Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi says missionaries ‘de-spiritualised’ Tirukkural

Also, known as kural, the Tirukkural consists of 1,330 couplets.

Hailing Thiruvalluvar who gave the world Tirukkural, the ‘Fountain of Wisdom,’ the Governor highlighted the richness and beauty of Tamil language, the most ancient language.

“The great sage Thiruvalluvar was one of the brightest sun in the galaxy of ancient sages. The ‘Aadhi Bhagavan’ quoted in the first kural ‘Aadhi Bhagavan’ is found in all the Indian languages,” Ravi said.

The concept of Aadhi Bhagavan is in the Rig Veda also and it is at the core of Indian Spirituality. “It is far from ‘Primal Deity’ as translated by colonial apologists,” the Governor said.

He elaborated on how the British mandated The East India Company to evangelise India and how missionaries like G U Pope, who first translated Tirukkural into English, presented a de-spiritualised version of it. “The translation was done with colonial objective to trivialise the spiritual wisdom of India,” Ravi said.

“The British attempted to destroy India’s great spirituality by distorting Indian history, culture and to colonise the people’s mind,” he said.

Tamil language and its literature gave profound and timeless works such as Tholkappiam, Silapathikaram, Manimeghalai, Purananooru, and several others. The author of Tholkappiam presented the book to Atankot Acharya who was a profound scholar of the four Vedas.

“Tamil Siddhar Tirumoolar’s Thirumanthiram aged about 3,000 years before the Common Era tells all about spirituality and yoga,” the Governor said.

A release from Raj Bhavan in Chennai said Ravi urged the youth and scholars to shun the colonial interpretation of these priceless books and have soulful reading of these scriptures and experience their true essence.

He admired the Tamil culture of gifting books when one meets another and wished that it should be followed throughout the country.

The Governor congratulated DTEA for the yeoman service to society and wished them to continue their journey of good work to achieve more.

Earlier, the school students recited Tirukkural. Ravi conferred awards on six meritorious students on the occasion.

From the homepage

Exclusive | Bike skidded, rider died on spot before bus ran over it in Kurnool tragedy: Pillion rider tells police

Record-breaking Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli power India to nine-wicket win, prevent Australia’s series sweep in Sydney

Suspect in Assam railway track blast gunned down in police encounter