Thiruvalluvar statue adorns public park at Montmagny in France

Statue of Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar unveiled in Montmagny, France by Thiruvalluvar Académie des Arts en France.

A new adornment at the public park in Montmagny, a Parisian suburb in France, is a pedestal-mounted statue of the Tamil poet-philosopher Thiruvalluvar, whose “Thirukkural” couplets continue to be in currency for their inherent wisdom and time-transcending relevance.

The statue was sculpted from a 300-kg mass of bronze in Mamallapuram on the commission of the Thiruvalluvar Académie des Arts en France (Thiruvalluvar Kalaikudam), a Montmagny-based cultural outfit founded by the Tamil community in France that includes several members with long-standing connections with Puducherry. It was later shipped to France in time for the 20th anniversary of the art academy.

The formal unveiling of the statue at the Parc du Québec was the high point of the anniversary celebrations of the academy, which has been engaged in teaching Tamil to students and offering Bharatanatyam classes, organising cultural events every Saturday at the commune auditorium, and hosting receptions to visiting dignitaries from Puducherry. Before the Internet became popular, it had brought out a handy booklet on its founding in 2004 for students and visitors to navigate in France.

Montmagny Mayor Patrick Floquet led the unveiling ceremony at a function attended by art enthusiasts, representatives of other cultural bodies such as the Federation Tamoule de France (France Tamil Sangam) and members of the Franco- Tamil community.

“We had a set of collaborators to conceive the features of the installation, including as reference the giant statue of the poet-savant in Kanniyakumari”, Annamale Bhasker, Franco-Tamil artist and president of the Kalaikudam told The Hindu over phone from Montgamny.

The commune authorities had granted permission for the statue installation in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic threw a spanner in the works. “At one point, we worried whether the plan would ever come to fruition”, he recalled.

It was only by 2022 that the project was revived and Rajendran, a sculptor in Mamallapuram, was assigned.