BOOK - THE THIRUKKURAL (TAMIL POETRY AND PHILOSOPHY)

2022
Overview

Rectangle orange hard cover book with white pages. On the front cover is an illustration of a man sitting on a yellow platform cross legged. The man is wearing a white robe that leaves his right shoulder and arm bare. He has a black beard and black hair raised up in a bun. In his right hand is a pen like item, in his right is a rectangle sheet of paper with red text on it. Similar sheets of paper are on the ground in front of him. Next to the illustration is text in gold and red. Text is written in Dravidian, the language of Tamil culture. Text repeated on the spine, illustration and text repeated on back cover. In bottom right corner of back cover is a white rectangle shaped sticker. On the sticker is green and black text. Green text top two lines in Dravidian, next two lines in English [Valluvan Tamil School / Western Australia]. To the left of the text is a logo featuring a green ring, inside is the illustration of the man with an outline of Western Australia behind him. White Dravidian on ring, black text on inside of ring. Under this is the Western Australian coat of arms with black text [Department of Local Government, / Sports and Cultural Industries / Office of Multicultural Interests].
Inside the book are numbered pages with black text in Dravidian. Attached to the top inside of the spine is a red, gold and green ribbon that is slightly longer than the length of the book.

Historical information

The Thirukkural, also known as the Kural is a collection of 1330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The kurals are attributed to Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar (also known as Poyyil Pulavar, Mudharpavalar, Deivappulavar, Nayanar, Devar, Nanmukanar, Mathanubangi, Sennabbodhakar and Perunavalar). Where and when he was born is unknown. The Kural though can be dated back to 300 BCE.
The Kural is a secular book with each kural providing comment on how one should ethically and morally live their life. The book is divided into three sections that focus on virtue, wealth and love.
The book is very important to Tamil culture and is taught to students at the Valluvan Tamil School, located at Harrisdale Senior High School. The Valluvan Tamil School was started on 9 February 2020 by volunteers from the growing Tamil community in City of Armadale. The school teaches the Tamil language, culture and philosophy.
Tamil culture has spread out from what is today Tamil Nadu, a state in Southern India. There they speak Tamil which is a classical Dravidian language. The Tamil culture has spread primarily to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Mauritius and Singapore. Since the early 2000's a Tamil community has been steadily growing in the City of Armadale.

Details

Details

Registration number
cwa-org-33-COA2022.54a
Item type
Material
Year
Statement of significance

This collection of objects is associated with the experiences of families and individuals who migrated to Australia in the 1900s and settled in the City of Armadale. The collection represents the challenges they faced in starting a new home in the City, reasons why they chose to come to Australia and the successes they achieved. The collection also tells the story of the important impact migrant families and individuals have had on the cultural, economic and social history of the City of Armadale and how they and their descendants became an important part of the local community.

City of Armadale - History House

City of Armadale - History House

Organisation Details
View Collection
Item Feedback

Scan this QR code to open this page on your phone ->