Thiruvalluvar Award is an annual award given by the State Government of Tamil Nadu, India, in memory of the ancient poet-philosopher Valluvar. It is given to those who have made an outstanding contribution towards the Kural literature and its philosophy. It is given in January of every year since 1986, on the 2nd day of the Tamil month of Thai observed by the Tamil Nadu government as the Thiruvalluvar Day, and is given on behalf of Tamil Development Authority. [1]
The award carries a cash prize of ₹ 100,000, a 1-sovereign gold medal, and a citation. [2] The award originally included a cash prize of ₹ 10,000. From 1991, the prize amount was increased to ₹ 20,000. From 1999, the prize amount was again increased to the current measure of ₹ 100,000. [3]
S.No. | Year | Recipient | Image | Birth / Death | Country | Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1986 | Kundrakudi Adigalar | 1925–1995 | India | Hindu spiritual guru | |
2 | 1987 | K. A. P. Viswanatham | 1899–1994 | India | ||
3 | 1988 | S. Dandapani Desikar | India | |||
4 | 1989 | V. Suba. Manikkam | 1917–1989 | India | ||
5 | 1990 | K. S. Anandan | 1934–1999 | India | ||
6 | 1991 | Sundarashanmuganar | 1922–1997 | India | ||
7 | 1992 | 'Navalar' Nedunchezhiyan | 1920–2000 | India | ||
8 | 1993 | Kallai D. Kannan | India | |||
9 | 1994 | Thirukkuralar V. Munusamy | 1913–1994 | India | Awarded posthumously. | |
10 | 1995 | S. Sivakamasundari | India | |||
11 | 1996 | M. Govindasamy | India | |||
12 | 1997 | K. Mohanraj | India | |||
13 | 1998 | Ira. Sarangapani | India | |||
14 | 1999 | V. S. Kulandhaisamy | 1929–2016 | India | ||
15 | 2000 | T. S. K. Kannan | India | |||
16 | 2001 | V. M. Sethuraman | India | |||
17 | 2002 | I. Sundaramurthi | India | |||
18 | 2003 | K. Mangaiyarkarasi | India | |||
19 | 2004 | R. Muthukumarasamy | India | |||
20 | 2005 | P. Arangasamy | India | |||
21 | 2006 | Aru. Alagappan | India | |||
22 | 2007 | K. P. Aravanan | 1941–2018 | India | ||
23 | 2008 | Kundrakudi Ponnambala Adigalar | India | |||
24 | 2009 | Pon Kodhandaraman (Porko) | India | Tamil academician and former Madras University vice-chancellor. [4] | ||
25 | 2010 | Iravatham Mahadevan | 1930–2018 | India | ||
26 | 2011 | P. Valan Arasu | India | |||
27 | 2012 | S. Varadharajan | India | Founder—Kural Manam monthly magazine[ citation needed ] | ||
28 | 2013 | N. Murugan | India | |||
29 | 2014 | Yu Hsi | 1951– | Taiwan | The first foreign scholar to receive the Thiruvalluvar award. [5] | |
30 | 2015 | K. Baskaran | 1951– | India | ||
31 | 2016 | V. G. Santhosam | India | |||
32 | 2017 | P. Veeramani | India | Tamil scholar. [2] | ||
33 | 2018 | G. Periyannan | India | |||
34 | 2019 | M. G. Anwar Bacha | India | |||
35 | 2020 | N. Nithyanandha Bharathi | India | [6] | ||
36 | 2022 | M. Meenakshi Sundaram | India | Former president of Bengaluru Tamil Sangam | ||
37 | 2023 | Iraniyan N. K. Ponnusamy | India | [7] | ||
38 | 2024 | Balamuruganadi Swamigal (shortlisted) | India | [8] |
Thiruvalluvar, commonly known as Valluvar, was an Indian poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the Tirukkuṟaḷ, a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love. The text is considered an exceptional and widely cherished work of Tamil literature.
