திருவள்ளுவர் சிலை | |
8°04′40″N 77°33′14″E / 8.0777°N 77.5539°E | |
Location | Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India |
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Designer | V. Ganapati Sthapati |
Type | Monument (statue) |
Material | Stone and concrete |
Height | 40.6 m (133 ft) |
Beginning date | 7 September 1990 |
Completion date | 1999 |
Opening date | 1 January 2000 |
Dedicated to | Valluvar, author of the Kural text |
The Thiruvalluvar Statue, or the Valluvar Statue, is a 41-metre-tall(133 ft) stone sculpture of the Tamil poet and philosopher Valluvar, known as Thiruvalluvar, the author of the Thirukkural, an ancient Tamil work on Dharma and morality. It is located atop a small island near the town of Kanniyakumari on the southernmost point of the Indian peninsula in the state Tamil Nadu, India, where two seas (the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea) and an ocean (the Indian Ocean) meet. The statue was sculpted by Indian sculptor V. Ganapati Sthapati, who also created the Iraivan Temple, and was unveiled on the millennium day of 1 January 2000 by the then Chief Minister M. Kalaignar Karunanidhi. It is currently the 25th tallest statue in India.