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Thiruvalluvar "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

  • The Prime Minister has extended his venerations to Thiruvalluvar on the Thiruvalluvar Day.

 

Key Points

About the Thiruvalluvar Day:

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

 

About Thiruvalluvar:

    • Thiruvalluvar, also called Valluvar, was a Tamil poet-saint
    • He is regarded as a cultural and moral icon for Tamils across caste and religious lines.
    • The period when he lived is debated, as is his religious identity
    • Some call him a Hindu; some trace his past to Jainism; Dravidian groups count him as a saint, as he dismissed the caste system. Some place him in the third or fourth century; others put him in the eighth or ninth
    • His primary work Thirukkural (contribution to Tamil Literature) contains 1330 couplets (kurals).
    • The text is divided into three parts with teachings on dharma, artha, and kama (virtue, wealth and love).

 

Social Significance of Thiruvalluvar:

  • A 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.
  • A 133-foot tall statue of Thiruvalluvar stands at Kanyakumari as well.
  • The Thiruvalluvar University was established in Vellore district of Tamilnadu by the Government of Tamilnadu in October 2002.
  • In 1976, a temple-memorial called Valluvar Kotam was built in Chennai and houses one of the largest auditoriums in Asia.
  • In the early 16th century, a temple dedicated to Thiruvalluvar was built within the Ekambareswarar temple complex in Mylapore, Chennai

 

Sangam Age

  • The ‘Sangam’ describes a period from the sixth century BC to the third century AD encompassing today’s Tamil Nadu, Kerala, the southern parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and northern Sri Lanka.
  • The Tamil Sangams or Cankams were assemblies of Tamil scholars and poets that, according to traditional Tamil accounts, occurred in the remote past.
  • It is named for scholarly congregations in and around the city of Madurai, located about 400 km southwest of Chennai.
  • The period is noted for its Tamil literature and its literary output is closely associated with a significant politico-literary movement in early 20th century TN, which held that the Dravidian people could be descended from the people of the Indus Valley civilisation.
  • The Sivaganga discovery is the first major one of its kind in the state that claims to attest to the presence of an ancient urban civilisation in the subcontinent’s south, a civilisation that has often been pooh-poohed as political rhetoric.
  • It also strengthens the purported connection between the Indus Valley settlers and the ancient residents of Keezhadi.