Chennai: Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) is hosting Shaastra 2026, its annual technical festival, from January 2 to 6 on the campus. One of Asia's largest student-run technical festivals, the five-day event is drawing wide participation from students, researchers and technology enthusiasts from across the country.

Now in its 27th edition, Shaastra is featuring around 80 events, 130 stalls showcasing innovations and research from IIT Madras, and a diverse mix of competitions, workshops, exhibitions, conferences and technology-driven shows. The festival is entirely student-managed, with more than 750 students involved in its organisation, and continues to be ISO 9001:2015 certified.

This year's theme, “Artifacts of Arcade”, is reimagining the festival as an interactive, game-inspired ecosystem that blends hands-on learning with entertainment. Several first-time events are being introduced, including Robo GP, a high-speed robotic racing challenge; NeuroHack, IIT Madras' first brain-computer interface hackathon using real EEG data; BioBattle focusing on biomimicry-based healthcare innovation; and an Educators Conclave under the VidhyaVahak programme.

The festival is also hosting the Digital Governance Summit and ICON26, an international conference on smart manufacturing. Spotlight lectures are being delivered by eminent leaders from science, technology and public policy.

Through its events, open house and social initiatives such as Hear4You, Shaastra 2026 is reinforcing IIT Madras' vision of “IIT Madras for all” while strengthening the connection between technology, society and policy.