To promote and popularise Thirukkural among the younger generation, students of Valluvar College of Science and Management in Karur engraved all 1,330 couplets written by Thiruvalluvar on palm leaves on Friday, marking the World Writing Day.
As part of the initiative, 1,330 students were chosen on the first day of the Tamil month of Thai to receive training on writing on palm leaves using ezhuthani (a metal stylus), traditionally used for writing ancient Tamil texts.
High-quality palm leaves from well-grown palmyrah trees were collected, boiled in hot water mixed with salt and turmeric to soften them, and then distributed to students. Each student carefully engraved one Thirukkural couplet on a palm leaf, taking a maximum of 22.5 minutes to complete the task.
“Thirukkural stands alone among the world’s ancient literature for its universality, secular credentials, and values. We take pride in engraving the couplets in their original form,” said K. Senguttuvan, correspondent of the college.
S. Archana, a student, expressed her excitement about using the ezhuthani to write Thirukkural on palm leaves, saying it was a unique experience that reconnected them with Tamil’s linguistic tradition.
