There are so many, but they all fall under three categories: Cultural, Technical and Departmental.
Cultural fest: Saarang
IITM’s cultural fest, Saarang, is the largest student-run cul-fest in India, with over 50,000 attendees from around the country. Held over five days in early January, this fest (which is our pride and joy) is packed with competitive cultural events, talks by famous personalities, and diverse culinary experiences. The main highlight of the fest is the live-music events. Past editions have seen performances from KK, Shaan, Shankar Ehsaan-Loy, Udit Narayan, Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan, and even international artists like Marnik, AronChupa and Maddix.
Technical fest: Shaastra
Shaastra is IITM’s student-run techno-managerial ISO-certified festival. It is usually held over four days in the first week of January. It has several competitive events and showcases like drone wars, laser shows and firework displays. Shaastra’s Spotlight Lecture Series features pioneers of technology around the world who come to share their views on the latest global tech updates. The Research Expo is also a great stage for students and researchers across the nation to showcase their groundbreaking research.
As you can see, early January is a pretty exciting time to be at IITM!
Departmental Fests
Apart from Saarang and Shaastra, some departments also conduct special fests over the course of the year. Some prominent ones are:
- E-Summit by the E-Cell
- Amalgam by the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering
- Bhoutics by the Physics Department
- Biofest by the Biotechnology Department
- Elec Fest by the Electrical Engineering Department
- Chemclave by the Chemical Engineering Department
- CEA fest by the Civil Engineering Department
- Exebit by the Computer Science & Engineering Department
- Forays by the Mathematics Department
- HSS Department Conference by the Humanities and Social Sciences Department
- Mechanica by the Mechanical engineering Department
- Samanvay by the Department of Management Studies
- Wavez by the Department of Ocean Engineering