A colossal monument for the Tamil bard Thiruvalluvar (1 to 3 century BC), Kanyakumari,

Thiruvalluvar Statue Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu en.wikipedia.org

Statue of Thiruvalluvar.Kanyakumari,TN,mandodari.com

 Above image:Statue of Thiruvalluvar, Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, S.India.  The tidal waves were surging past the  giant statue during the tsunami of December 26,2004. Here, one barely see the head of the great bard. .....................................

 In the southern tip of the Peninsular India, off the Coramandal coast of Kanyakumari, in a small inland with the back drop of the confluence of three seas - the Arabian sea, the Indian ocean and the Bay of Bengal, stands on the rock a massive and an imposing statue of Thiruvalluvar, one of the greatest Tamil poets ever lived.

Giant feet,Thiruvalluvar Statue, Kanyakumari,lakesideindia.wordpress.com

Kayakumari, Tamil nadu www.jrtsoftware.com .

 Above image: At the confluence of three seas: The Indian ocean, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian sea in the back drop. Here we see Vivekanandar Mandapam and Valluvar statue in the background and in the front goddess Kayakumari Amman and Vivekanandar, the greatest spiritualist ever  lived...................

Thiruvalluvar  was born in Mylapore, Chennai to Aathi, a dalit woman and Bhagavan, a Brahmin.  Thiruvalluvar is thought to have lived sometime between the 3rd century BC and the 1st century BC His work Thirukural, about the essence of life, is the best in Tamil literature packed with sum and substance. Thirukkural is one of the most revered ancient works in the Tamil language. It is considered a compendium on ethics, providing a guide for human morals and betterment in life, touching all phases of human life. Thirukkural has been translated into several languages  including a translation into Latin in 1730 by Constanzo Beschi, an Italian Missionary and a scholar in Tamil in 1730, which helped make the work known to European intellectuals.

Thiruvalluvar Statue, Kanyakumari,Tamil Nadu,en.wikipedia.org

This statue in standing posture is one of the main landmarks of Kanyakumar and is made of stone and cement. The height of the Thiruvalluvar statue is about 133 feet, denoting 133 chapters. The height of the pedestal of the statue is approximately 38 feet, signifying  the thirty eight chapters of Aram (good ethical behavior with conscience and honor). Moreover, the statue that is placed on the pedestal is about 95 feet high and it denotes the 25 chapters of  Inbam (dwells on Kaamam - love between man and a woman) and 70 chapters of Porul (the right manner of conducting worldly affairs) of Thirukural. There are 1330 poems, each being a succinct couplet, covering various categories. Thus Thiruvalluvar gives far more emphasis on  righteous living in public life. It is simply a Gospel on ''good living, good conduct and good character.''The  total weight of the statue is 7000 tons. The foundation for the statue was laid by the former Prime Minister, Morarji Desai on April 15, 1979, in the presence of the then Chief Minister, M.G. Ramachandran and after several modifications and delay, the statue was finally unveiled by the Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi on January 01, 2000.
 The sculptor of this statue was Dr. V. Ganpati Sthapathi. It took  roughly 10 years for him to complete the work. September  1990 -1999.

This statue is erected next to the Vivekananda Rock memorial. It is worth mentioning here in the 2004 December 26 tsunami incident that greatly affected  the east coat of India, and many countries, the people watching TV were aghast to see the giant tidal waves surging past almost the shoulder height of the Thiruvalluvar statue off the coast of Kanyakumari.

 Tit-Bits:

 01.  Tamil, a Dravidian language (the word Dravidian was used by the British Tamil Scholars and the word was never used in the early Sangam period)  widely spoken in Tamil Nadu, is one of the longest surviving classical languages in the world.
02. The only language of contemporary India which is recognisably continuous with a classical past.
03. Tamil literature has existed for over 2000 years.

04. The Tamil Lexicon, published by the University of Madras, is the first among the Indian languages.

05. Literature in all Dravidian languages owes a great deal to Sanskrit, the magic wand whose touch raised each of the languages from a level of patois to that of a literary idiom" (Sastri 1955, p. 309); 

06. By the same token, Tamil is the only South Indian language with minimum Sanskritic words.

07. In the Sangam period and later, many venerated scholars in Tamil had a good knowledge of Sanskrit

Ref:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thiruvalluvar_Statue

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_language

Meenakshisundaran, T.P. (1965), A History of Tamil Language, Poona: Deccan College