The Indian cultural center has been renamed as Thiruvalluvar Center in honor of world renowned Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar.
In the Southern tip of India in Kanyakumai, a tall statue for Thiruvalluvar stands majestically and the statue which was built on the initiative of late Tamil Nadu State Chief Minister M.Karunanithi and the statue is considered as one of the tallest statues in the world. However following the Thai Pongal festival this year the Indian Cultural Center in Jaffna with eleven floors has been renamed after poet Thiruvalluvar on Saturday 18th January.
The renaming of Indian Cultural Center in Jaffna as Thiruvalluvar Center is a great honor for Thiruvalluvar who has been even described as a divine poet for presenting 1330 poems in 133 chapters with each chapter containing ten (10) poems in two lines and the ancient poem which was originally written in manuscripts has been even translated into several languages around the world. Rev. G. U Pope was the first to translate Thirukural in English and the renowned Russian scholar Leo Tolstoy was impressed by the verses of Thirukural.
Several universities throughout the world have carried out researches on Thirukural. Apart from the Tamil scholars Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi even mention Thirukural in his speeches very often indicating his admiration for the ancient literary work. So now the Thiruvalluvar Cultural center in Jaffna could be considered not only a honor to the `divine poet’, the Sri Lankan Government and the Indian Government have also honored themselves by renaming the Indian Cultural Center as Thiruvalluvar Center.
A ceremony was held on last Saturday (18) to rename the Indian Cultural Center in Jaffna as Thiruvalluvar Cultural center. The foundation stone was laid to the Indian Cultural Center by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Jaffna in 2015.The construction of the cultural center was completed in 2013 and it was declared open by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe. The architectural design was done by Sri Lankan architect Madura Prematilleke . The architectural design was selected through a competition conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects (SLIA) in association with the Indian High Commission in Colombo. A total of twenty nine (29) entries were at the competition and the design done by Madura Prematilleke was adjudged as the best entry. He was also awarded the prize money of US $ 3500.
The total cost of the construction of the Thiruvalluvar Cultutarl Center was 12 million $ dollars and the mega building in Jaffna is a gift by the Indian Government for people in Jaffna to enhance their cultural activities. The eleven Thiruvalluvar Cultural Center with eleven floors comprises several state of the art features including a two-floor museum, 600 – seat auditorium, a public square that doubles as an amphitheater.
Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha addressing at the renaming ceremony of the Indian Cultural Center as Thiruvalluvar Cultural Center mentioned that it was a tribute to Thiruvalluvar and a symbol of shared cultural bond between India and Sri Lanka. He encouraged the Jaffna community to make the center a research oriented premises with regard to Thirukural. The Thiruvalluvar Cultural Center in Jaffna is the second mega monument for the legendary poet Thiruvalluvar in South Asia. First is his statue which was built in Kanyakumari in the Southern tip of India in Tamil Nadu and the statue stands tall next to the Swami Vivekananda memorial hall built on a rock in Kanyakumari sea. Both iconic structures remain 500 meters from the Southern land tip of Kanya Kumari.
Kanyakumari statue for Thiruvalluvar is 133 feet in height and it was built by India’s renowned sculptor V.Ganapathi Sthapathi. So at the beginning of the New Year of 2025, renaming of the Indian Cultural Center as the Thiruvalluvar Cultural Center in Jaffna will glorify more the legendary poet who believed to have had lived between fourth century BCE to early fifth century CE in Mylapore city in Tamil Nadu.
