Avvaiyar statue unveiled

Governor hails her as a ‘symbol of Tamil culture’

Tamil Nadu Governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao on Friday unveiled a statue of Avvaiyar at the Raj Bhavan here in the presence of Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami and Madras High Court Chief Justice Indira Banerjee.

While Mr. Palaniswami unveiled the Aathichudi slate, Justice Banerjee initiated the ‘Akshrabhyasam’ (initiation to education) on it, a Raj Bhavan release said.

Speaking at the inauguration, Mr. Rao expressed pleasure in unveiling the statue of Avvaiyar and hailed her as an “epitome of wisdom” and the “symbol of Tamil culture, who lived around two thousand years ago and propagated the fragrance of Tamil literature and preached morality and spirituality.”

“The literary works of Avvaiyar namely

Aathichudi , Konraivendan , Nalvazhi are unparallelled. Avvaiyar’s mastery in creativity is revealed in her songs of munificence. Avvaiyar has left the stamp of her individuality. Her works are eternal and transcend the barriers of region, religion and language,” he said.

Though simple, the poet’s works were filled with ethical ideals based on the lessons learnt by experience, he said.