Sarvajna Sarvajña (Kannada: ) was a Kannada poet, pragmatist and philosopher of the 16th century. The word "Sarvajna" in Sanskrit literally means "the all knowing". His father was Kumbara Malla and his mother was Mallaladevi. His birth anniversary is ...

and

Tiruvalluvar Thiruvalluvar (Tamil: திருவள்ளுவர்), commonly known as Valluvar, was a celebrated Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of couplets on ethics, political and ...

are popular

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

poets, respectively. Statues of Sarvajna in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

and Tiruvalluvar in

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

has been unveiled in August 2009 as a symbolic effort to bolster ties between the two Indian states, whose relationship has been strained by issues related to sharing of Kaveri water and Hogenakkal water supply power project.

Sarvajna

Sarvajña was a sixteenth-century poet in the Kannada language. He is famous for his pithy three-lined poems which are called tripadis, "with three padas, three-liners", a form of

Vachanas Vachana sahitya is a form of rhythmic writing in Kannada (see also Kannada poetry) that evolved in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th century, as a part of the Sharana movement. Madara Chennaiah, an 11th-century cobbler-saint who lived ...

. He is also referred to as Sarvagna in modern translation. In all, about 2000 three-liners are attributed to Sarvajna. Popular because of their

alliterative Alliteration is the conspicuous repetition of initial consonant sounds of nearby words in a phrase, often used as a literary device. A familiar example is "Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers". Alliteration is used poetically in various ...

structure and simplicity, they deal mainly with social,

ethical Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

and religious issues. A number of

riddle A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requir ...

s are also attributed to Sarvajna.

Tiruvalluvar

Tiruvalluvar was a Tamil poet-philosopher who wrote the

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven ...

, a work on ethics and morality in

Tamil literature Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from T ...

and is believed to have lived between 2nd century BCE and 5th century CE. The Tirukkural is divided into three sections known as books. Book One deals with ''aram'' or fundamental ethics of life, with conscience and honor;

Book Two A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

discusses ''porul'' or political or social realities or facts of life; and Book Three dwells on ''inbam'' or the human love. The first book has 38 chapters, the second has 70 chapters and the third has 25 chapters. Each chapters consists of 10 couplets or ''kurals'', thus making 1330 couplets in total. The work emphasizes

non-violence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

and

moral vegetarianism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. D ...

as virtues for an individual. Tirukkural is one of the literary works in the world translated the most number of times. According to Institute of Asian Studies,

Thiruvanmiyur Thiruvanmiyur is a largely residential neighborhood in the south of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Thiruvanmiyur witnessed a spike in its economy with the construction of Chennai's first dedicated technology office space, the Tidel Information Te ...

, more than 40 translations are available.

Tiruvalluvar statue

Tiruvalluvar statue has been unveiled in

Ulsoor Ulsoor, or Halasuru, is one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the city of Bangalore. It is located in central Bangalore, and begins roughly near the eastern terminus of MG Road. It is renowned for its numerous temples and market. History and ...

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

in a small garden on the banks of

Ulsoor Lake Ulsoor Lake or Halasuru Lake, one of the biggest lakes in Bangalore, is located on the eastern side of the city. It derives its name from the name of the locality it is situated, namely, Halasuru, close to M G Road. It is spread over and has ...

by the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on 9 August 2009 in the presence of the then Karnataka Chief Minister

B. S. Yediyurappa Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa (born 27 February 1943), often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician currently serving as the member of the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary board committee since 17 August 2022, t ...

. The statue was installed and maintained by Bangalore Tamil Sangam.

Sarvajna statue

Sarvajna statue has been unveiled in Ayanavaram park,

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, by the then Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa in a ceremony that was presided over by the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, M. Karunanidhi. The statue is maintained by the

Life Insurance Corporation of India Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is an Indian Public Sector Undertakings in India, central public sector undertaking headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance (India), Ministry of Fi ...

References

{{Tirukkural Tirukkural Memorials to Valluvar Politics of Tamil Nadu Politics of Karnataka