Sage Thiru-valluvar
"The Bard of Universal Man"
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The Author
 

We know him as Thiruvalluvar. This is how people have called him for ages. “Thiru” means respected. “Valluvar” is a caste whose profession was to be the priests to people engaged in occupation of weaving. So he is called ‘Respected Priest of the Weaving Community,” which actually is the author’s surname.

Ariel, who translated Thirukrual into French, had some point when he said: "The Kural is a book without a name, by an author without his name". In fact the personal names of the authors other ancient Tamil classics are also not known. For example, the book Tholakppiyam is said to be composed by Tholkappiyar, Thirumandiram by Thirumoolar.

Majority of historians are agreed upon 2nd century A.D.

The maximum we can say with certainty is that Thiruvalluvar lived between the 2nd century B.C. and 6th century A.D. Historians hold different opinions on the exact date. The Tamils in Tamil Nadu have traditionally considered 31 B.C. as the year of his birth, which is accepted by the Tamil Academy of Madurai. However, according to few others, Thiruvalluvar lived and wrote during post-Sangam Period of Tamil literature - i.e. 300 A.D. to 600 A.D.

Traditions assert that he lived in Mylapore, which is now a part of the modern city of Chennai in India. Recent findings tend to suggest that he was born either in Tirunelveli or Kanyakumari districts and finally settled in Mylapore in Chennai.

Thiruvalluvar led a married life, he was not an ascetic. His wife’s name was Vasuki and legend says that she was deeply devoted to her husband. Legends says they were an ideal couple. Today we have even a few marriage halls named after them: "Valluvar Vasuki Kalyan Mandapam, Avadi, Chennai" which you locate thru Wikimapia. Adjacent residential blocks are named after them : Valluvar Nagar, Vasuki nagar. Similarly adjacent streets are named. Schools are named, for example: Valluvar Vasuki Primary School, Chennai.

Thiruvalluvar was a poet, thinker and teacher, all molded into one.

He was not a law giver like the Prophets of Judeo-Christian tradition – Moses, Jesus Christ. His verses are very much like the sayings of Confucian sayings in Lun Yu, Proverbs in the Bible, or sayings of Buddha in Dhammapada. He was not a mystic philosopher like Lao Tzu, but a man concerned with the day to day conduct of men & women.

Valluvar has composed verses on a very wide spectrum of subjects under three headings: virtue, wealth, and love. The subjects include nobility, propriety, just governance, conduct, social obligations, self control, education and knowledge, and love before marriage. The works of the Prophets & Mystics do not dwell in details on wealth (managing kingdom, selecting ministers & the like). They have said very little about Love (Kama), to which Thiruvalluvar devoted 25 chapters out of his 133.

At the confluence of three seas - the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean – the latest Memorial to Thiruvalluvar stands. It was inaugurated in Kanyakumari ( Tamil Nadu, India), fittingly at the dawn of the new millennium, on 1st January 2000.

The total height of the memorial is 133 feet symbolizing 133 chapters of Thirukural. It consists of a 38 feet high Pedestal and standing over it is 95 feet tall Statue of Thiruvalluvar. The Pedestal with a height of 38 feet represents the 38 chapters in the Book of Virtue (Aram) in Thirukural. The Statue of 95 feet standing on it represents together 70 chapters in Book of Wealth (Porul) and 25 chapters in Book of Love (Inbam).

The Memorial, artistically symbolizes that Wealth and Love must be stand on Virtue.

To know more about it click here.

This Memorial opened in 1976 in honor of the Tamil poet-saint Thiruvalluvar is located in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, India. It replicates ancient Tamil architecture and was built on land reclaimed from an unused lake.

Inside the Memorial, there is a 39 metres tall structure designed like a chariot, on the lines of the temple car of Thiruvarur. A life-size statue of the poet is in the chariot. The campus has a large Auditorium, with a seating capacity of 4000 people. The big auditorium hall does not have ant pillars to support the roof, which is achieved by the grid type of roofing.

The 133 chapters of Thirukural are inscribed on granite panels (in Tamil) and on display in the Walk-Way around the Auditorium. Paintings depicting about 100 verses from the book are also on display in the Walk-Way.

The Memorial is open daily 8 am to 6 pm. When I visited in 2006, the Memorial needed major repairs.

Rosa and Billie in Lap of Thiruvalluvar
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK
Credit: Bowbrick, Flickr

References

i] http://www.geocities.com/nvkashraf/kur-trans/Kural-Int.htm
ii] http://www.visitkanyakumari.com/ThiruvalluvarStatue.htm
iii] http://www.rediff.com/news/2000/jan/29thir.htm
iv] http://www.madrasi.info/valluvar-kottam.html