CHENNAI: Dinamani Editor K Vaidiyanathan was conferred the Thiruvalluvar Editor’s award for creating awareness of Thirukkural, at the ‘Thirukkural in Parliament’ event held in New Delhi on Thursday.The ‘Thirukkural in Parliament’ programme is part of the Thirukkural awareness movement being spearheaded by Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay.
“The text that was written over 2,000 years ago is now being made available in 26 languages,” said educationist P J Kurien, adding that the Uttar Pradesh government has given its consent for a statue of Thiruvalluvar at Haridwar.
Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu said, “We imbibe the values in holy texts like the Gita, Bible and Koran. But Thirukkural has wisdom that transcends religion. Hence it must be adopted in all languages across the country.”
Vairamuthu was awarded lifetime achievement Thiruvalluvar Award while Kundrakudi Ponnambala Adigalar was conferred with the Thiruvalluvar Mass Awakening Award.
Tamil writer Joe D’Cruz received the award for Thiruvalluvar Literature and Scientific Outlook while former Anna University Vice Chancellor V C Kulandaiswamy, got the Thiruvalluvar Academician Award. Prizes were also given to 133 students who took part in a national-level Thirukkural talent test.
HRD Minister Smriti Irani who distributed th awards, said Thirukkural would soon find a place in the UNESCO library. According to her, UNESCO’s Director General Irina Bokov had requested that the ancient Indian text be made available at the organisation’s library.
“I had replied that the Thirukkural will be sent to showcase Indian literary genius,” said the Minister. Irani also stated that besides making it available in 26 languages, the Central Institute of Indian Languages was engaged in translating the work into several foreign languages.