Minister for Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture ‘Ma Foi’ K. Pandiarajan and Minister for Cooperation Sellur K. Raju unveiled the statue of Tamil poet and philosopher Tiruvalluvar at World Tamil Sangam here on Friday.
Mr. Pandiarajan announced that the five traditional landscapes in Sangam literature - Kurinji (mountains), Mullai (forests), Marutham (agriculture fields), Neithal (coastal region) and Palai (desert) - would be manifested in the form of a sculpture garden on the premises.
He added that the much-awaited statue of Tamil Thai (Tamil mother) - modelled on Rome’s Trevi Fountain - would soon be constructed and inaugurated by March 2019.
“Several thousand Tamil-speaking people are spread across the globe. It is imperative for the future generation to be able to speak the language and take the essence and culture of Tamil forward,” he said.
Elaborating on plans to improve the use of the World Tamil Sangam building, he said that a weekly literary platform- ‘Sanga Palagai’ - would be introduced.
Mr. Pandiarajan said that the vacancies here would be filled up and a new library would be stocked up with over one lakh books and e-books for a budget of ₹6 crore.
As the two ministers presided over the concluding day of the Literary Festival at Tamil Sangam, they released an e magazine titled ‘Ulaga Tamil.’
Minister Sellur Raju said that it was necessary for members from all walks of life to contribute to contribute to the magazine.
VGP International Tamil Association Chief V. G. Santhosam who installed the Tiruvalluvar statue in Madurai said that he had taken it upon himself to spread the glory of the Tamil language.
Collector K. Veera Raghava Rao, Director Tamil Development Department K. Vijayaraghavan and other officials from World Tamil Sangam welcomed the move proposed by the Ministers and pledged to take the language movement forward.
