Thirumavalavan, the leader of the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK), which is part of the DMK alliance, has once again sparked controversy over Thiruvalluvar.
Thirumavalavan had said in a meeting that, Venugopal Sharma, who first painted the image of Thiruvalluvar, was a Brahmin, and so, he had drawn Thiruvalluvar with the sacred thread. Seeing this, Karunanidhi said, ‘Thiruvalluvar should not be confined to one caste; He is common to all.’ He then went on to severe the thread off the images and statues of Thiruvalluvar.
The truth, on the other hand, was that this was not to depict poonool, the sacred thread adorned by Brahmins, but a thin cotton thread that was depicted around his neck. When Vinayak V Sriram, son of Venugopal Sharma was asked by Dinamalar about this, he said, ‘My father did not draw Thiruvalluvar’s picture in one day. It took 12 years of intense effort, drawing and improving, and now he then came up with the picture that we all see and admire today. Even Bharathidasan had praised my father for being the first person to give a face to the name Valluvar that had not been present for the last 2,000 years.’
He added that Bharathidasan had requested him to remove the cotton thread that Sharma had drawn around Thiruvalluvar’s neck, saying that this would make him a caste symbol. The latter had then made the appropriate changes. This happened in 1959. Vinayak said that following the changes made, great leaders like Annathurai, Kamaraj, Kakkan, Jeeva and Kannadasan praised his father for his artwork. In 1964, Bhagavatsalam, who was the Chief Minister, unveiled the Valluvar painting drawn by his father in the assembly. Then, in 1967, Chief Minister Annathurai issued a decree to place Sharma’s portrait of Valluvar in government offices.
Vinayak went on to say that while the poonool was something that is worn across one’s shoulder, his father’s depiction was entirely different. He concluded saying that Thirumavalavan was unnecessarily dragging Karunanidhi into this matter without any reason. Vinayak added that even Congress’ PEter Alphonse had had a similar query that he had later clarified.
Historian, Sami Thiagarajan commented on this matter, saying, “During the Bhakthavathsalam tenure, Valluvar’s portrait was unveiled in the assembly. Then, in 1966, at the Sivasamy Road in Mylapore, President Radhakrishnan unveiled the statue of Thiruvalluvar. This statue was actually based on a painting by Venugopal Sharma. In that statue, there is no presence of poonool, the sacred thread. Therefore, it has nothing to do with Venugopal Sharma’s actual painting of Thiruvalluvar, the former’s caste or Karunanidhi. A leader like Thirumavalavan ought to know the complete history of events before publicly commenting about a figure of such great historical significance.”
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