Thiruvalluvar Statue

The Thiruvalluvar Statue, or the Valluvar Statue, is a 133-feet tall stone sculpture of the Tamil poet and philosopher Tiruvalluvar, author of the Tirukkural, an ancient Indian work on secular ethics and morality. It is located atop a small island near the town of Kanyakumari on the southernmost point of the Indian peninsula on the Coromandel Coast, where two seas and an ocean meet. The statue was sculpted by the Indian sculptor Dr. V. Ganapati Sthapati, who also created the Iraivan Temple, and was unveiled on the millennium day of 1 January 2000 by the then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi.DescriptionThe combined height of the statue and pedestal is 133 feet, denoting the 133 chapters of the Tirukkural. This includes 95 foot sculpture of Valluvar standing upon a 38-foot pedestal that represents the 38 chapters of Virtue, the first of the three books of the Kural text. The statue itself represents the second and third books of the Kural text, namely, Wealth and Love. The whole design signifies that wealth and love be earned and enjoyed on the foundation of solid virtue. The right hand of the statue with three fingers pointing skywards signifies the three cantos of the Kural text, viz., Aram, Porul, and Inbam, combined. The head of the statue stands at a height of 200 feet above the sea level.The statue, with its slight bend around the waist is reminiscent of a dancing pose of the ancient Indian deities like Nataraja.