Tamil scholars from various Tamil associations around the world have raised their voice to make Thirukkural, the book of moral couplets penned by saint-poet Thiruvalluvar, as a national book. Keeping this as a theme, Thamizh Thai Arakkattalai of Thanjavur, which is working towards Tamil development, organised a day-long conference here on Sunday.
Thirukkural, which has 1,330 couplets is divided into three chapters as araththuppaal (righteousness), porutpaal (wealth) and Kamaththuppaal (joy). It has been translated in more than 25 languages of the world. It nowhere indicates any specific religion, caste, race, etc. Hence it is known as Ulaga Podhumarai in Tamil.
For over a decade there have been voices from Tamil scholars, both native and global, to make Thirukkural a national book.
Following that, in the year 2005, the then Government passed a resolution in the Tamil Nadu assembly, urging the Centre to announce Thirukkural as a national book.
Speaking at the conference, former MLA, M Komugiyan, said, “The present government has allotted around `3 crore for the Chinese translation of Thirukkural, works by Bharathiar and Bharathidhasan songs. This will be a major step to strengthen our voice”.
Inaugurating the conference, M Rajaram, Secretary, Tamil Development Department, said, “Tamil is the root for many other languages. The first Thirukkural book was published in 1812. Its first title was ‘Muppaal’. It has 14,000 words and 42,194 letters. Out of 247 letters in Tamil, 37 letters were not used in Thirukkural. The two trees that find reference in this book are bamboo and palm. Manakkudavar was the first Tamil scholar who wrote explanations for the couplets. The book has also been translated into Vaagriboli, the language of nari kuravas. G U Pope, the great scholar, was the first person who translated it in English. Thirukkural has these distinctions and the Centre must announce it as a national book.”
During the event, the MLA also released the conference souvenir.
He presented awards to the best Tamil associations and scholars who were working towards popularising Thirukkural.