Valluvar Kottam is a monument in Chennai, dedicated to the classical Tamil poet philosopher Valluvar. It is the city's biggest Tamil cultural centre.
The Central Institute of Classical Tamil (CICT) is a body established by the Government of India with a view to promoting the cause of Classical Tamil. It is located in Chennai.
The Tirukkuṟaḷ, or shortly theKural, is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books with aphoristic teachings on virtue (aram), wealth (porul) and love (inbam), respectively. Considered one of the greatest works ever written on ethics and morality, it is widely acknowledged for its universality and secular nature. Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar, also known in full as Thiruvalluvar. The text has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. The traditional accounts describe it as the last work of the third Sangam, but linguistic analysis suggests a later date of 450 to 500 CE and that it was composed after the Sangam period.
The Ekambareswarar–Kamakshi Temple, commonly known as the Thiruvalluvar Temple, is a Hindu temple dedicated to the poet-saint Valluvar in the neighborhood of Mylapore in Chennai, India. The shrine is located within the Ekambareswarar temple complex. Believed to have been constructed in the early 16th century, the temple was extensively renovated in the 1970s. Traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Saint Valluvar, the temple is the oldest ever built to Valluvar. The temple also serves as the venue for meetings of Tamil language enthusiasts. While many consider the temple as the birthplace of Valluvar, some consider it as his samadhi.
The Kural Peedam Award is a lifetime achievement presidential award given to eminent scholars of classical Tamil. The award was instituted in 2005 by the Central Institute of Classical Tamil under the aegis of the Ministry of Human Resource Development in India. Two awards are presented annually, one for a person of Indian origin and another for a scholar of non-Indian origin. the award includes of a cash prize of ₹500,000, a citation, and a shawl.
The Tirukkural, shortly known as the Kural, is a classic Tamil sangam treatise on the art of living. Consisting of 133 chapters with 1330 couplets or kurals, it deals with the everyday virtues of an individual. Authored by Valluvar between the first century BCE and 5th century CE, it is considered one of the greatest works ever written on ethics and morality and is praised for its universality and non-denominational nature.
Yu Hsi is a Taiwanese Tamil poet and scholar who has translated the Tirukkural and the poems of Subramaniya Bharathi and poet Bharathidasan in Mandarin. He is the founder and president of the Tamil Sangam in Taiwan. He has received various awards, including awards from Seoul World Academy of Arts and Culture (2004), Thiruvalluvar Award (2014), and a felicitation from former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam.
Tirukkural, also known as the Kural, an ancient Indian treatise on the ethics and morality of the commoner, is one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. Authored by the ancient Tamil poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar, it has been translated into at least 42 world languages, with about 57 different renderings in the English language alone.
Tirukkural remains one of the most widely translated non-religious works in the world. As of 2014, there were at least 57 versions available in the English language alone. English, thus, continues to remain the language with most number of translations available of the Kural text.
Hindi perhaps has many translations of the Tirukkural. As of 2000, there were at least 19 translations of the Kural text available in Hindi. Many of these translations are in verse form.
Kannada has at least eight translations of the Tirukkural available as of 2014. Both prose and verse translations have been made in Kannada.
As of 2020, there were at least four translations of the Tirukkural available in Arabic. The Kural text is the first, and so far the only, Tamil work to be translated directly into Arabic. It is also the first Tamil work to be released in the Arabian soil.
As of 2015, the Japanese language has two translations available of the Tirukkural.
Telugu is one of the Indian languages that has had the earliest Tirukkural translations in modern times. As of 2000, there were at least 14 translations of the Kural text available in Telugu.
As of 2015, there were at least three Gujarati translations available of the Tirukkural.
As of 2015, Urdu has at least two translations available of the Tirukkural.
Korean has at least two translations of the Tirukkural available as of 2017.
Shuzo Matsunaga is a Japanese engineer best known for translating the Kural into Japanese from its English version.
P. C. Kokila is an Indian professor of Hindi, who is best known for translating the Tirukkural into Gujarati.