Thiruvalluvar Day

In News

• Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah has extended his warm greetings to the people on Thiruvalluvar day.

About 

• Thiruvalluvar Day was first celebrated on May 17 and 18 in 1935. 
• In the present time, it is usually observed either on January 15 or 16 in Tamil Nadu and is a part of Pongal celebrations. 

Who is Thiruvalluvar?

• He is a poet, and philosopher 
• He is regarded as a cultural icon by Tamils.
• Very little is known about his family background, religious affiliation, or birthplace.
  • It is believed that he used to live in the town of Mylapore, which in today’s time is a neighborhood in Chennai. 
    • Some accounts say that he lived from the 8th to the 9th century.
    • Tamil orator and writer and father of the Pure Tamil movement, Maraimalai Adigal deduced 31 BC as the birth year of Valluvar, while Czech scholar in Indian literature and linguistics, Kamil Zvelebil inferred that Thiruvalluvar lived around 500 AD.

Works

• Thiruvalluvar’s primary work Thirukkural contains 1330 couplets (kurals) that are divided into 133 sections of 10 couplets each. 
  • The text is divided into three parts with teachings on dharma, artha, and kama (virtue, wealth and love).

Social significance 

• In the early 16th century, a temple was built within the Ekambareswarar temple complex in Mylapore and it was dedicated to Thiruvalluvar. 
• In 1976, a temple memorial called Valluvar Kotam was built in Chennai and houses one of the largest auditoriums in Asia. 
• Another statue of the legendary Tamil poet was unveiled in Ulsoor, near Bengaluru, in 2009. 
• A statue of Valluvar was also erected outside the School of Oriental and African Studies in Russell Square, London.

Source:PIB