Valluvar Kottam


Valluvar Kottam is a monument in Chennai, dedicated to the classical Tamil poet philosopher Valluvar.

Location

Valluvar Kottam is located at the intersection of the Kodambakkam High road and the Village road in Nungambakkam neighbourhood of Chennai. The monument now stands at what was once the deepest point of a local lake called the Nungambakkam lake.

History

The construction of the Valluvar Kottam was conceived and executed by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi during the 1970s. It was inaugurated in April 1976 by then President of India Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed.

The monument

The monument consists of a decorative arch, an auditorium that can accommodate around 3,500 people, and the Kural Manimandapam, where all the 1,330 couplets from all 133 chapters of the Kural literature are inscribed on bas-relief. The hallmark of the monument is the 39-meter-high stone car, a replica of the famed temple chariot of Thiruvarur. The chariot is made of around 3000 blocks of stone. The four giant-sized wheels of the chariot measure 11 feet in diameter and 2 feet in thickness. A life-size statue of Valluvar has been installed in the chariot. The chariot is adorned with the famed Kalamkari drawings.
The architect of the memorial is South Indian traditional architect V. Ganapati Sthapati, who is also the architect of the Thiruvalluvar Statue at Kanyakumari.

Visitors

The monument is visited by an average of about 700 people during weekdays and 1000 people during weekends.

Renovation

The monument is maintained by the memorial section of the information and public relations department of the state government. It was renovated in 2007 at a cost of 6 million. In 2018, the department started renovating the memorial at a cost of 8.5 million.