Orissa Balu

Life and works

Born to Sivagnanam and Rajeshwari.Presently researching based on Sea Turtles and Human Migration happened in the past by Tamil Community.He is also doing extensive research on Kumari Kandam.

A graduate of physics, through self-study a bachelor in engineering and also in library science,remote sensing and his moving to Orissa in 1989 was a turning point for him, for it kindled his interest on the Orissan culture.

Mr.S. Balasubramani researching in lost cities and turtle guided ocean routes for mapping the turtle corridor along the Indian coast and Indo pacific ocean. His interaction with the people around when he travels outside Tamil Nadu, which he has been doing very frequently and his establishing rapport with the coastal community and learning from the people, are a few examples of his novel approach. That he could attract the attention of Orissan royalty and the resulting friendship with it is another dimension of his personality.

Researched on the Kalinga-Tamil relationship was the beginning which became his passion for research into the Tamil history. His present research area is ‘Culture through Geography.Going beyond the emotional approach to the existence of Lemuria, Balasubramani , in addition to the study of literary references, conducts experiments on the Tamil coast making use of the traditional knowledge of the coastal community. He claims, which is important, that the traditional sailors and fishermen have a lot to contribute towards our knowledge of navigation , tsunamis and how transgression and regression in the Tamil Nadu coast had affected history, society and livelihoods.

He regularly engages with research students, guiding them towards developing import substitutes for earth science equipment. This initiative is aimed at supporting archaeologists in redefining our cultural heritage.

His another favorite ‘pastime’ is ‘capacity building’, creating a number of groups who participate in socially relevant activities using the history as a tool, for which, he says, he is ‘carrying Gandhi along with him’. His longtime works at south east Indian coast is on identifying turtle corridor on Indo- Pacific ocean through interdisciplinary ocean studies and combination of paleolithic peoples sea faring is creating an awareness on lateral approach on rediscovering our glory of the past

Now he is concentrating on his Integrated ocean culture research foundation.