets, only invitations that can be picked up from Annalakshmi, Mount Road. The organisation has so far staged major dance productions such as Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lady White Snake, The Legend of Mahsuri, Ramayana, Taj Mahal and Shakuntala to name just a few, in Singapore, Malaysia, India and Australia over the last 15 years. At their Chennai and Coimbatore centres alone, there are 2000 students learning Indian Art. And at all the other TFA centres (at Kuala Lampur, Penang and Perth), there are another 2000 students learning Indian music and dance.

Apart from music, dance and the visual arts, TFA has also set up a charitable medical clinic, called the Temple of Service, which is staffed by retired doctors in the community who set aside, a little of their time to serve the community. Through the Temple of Service, around 100 poor children are getting free medical support at its centres in Chennai, Coimbatore and Pallvur near Palakkad.

TFA also established the Temple of Knowledge -a trust which provides scholarships to needy students. In order to sustain themselves, the members of TFA started Annalakshmi in 1986, where vegetarian food is served in a homely atmosphere. Food is prepared and served by volunteers. They also have a central kitchen at K K Nagar, which caters around 1500 lunches, 1000 snacks and 200 dinners everyday for companies around Chennai. They also run a canteen for Padma Seshadri, K K Nagar, Wellington Hospital, Polaris and Shankar Nethralaya. Annalakshmi provides free food to all the people who come for free operations at Shankar Nethralaya.

TFA have also established an arts centre called Lavanya Arts, which sells unique Indian artefacts and handicrafts, supplied directly to them by craftsmen without going through middle men. Annalakshmi Tours and Travels, a travel service, which enjoys a tremendous amount of goodwill among corporate Chennai, is yet another of their commercial ventures set up to sustain their charitable activities. Their prestigious clients include, Ford India, BPCL, Dhanalakshmi Bank, Blueshift, IDBI Bank, HDFC and Volvo. Annalakshmi Tours and Travels runs both inbound and outbound services.

So the proceeds from their business outlets sustain the charitable activities of TFA both in Singapore and also in Malaysia, India and in Perth, Australia. In Malaysia and India, they run free medical clinics and also mobile clinics which attend to people in villages and estates.

|