International Thirukkural Conference

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About Conference	About Tamil Language	About Thirukkural	About Thiruvalluvar
Thiruvalluvar's words of wisdom	Sponsoring Organizations	Organizing Committees	Keynote Speakers
Academic credits	Registration	Hotel Accommodation	Directions

About Thirukkural

Thirukkural written by Thiruvalluvar is one of the most notable literary and ethical treatises in the Indian languages. There is a general consensus among the historians and literary authorities that Thirukkural was written around 2000 years ago.  Thirukkural is one of the few literary works that have survived over the past two thousand years and is regarded as relevant even today. 

Thirukkural aims at guiding human beings to lead a moral, ethical and useful life in this world. Its focus, unlike religious works, is "life on earth" and “life-affirmation”.  According to the author, "One who lives an ideal life in this world will be ranked amongst the Gods in heaven".  In an ever-changing world, Thirukkural deals with certain basic, but permanent, aspects of life such as morality, ethics, politics, and romance. Thirukkural has been translated in more than 30 languages, and is the most translated book on ethics in the world next only to the Bible and the Koran.

The word Thirukkural is a combination of two Tamil words "Thiru" and "kural".  Among other things, the word Thiru means beautiful or auspicious.  The word "kural' means short poem consisting of two lines, a couplet. Thirukkural consists of 1330 couplets. Therefore the title of the work given by the author is “Muppaal” meaning three parts. These 1330 couplets are divided into three parts. The first part deals with the ethical code of conduct (virtues) and the second part deals with political governance, wealth and other topics of social and material interest. The third part deals with romance and love. The most important features of Thirukkural are: 1) it is secular in nature, 2) it is universal and applicable to people living everywhere, 3) it is everlasting and its messages transcend time. This secular, universal and immortal nature of Thirukkural combined with its conciseness and literary charm has been the pride of Tamil people for the past many centuries.

Well known philosophers like Buddha, Confucius, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and Machiavelli have generally dealt with selected aspects of human values and experience. But, Thiruvalluvar covers the whole spectrum of human experiences in a very comprehensive manner. However, even the educated public in the western countries have never heard of Thirukkural and Thiruvalluvar.

In the words of Prof. Kamil Zvelebil, a renowned Tamil scholar from the Czech Republic, "…Thirukkural is a contribution of the Tamil creative genius to the world's cultural treasure and should be familiar to the whole world and admired and beloved by all in the same way as the poems of Homer, the dramas of Shakespeare, the pictures of Rembrandt, the cathedrals of France and the sculptures of Greece."

 

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© 2005 International Thirukkural Conference by Tamil Sangam of Greater Washington, Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America, International Society for Tamil Cultural Studies (Madurai), Mylai Thiruvalluvar Tamil Sangam (Mylapore) and other Tamil organizations & institutions.