Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hailed Kashi and Tamil Nadu as timeless centres of culture and civilisation.
The two regions are also the centres of the world's oldest languages Sanskrit and Tamil, Modi said in his inaugural speech at Kashi Tamil Sangamam here.
"If in Kashi there is Baba Vishwanath, then in Tamil Nadu there is the blessing of Lord Rameshwaram. Both Kashi and Tamil Nadu are 'Shivmay' (drenched in the devotion of Lord Shiv) and 'Shaktimay' (drenched in the devotion of Goddess Shakti)," he said at the event in his Lok Sabha constituency.
There is a Dakshin Kashi in Tamil Nadu too, the prime minister noted.
More than 2,500 delegates from Tamil Nadu are visiting Varanasi and will participate in seminars and interact with local people of similar trade, profession and interest.
A month-long exhibition of handlooms, handicrafts, books, documentaries, cuisine, art forms, history and tourist places of the two regions will also be organised here.
The Tamil Sangamam conclave in the pilgrim city is part of the prime minister's initiative of 'Ek Bharat-Shreshtha Bharat' that portrays unity among the cultural diversity of various states and Union Territories.