I proudly say that we too have a statue like The Statue of Liberty; yes, we do have an epic statue. It is the Thiruvalluvar Statue located atop a small island near the town of Kanyakumari on the southern part of the Coramandel coast. This is so special as two seas (Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea) meet an ocean (Indian Ocean).

I just can’t wait to tell you the significant features of the statue, Thiruvalluvar author of the “Thirukural” (the second most translated book after The Bible!). The statue has a height of 95 feet that stands upon a 38 feet pedestal that represents the 38 chapters of virtue in Thirukural. Adding up, the statue stands at a height of 133 feet which represents the number of Adhigaram in Thirukural. 

The stone work was divided among three workshops, in Kanyakumari, Ambasamudram and Shankarapuram. Ambasamudram contributed 5,000 tons of stones, while Shankarapuram was quarried for 2,000 tons of high quality granite stones for the outer portion of the statue. While the largest of the 3,681 stones weighed over 15 tons, the majority weighed three to eight tons. An interesting detail is the 19-foot-high face, with the ears, nose, eyes, mouth, forehead all made of individual stones carved by hand.

The statue stands 400 meters from the coastline of Kanyakumari on a small island rock. Ferry service are available from the mainland. The ferry service to Vivekananda Rock Memorial stops for a while at the Thiruvalluvar Statue.

Thiruvalluvar Statue – Statue of Knowledge!