Thiruvalluvar - Traditional Accounts

Traditional Accounts

Tirukkuṛal itself does not name its author or authors. The name Thiruvalluvar is first mentioned in the 10th century in a text called Thiruvalluvarmaalai ("Thiruvalluve traditions of Thiruvalluvar appeared after this text had been written. It is generally believed that the name Thiruvalluvar consists of Thiru (a Tamil word meaning honorable, similar to Mr rather to the Sankrit word Shree) and Valluvar (a polite name for Valluvan, according to Tamil tradition). The name Valluvan is a common name representing his caste or occupation rather than his proper name. However, it is not known whether the author of Tirukkuṛaḷ (Valluvan) was named after his community, Valluvar or vice versa.

There are several claims regarding where he lived, but none of them have been verified. One legend associates him with Madurai, the ancient capital of the Pandya rulers who vigorously promoted Tamil literature. According to another he was born and not lived in Mylapore, a part of present day Madras, and traveled to Madurai to submit the Thirukural, for approval of the king (Pandian) and his college of poets.

Thiruvalluvar may have spent part of his life in Madurai because it was under the Pandiya rulers that many Tamil poets flourished. There is also the recent claim by Kanyakumari Historical and Cultural Research Centre (KHCRC) that Valluvar was a king who ruled Valluvanadu in the hilly tracts of the Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu.