History
In 1996, Prof. R Natarajan took over as director and instituted several committees to study several ways of improving IIT Madras. One of his committees, the committee on new mechanisms of Teacher Learning Interactions, was tasked with coming up with ways of inspiring students. This committee, headed by Prof. Ajit Kumar Kolar, came up with a suggestion to create a technology festival in IIT Madras. On the behest of Prof. U R Rao, chairman of the board of governors of the institute, in 1997, several students came together and staged 'Pragmaa', a technical festival, in 1997, and then in 1999. Students applied for and took on the role of Coordinators for various events. A set of colleges around the country was targeted and the amount required to run the event was raised through sponsorship agreements. The first edition of Shaastra was thus planned and took place starting 9 March 2000. Since then, Shaastra has continued to expand year by year, and has established itself as one of the premiermost technical fest in India. The 2020 edition of Shaastra, was held in January, with the theme 'Parsec to Planck'. The 2020 edition of Shaastra saw prominent speakers including Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, Mr. Robin Li, Arunachalam Muruganathan and Dr. C. Rangarajan. The last two editions of Shaastra, in 2021 & 2022, were held completely virtually keeping in mind the pandemic restrictions. These editions featured several prominent speakers gracing the fest, including Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Dr. Raghuram Rajan, Ms. Carolina Marin & Dr. John L. Hennessy.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaastra Indian Institutes of Technology festivals Technical festivals in India Festivals established in 2000 2000 establishments in Tamil Nadu