Thread by @thebetterindia

Standing at 41 m (133 ft), this giant statue of saint-poet Thiruvalluvar is on a tiny island in Kanyakumari, where the Bay of Bengal merges with the Indian Ocean.

PC: Sridhar Appu

#DidYouKnow #incredibleindia

Thiruvalluvar is the author of the Tirukkural (“Sacred Couplets”), considered a masterpiece of human thought, compared in India and abroad to the works of Plato. Many of his ideas were revolutionary for his time. For instance, when he dismissed the caste system:

“One is not great because of one's birth in a noble family; one is not low because of one's low birth.” The poet also maintained that goodness is its own reward and should not be regarded as a mere means to a comfortable afterlife.

Interestingly, Chennai bus drivers have adopted the poet as their patron saint; his likeness is found attached above the windshields in the vehicles of the city's official Tiruvalluvar Bus Company.