Thiruvalluvar - Birth Place

Birth Place

The recent field research undertaken by The Kanyakumari Historical and Cultural Research Centre corroborated the fact that Tiruvalluvar was born in Tirunayanarkurichi in the erstwhile Valluva Nadu and not Mylapore, in Chennai, or Madurai.

The Kanyakumari Historical and Cultural Research Centre had claimed to have located the ancient Valluva Nadu, a territorial unit, said to have been ruled by the Tamil saint-poet Tiruvalluvar, who lived 2000 years ago in the present hilly tracts of Kanyakumari district in Tamil Nadu.

A three-member team, headed by its general secretary, Dr S Padmanabhan, had discovered a hill named after the poet and recorded several facts from a tribal leader which are reflected in Tirukkural, a treatise authored by Tiruvalluvar.

According to the Centre, Valluva Nadu had appeared in a copper plate inscription of the 9th and 10th century AD.

The team interviewed the head of the Kaani tribes, named 'Kaliyan Kaani' and locally known as Moottukaani, aged about 105, and recorded several new facts, which are reflected in the Tirukkural, sources from the Centre said.

The Moottukaani said Tiruvalluvar was their king who ruled Valluva Nadu and he used to visit the hilly tract with his wife and consume honey and 'thinai' (little millet)flour. Kaani said their ancestors used to worship Tiruvalluvar after his death and that this worship continues even now. The place where Tiruvalluvar took rest came to be known as 'Valluvankalpotrai' (Valluvan Hill) and the adjoining hill was called 'Valluvathi Potrai' in the name of his wife.

'The study of Kaani settlement reveals that their lifestyle and mode of worship reflects Tirukkural. It also confirmed the existence of four kinds of land as classified by Tholkappiyar, another ancient poet,' the sources said. Dr Padmanabhan has requested the State Government to protect the Valluvan Hill and also include in textbooks 'The fact that Tiruvalluvar was born in Kanyakumari district.'