The Emblem of Tamil Nadu is the official state emblem of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

and is used as the official state symbol of the

Government of Tamil Nadu Government of Tamil Nadu is the subnational government for the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is seated at Fort St George, Chennai. The legislature of Tamil Nadu was bicameral until 1986, when it was replaced by a unicameral legislature, l ...

. It consists of the

Lion Capital of Ashoka The Lion Capital of Ashoka is the capital, or head, of a column erected by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in Sarnath, India, . Its crowning features are four life-sized lions set back to back on a drum-shaped abacus. The side of the abacus ...

without the bell lotus foundation and flanked on either side by an

Indian flag The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form ...

. Behind the capital, is the image of a ''

Gopuram A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' ( Tamil: கோபுரம், Malayalam: ഗോപുരം, Kannada: ಗೋಪುರ, Telugu: గోపురం) is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a Hindu temple, in the Sout ...

'' or

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

tower based on the Srivalliputhur Temple.

Designing

The state emblem was designed in 1949 by artist R. Krishna Rao who was a native of Madurai. Krishna Rao was honoured with awards and titles for his contribution to the state. A student of the Government College of Fine Arts and Crafts in Chennai, who went on to become the principal of the college later, Rao was approached to design the emblem in 1948, when he was a professor of applied arts in the college. Around the rim of the seal runs an inscription in Tamil script, one at the top தமிழ் நாடு அரசு ("Tamil Nadu Arasu" which translates to "Government of Tamil Nadu") and the other at the bottom வாய்மையே வெல்லும் ("Vaymaiye Vellum" which translates to "Truth Alone Triumphs" also commonly known as " Satyameva Jayate" in Sanskrit). It is the only state emblem that has the

Indian Flag The national flag of India, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of India saffron, white and India green; with the ', a 24-spoke wheel, in navy blue at its centre. It was adopted in its present form ...

and

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

tower A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures. Towers are specifi ...

on its seal.

Deception

Although the gopuram in the emblem is generic and specific references of Srivilliputhur Andal temple tower (gopuram) came to be known as the state emblem, even in government records due to the TKC-Reddy episode. But R Krishna Rao, the artist who created it said he had the Madurai Meenakshi Temple's west 'gopuram' in mind while designing a generic `gopuram' for the emblem. A monograph on Rao, published by the Lalit Kala Akademi quotes him as saying, "Hailing from Madurai, it was only proper that I should incorporate the Madurai temple in the state government's emblem." Rao's student G Chandrashekaran, also a former principal of the college, feels the theory of Madurai temple being the inspiration may not be off the mark. "It could be said that the inspiration for designing the emblem came from the Madurai temple, as Krishna Rao had done several water colours of the structure. There are no records of him having painted the Srivilliputhur temple." K Kamala, Krishna Rao's daughter and an artist herself, says that her father regretted the gopuram being wrongly identified all the time. "He always asked me to tell people that it was the Madurai gopuram and not of Srivilliputhur", says Kamala, adding that she got to see the original painting at the Government College of Fine Arts and Crafts in Chennai in 2009. "The features of the gopuram can be clearly seen in the original painting, and one could see very well that it is the Madurai gopuram. My father had painted the figurines of Siva and Parvati on the Rishaba vahanam, seen in the gopuram in the Madurai temple. That was a clear sign," she says. Efforts to trace the original painting which is supposed to have been incorporated into the state emblem were futile.

Historical emblems

File:Indian Embassy in London wall plaque (4).jpg, Emblem of Madras Presidency of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

Government banner

The

can be represented by an image of the emblem of the state placed onto a white background. A flag was proposed in 1970 but was not formally adopted. File:..Tamil Nadu Flag(INDIA).png, Banner of Tamil Nadu File:Flag of Tamil Nadu (proposed).svg, Former flag proposal

References

{{Indian state emblems Government of Tamil Nadu

Designing

Deception

Historical emblems

Government banner

See also

References