Thiruvalluvar is a celebrated Tamil poet who wrote the Thirukkural, a well known ethical work in Tamil literature.
The statue of Tiruvalluar at Kanyakumari Thiruvalluvar's period (based on the Thirukkural per se) is between the second century BC and the eighth century AD.
The name Thiruvalluvar (ThiruValluvar) consists of Thiru (a polite Tamil word, similar to Mr) and Valluvar (a polite name for Valluvan, according to Tamil tradition).
Thirukkural is one of most revered works in the Tamil. It consists of 133 athikarams or chapters. Each athikaram consists of 10 kurals (rhyming Tamil couplets) thus making 1330 kurals in total. Each couplet consists of four seers in the first line and three seers in the second. A seer is a single or a combination of more than one Tamil word. The first Kural is ‘Ahara Muthala Ezhuthellam Aathi; Pahavan Muthatrey Ulahu’.
Thirukkural is divided into three sections. Section one deals with “Aram”, doing things with conscience and honor, for the good of the less fortunate, the second discusses “Porul”, realities or facts of life, and the third dwells on “Inbam” the pleasures that a man and a woman experience in the course of their relationship.
As you walk through the Valluvar Kottam, you will come across another section which is called the Lifestyle Gallery. Basically, in this section of the gallery, visitors will see many hand carved statues resembling the olden days Indians, together with their living environment and everyday practices. Some of the interesting facts that you’ll discover are:
The Indian men wear cotton made pieces of clothes called Dhoti and the women are always clad in Saree. The clothing represents status in the community. Clothes made out of silk are normally worn by the rich.
Indians consume a balanced diet that has a combination of rice, vegetables, meat with pickles served on banana leaves. A special drink made out of cow’s milk called “Moru” is consumed during the day to keep the body cool.
There are plenty of languages spoken by the Indians. In Malaysia, the main language is Tamil, followed by Malayalam and Telugu. Some of the basic greetings are like “Vanakkam” (hello) and “Nandri” (thank you).
Apart from these, there a lot more information that you shall discover in this section of the cave.
