Valluvar Kottam near Chennai is a memorial to Tamil
Poet-Saint Thiruvalluvar.
The Valluvar Kottam, on the corner of Kodambakkam
High Road and Village Road, Chennai, is a standing memorial to immortal
Tamil Poet-Saint Thiruvalluvar. It is a massive auditorium, constructed
on reclaimed land from an unused lake filled with the city's garbage and
debris. It was opened in the year 1976 and the auditorium is said to be
the largest in Asia and can accommodate about 4000 people. All 1330
verses of the poet's epic - the Thirukkural, are inscribed on the
granite pillars that surround the auditorium and it has got no pillars
for support. There is a 101-feet high temple chariot structure with a
life-size image of the poet in it. This chariot is a replica of the
temple car of Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu. The base of the chariot shows in
bas-relief the 133 chapters of the Thirukkural. Over 3,000 blocks of
stone were used to create this memorial to Tamil culture.
