The Government Arts College, previously known as the Government Arts College for Men, is an autonomous college based in the town of

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum), or Kudanthai, is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the hea ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. This college is functioning under Bharathidasan University. The vice-chancellor of this university is under the charge of Dr. M. Selvam. Dr. K. Duraiarasan has been the principal of this college since taking charge in the last two years of 2020. He is a former examination control officer of Bharathidasan University and assistant director of Tamil Nadu Government's Tamil Internet Education Institute. The college is ranked 96th among colleges in India by the

National Institutional Ranking Framework National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) is a ranking methodology released annually by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, to rank institutions of higher education in India. The framework was approved by the former Ministr ...

(NIRF) in 2024.

History

This college was started as a Provincial School in October 1854 even before the establishment of the

Madras University The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...

. It became one of the oldest educational institutions to be established in the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

. In 1864, it was raised to the status of second-grade college with the affiliated subjects Mathematics, History and Philosophy under the university.

Academic programmes

The college offers undergraduates and postgraduate programmes in arts and science affiliated to the

Bharathidasan University Bharathidasan University (BDU) is a university in the city of Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India ...

. It has been accredited by NAAC with an A Grade.

Notable alumni

Some of the distinguished alumni of the Government Arts College include

Srinivasa Ramanujan Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar (22 December 188726 April 1920) was an Indian mathematician. Often regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians of all time, though he had almost no formal training in pure mathematics, he made substantial con ...

, V. S. Srinivasa Sastri, P. S. Sivaswami Iyer, U.V.Swaminatha Iyer, Robert–Rajasekar, and S. Shankar

Miniature sculptures in the campus

Kumbakonammencollege3.jpg, Sculputures in four sides of pillar Kumbakonammencollege4.jpg,

Brahma Brahma (, ) is a Hindu god, referred to as "the Creator" within the Trimurti, the triple deity, trinity of Para Brahman, supreme divinity that includes Vishnu and Shiva.Jan Gonda (1969)The Hindu Trinity, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212– ...

worshipping

Linga A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Upanishads and epic literature, wher ...

Kumbakonammencollege5.jpg,

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

reclining on snake Kumbakonammencollege2.jpg, Row of pillars Kumbakonammencollege6.jpg,

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

coming out of Linga to save Markandeya Kumbakonammencollege8.jpg, Another sculpture in standing posture Kumbakonammencollege7.jpg, Sculptures in the panel

External links

* {{Education in Tamil Nadu Arts colleges in India Education in Thanjavur district 1854 establishments in India Colleges affiliated to Bharathidasan University Academic institutions formerly affiliated with the University of Madras Kumbakonam Universities and colleges established in 1854