CHENNAI: Visitors to the Land’s End – Kanyakumari would soon have the facility to have a closer glimpse of the stupendous 133 feet high statue of Tamil savant Thiruvalluvar. The State Tourism Department is considering a proposal to install a rope car facility from the shore to the statue to serve as added attraction to tourists, Tourism Minister Vellamandi N. Natarajan has said.
Access to the Valluvar statue and the adjoining Vivekananda Rock Memorial, off the coast of the sea, is only through a ferry service being operated by the Poompuhar Shipping Corporation Ltd. The twin monuments are the major attractions in Kanyakumari.
On Wednesday, DMK MLA S. Austin, representing the Kanyakumari Assembly constituency, sought the government to take steps to establish a rope car facility in Kanyakumari to enable the domestic and foreign tourists to have a quick means of transportation to the granite statue.
Responding, Mr. Natarajan said the proposal is under consideration.
The Thiruvalluvar or Valluvar statue was sculpted by V. Ganapati Sthapati, and it was unveiled on the millennium day of 1 January 2000. It is situated about 400 meters from the coast and stands majestically tall on an island. Ferry service from the mainland to Vivekananda Rock Memorial stops briefly at the Valluvar statue.
The combined height of the statue (of 95 feet) and pedestal is 133 feet, denoting the 133 chapters of the Thirukkural. The 38-feet high pedestal represents the 38 chapters of virtue, the first of the three books of the Kural while the statue represents the second and third books of the Kural, namely, wealth and love. The whole design signifies that wealth and love can be earned and enjoyed on the foundation of solid virtue.
