What is a kural?
This is a question that has been asked “twice” on this blog. How do I not dedicate a complete post to answer this question?
Thirukural or kural is a collection of 1330 Tamizh couplets written by Thiruvalluvar. Thiruvalluvar is portrayed as a saint with a long beard and olaichuvadi (dried palm leaves and nail ~ I have no clue what the english word for olaichuvadi is. Anyone knows?). His images are seen quite frequently in the Govt of Tamil Nadu documents. His statue in Kanniyakumari is a must-see tourist destination.
The couplets cover a wide range of topics from ruling land to education. They are short, precise and educational. They are a part of our Tamizh classes starting early on. They are quite easy to understand if you have taken a few years of Tamizh classes. It is amazing how applicable the words written centuries ago (no one knows the exact time period when Thirukural were written) are in today’s world.
There is also some confusion/claims of who the actual author was. Some believe it is a group of authors who penned down these couplets.
There is also an interesting story about Vasuki, Thiruvalluvar’s wife serving sand. I am sure google will come up with more details than my spotty memory.
The kurals have been translated into many languages and you can read more about it here
pooh
April 19, 2011 at 6:14 amPriya – the design is really new! Worked on it over the weekend! Thanks
Priya
April 18, 2011 at 8:38 amI didn’t know about there being some confusion about the thirukural being authored by someone other than thiruvalluvar…was news to me. You learn something new everyday! thanks. On a different note, love the new navigation designs in your site – the pink and black colors. I don’t know if its been there long….I rarely notice these since I view your posts on Google reader.
pooh
April 16, 2011 at 10:29 am@ Homecooked – not all. My target is 100 by the time I hit 30. My target is 5 a month and I am totally fallen behind it
Homecooked
April 15, 2011 at 5:51 amVery informative Pooh 🙂 So u plan to learn all of them? Wow!
pooh
April 11, 2011 at 8:14 pm@Merlyn Palm script does not have the ring of olaichuvadi. I remember few kurals and am on a mission to understand and learn them better
pooh
April 11, 2011 at 8:13 pm@Kavi – I strongly disagree. I know very scholarly Tamizh poets who believe Thirukural was written by a clan of poets
kavi
April 11, 2011 at 8:10 pm“Some believe it is a group of authors who penned down these couplets.” That was new ! Anyway the man has a huge statue in Kanyakumari and as far Tamil Nadu goes…there is no second thought as to who wrote this down !
Merlyn
April 11, 2011 at 12:53 pmI like the way you have spelled ‘Tamizh’. 🙂 I guess it’s Palm Script for olaichuvadi… I have long forgotten the kurals… should start re-learning them…