All the 1330 couplets with Tiruvalluvar’s image on the mundhanai.
Tiruvalluvar’s Thirukural sari has a mass appeal in our state. The visual repertoire is from distinct Tamil cultural emblems. The ethical treatise is attributed to the weaver-saint Valluvar, who is hailed as Deiva-Pulavar (divine poet) here. The missionary scholars established Thirukural as a universal code of ethics for the common pursuit of humans. During the anti-Hindi agitation in 1930s, Tiruvalluvar and Thirukural were proclaimed as apogee of Tamil culture.
The Valluvarkottam was built in 1976 in the heart of Chennai, with a beautiful stone ratham. In the year 2000, the 133 feet high stone sculpture of the saint came up in the southern most tip of India, Kanyakumari. The text finds a place of pride in the website of Tamilnadu Govt.
The Thirukural sari was woven by the Sirumugai weavers society, under the aegis of Cooptex in 2008. It was woven in 4 months by the hand loom weavers to showcase to then DMK Chief Minister M Karunanidhi. In June 2010, the World Tamil conference was held in my hometown Coimbatore. This theme sari was a highlight when the DMK got the status of a classical language for Tamil. Of course, the highlight is the mastery of weavers and imagine weaving all the 1330 couplets without a mistake!
All the 1330 verses are woven in this saree, as golden motifs, throughout the length of the sari, 6.26 metres long, and 1200 gm of jarigai.
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