Thiruvalluvar comes to life in Kanyakumari
Mo
rediff
Shobha Warrier in Madras
Nothing is impossible to those who act
after wise counsel and careful
thought - chapter 47 of Thirukkural.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Karunanidhi
celebrated the dawn of the new
millennium at the confluence of three seas
-- the Arabian Sea, the Bay of
Bengal and the Indian Ocean. No, he was in
Kanyakumari not to see the
sun set on a century, but in pursuit of a
long-cherished dream.
Karunanidhi had been planning for the last
25 years to honour
Thiruvalluvar, one of the greatest poets
in Tamil, by erecting a huge statue
of his on the southern tip of south India
near the Vivekananda rock.
On January 1, 2000, he pressed the button
to illuminate the 133 ft tall
statue. Built at a cost of Rs 61.4
million, the statue is made up of 7000
tones of a homogeneous rock and its height
symbolises 133 chapters of
Thirukkural - Thiruvalluvar's only
available work.
It was Karunanidhi's love for Tamil
literature and a representation from late
Eknath Ranade, former president of the
Vivekananda Kendra, that sowed the
seeds of the ambitious project in 1975.
But
every time Karunanidhi began work on it,
his term as CM ended abruptly.
It is not known when Thiruvalluvar wrote
the kurals. Researchers say it
was probably between 2nd century BC and
8th century AD when the
couplets were penned.
There are different versions about
Thiruvalluvar's birth also. Some say he
belonged to the weaver community as the
word 'valluvan' means a weaver.
Some say he was the king of Valluvanadu,
in Kanyakumari district, while
others says he was an illegitimate son of
a Brahmin father and a Harijan
mother.
But while there may be differences about
Thiruvalluvar's caste and place of
birth, none can question the importance of
his writings.
The 1330 couplets of Thirukkural deal with
dharma (virtue), artha
(wealth) and kama (love). He has left out
moksha as he felt if a person
followed the first three doctrines
diligently in life, he or she would
automatically attain moksha.
Thirukkural has been arranged in the form
of 133 chapters, each chapter
comprising of ten kurals or couplets.
Why does a work which dates back to
thousands of years still entice
readers? The reason could be that
Thirukkural deals with dilemmas that
we face every day - over morals, politics,
economy, love and domestic
life. It addresses ordinary people whose
concerns are the mundane
problems of everyday life. And
Thiruvalluvar also provides practical
solutions to these problems.
The first chapter in Thirukkural is in
praise of the Almighty. The kurals in
this chapter do not refer to any
particular religion. Subsequent chapters are
devoted to rain, ascetics, virtue,
domestic life, a true wife, sons, love,
hospitality, affability, gratitude,
impartiality, self-control, conduct,
faithfulness, forbearance, envy,
covetousness, slander, vain speech, doing
evil, and so on. No wonder Gandhiji once
described Thirukkural as a
textbook of indispensable authority on
moral life.
As a attempt to revive interest in
Thirukkural and Thiruvalluvar, the Tamil
Nadu government has now organised an
exhibition of 133 paintings --
each depicting one chapter of the text.
Some of the state's top artists have
done these paintings -- their own
interpretations of Thiruvalluvar's work.
As per the wishes of the chief minister,
the paintings are now being
displayed at Valluvar Kottam in Madras by
the Department of Information
and Publicity.
A minister revealed that the department
spent Rs 4 million to set up the
exhibition. Accompanying these paintings
are the kurals inscribed on
granite stones.
R B Bhaskaran, the principal of Fine Arts
College, had the difficult task of
co-ordinating the artists and also
painting
one chapter. "The idea to have an ancient
poet's view of the world through the eyes
of contemporary artists is great. It
really
surprised me to see people queuing up in
Kanyakumari to see the 133 paintings after
the inauguration."
Adhimoolam, one of the most famous Tamil
painters, illustrated the first
chapter. His work is the most impressive
of all. "As a Tamilian, I am
familiar with Valluvar and his kurals.
Valluvar did not talk about any
particular race, religion, caste or
creed...he talked only about human
beings.''
He believes that the kurals have a broader
appeal that transcends barriers
of language, culture and community.
''There is a kind of universality in his
writings. I had always felt that he
belonged to the world and not to the
Tamilians alone.''
Adhimoolam said it was quite a challenge
to create something that would
match Valluvar's work. ''He was such a
great poet... it is very difficult to
match his ideas with illustrations. His
thoughts and words are beyond
illustration. Yet, I have put my heart and
mind to it. As I was given the first
chapter, I was to paint his concept of
God. He referred to God as
Almighty like the first letter in the
alphabet, Aah. As an artist who lives in
the 21st century, I feel fortunate to have
painted his ideas."
Achuthan Kudaloor, an abstract artist from
Kerala, was assigned the
second chapter -- Rain. Some time back,
Achuthan had thought of
illustrating the works of Malayalam poet,
Kumaran Asan, but the idea was
scoffed at by his fellow artistes. "See
how effective these paintings on
Thirukkural are. What I liked about
Thiruvalluvar was that he stood for
humanity and not for any race or religion.
I feel happy that I, an abstract
painter, could be a part of this venture."
S Dhanapal, although was familiar with
Thirukkural, thought about the
chapter he had to illustrate for two days.
"One must know what each
kural actually means because you can
interpret each idea at various levels.
If you have to go deep into it, you need
deep knowledge. I feel images are
very good tools to make ordinary people
understand the meaning of
Thiruvallular's ideas. After doing one
painting, I feel like doing more on
Thirukkural."
Ravi Shankar, who is trying to explore new
vistas in painting with the help
of computers, attempted a new experiment.
"I did a computer drawing and
then used acrylic emulsion in the printer
and took a 4ft/3ft print. The only
grievance I have is that I was not given
adequate time to work. "
Sajitha decided to look at the meaning
behind the kurals from a critic's
point of view. "I was given the chapter on
love. It is amazing that a man
who lived thousands of years ago viewed
love from such a radical angle. I
feel I am fortunate to have got a chance
to give expression to his ideas in
colour."