Tiruvalluva Malai (Tamil: திருவள்ளுவ மாலை, romanized: Garland of Tiruvalluvar, lit. 'Tiruvaḷḷuva Mālai')[1] is an anthology of ancient Tamil paeans containing fifty-five verses each attributed to different poets praising the ancient work of the Kural and its author Tiruvalluvar. With the poets' time spanning across centuries starting from around 1st century CE, the collection is believed to have reached its present form by 10th century CE.[2] With the historical details of the ancient philosopher and his work remaining obscure, much of the legend on the Kural and Tiruvalluvar as they are known today are chiefly from this work.[3] The collection also reveals the name of the author of the Kural text as 'Tiruvalluvar' for the first time, as Tiruvalluvar himself composed the Kural text centuries earlier without indicating his name anywhere in his work.[4] Reminiscing this, E. S. Ariel, a French scholar of the 19th century, famously said of the Tirukkural thus: Ce livre sans nom, par un autre sans nom ("The book without a name by an author without a name").[5]
- ^ Hinnells, John R. (12 December 1991). Who's Who of World Religions. Springer. p. 411. ISBN 978-1-349-09500-1.
- ^ Kamil Zvelebil, 1975, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Mohan Lal, 1992, p. 4333.
- ^ Anonymous, n.d.
- ^ Pope, 1886, p. i (Introduction).