Thiruvalluvar Day -The Divine Poet’s Birth Anniversary.
Thiruvalluvar Day is celebrated in Tamil Nadu, India in memory of Saint Thiruvalluvar who was a Tamil poet and philosopher. Thirukkural is his contribution to Tamil literature is a work on ethics. Thiruvalluvar lived in a period between the 4th century BC and the 1st century BC.
In 2024 Thiruvalluvar Day will be celebrated on January 16th.
The Tamil poet Mamulanar of the Sangam period mentioned that Thiruvalluvar was the greatest Tamil scholar and Mamulanar also mentioned the Nanda Dynasty of northern which ruled until the 4th century BC.
There are three most important features of Thirukural which make it unique, they are.
- It is secular,
- Universal and applicable to people living everywhere and
- Everlasting as its messages transcend time
Celebrations in Tamil Nadu
15th (16th on leap years) of January (the second of the month of ‘Thai’ as per Tamil Calendar) is Thiruvalluvar Day is a public holiday in Puducherry and Tamil Nadu. Thiruvalluvar Day falls on the fourth day of the Pongal festival when people go to meet their family members. All members pay respect to elders and elders give blessings both in words and in the gift is mainly as money. Women of the house leave food out on turmeric plants or banana leaves for birds to eat, the food is of different colors to attract the birds.
The Thiruvalluvar Statue is offered garlands and various meetings and seminars are organized in all parts of Tamil Nadu attended by various party leaders, Tamil scholars, and members of the Thiruvalluvar mandram, there are various programs in school on his occasion.
A temple-like memorial to Thiruvalluvar, Valluvar Kottam, was built in Chennai in 1976. This monument complex consists of structures usually found in Dravidian temples, including a temple car carved from three blocks of granite, and a shallow, rectangular pond.
There is a 133-foot tall statue of Thiruvalluvar erected at Kanyakumari at the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent, where the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Indian Ocean converge. There is also a statue of Thiruvalluvar outside the School of Oriental and African Studies in Russell Square, London.
The government of Tamil Nadu celebrates the 15th (16th On Leap Years) of January as (as Per Tamil Calendar ) Thiruvalluvar Day as part of the Pongal celebrations in his honor.
