We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of the guests who attended the Thiruvalluvar Statue Opening Ceremony in Vandana Monastery. The 19th of October 2019 will surely be remembered as a great day in the history of the already close friendship between Taiwan and India. The event was a homage to great Tamil culture, but most importantly, a celebration of friendship beyond cultural and language borders.
A very special thanks to Honorable Mr. Parivendar and Ambassador Sridharan Madhusudhanan for many precious words of wisdom enclosed in their speeches during the inauguration ceremony, which surely left many of the guests inspired and touched.
Congratulations to the entire team of Taiwan Tamil Sangam for their hard work and bringing all of the guests safely to Taiwan and back.
Finally, It all would not have happened without beloved Dr. V G Santhosam - great philanthropist, enthusiast of Tamil culture and head of International Tamil Sangam, who initiated the entire event by donating the Thiruvalluvar statue to Vandana Monastery. We shall never forget this generous gesture.
It was a huge step forward for the relations of Taiwan and Tamil Nadu. Full of inspiration and positive energy we are ready to take another. Thank you!
Thiruvalluvar
Thiruvalluvar is an Indian Tamil poet and philosopher. His literary masterpiece, Thirukkural, completed around 2000 years ago, is considered a source of life wisdom and Tamil classical ethical guide. Thirukkural was written in ancient Tamil script using 7-word couplets and it covers philosophical reflections on all aspects of life, teaching people how to live a divine life of purity. Thiruvalluvar's masterpiece is composed of 1,330 couplets, classified into 133 chapters with 10 couplets each. Thirukkural is known for its universality and non-denominationalism. It has been translated into many languages, including Chinese. The Chinese translation of Thirukkural has been published by famous Taiwanese poet Yu Hsi.
In 2010, former President of India Dr. Abdul Kalam was invited by Dr. Yu Hsi to attend the World Congress of Poets in Taiwan. In his speech, during the opening ceremony, he mentioned: "Thirukkural was written by great Indian philosopher Thiruvalluvar. Wisdom enclosed in it has a profound influence on our lives. Thanks to Dr. Yu Hsi, who initiated its translation to Chinese, a lot more people can reach to it."
Ambassador Sridharan Madhusudhanan delivering a welcome speech during the inauguration
Dr. Santhosam - Chairman of the International Tamil Sangam
Dr. Santhosam is a businessman, author, philanthropist, promoter of art and culture from Tamil Nadu, India. His biggest passion is Tamil, especially great wisdom enclosed in Thirukkural. During the past 25 years, he has donated 51 Thiruvalluvar statues to Tamil Sangams all around the world. Currently Dr. Sathosham is the head of International Tamil Sangam, and promotes Tamil culture by organising cultural conferences and related events, which are attended by most significant figures in Tamil culture. Because the head of Taiwan Tamil Sangam and abbot of Vandana Monastery, Master Dao Yi (pen name Yu Hsi), actively promotes Tamil culture in Taiwan, in 2019 Dr. Sathosham decided to donate the 52nd Thiruvalluvar statue to Taiwan Tamil Sangam.
Dr. Santhosam and Master Dao Yi during the inauguration ceremony
Master Dao Yi (pen name Yu Hsi)
Master Dao Yi is the abbot of Vandana Monastery in Hualien, a famous Taiwanese writer, poet, and philosopher. Former chairman of Chinese Artists and Writer's Association and Chinese Poetry Society. He presided over the World Congress of Poets and attended its editions worldwide many times. In 2006 Master Dao Yi was awarded medal by former Mongolian President Nambar Enkhbayar, who subsequently visited Taiwan for his invitation in 2019. He invited former Indian President Abdul Kalam to visit Taiwan in 2010, coordinated and published translation of Tamil spiritual classic Thirukkural. His masterpiece Prabhutaratna has been awarded the prestigious Golden Tripod award in 1996 and adapted by musicians into various musical pieces using instruments such as erhu, konghou, pipa, ruan, chime-bells, flute, and piano.
With poems, essays, picture books, short stories and long scrolls of poetry reaching more than fifty books in total, works of Master Dao Yi were already translated into English, French, Czech, Slovak, Tamil, and Mongolian. His complex, philosophical essays made him the first Asian poet to receive the prestigious Jan Smrek prize in 2008. In 2009, he was awarded the Parnassus poetry award in Hungary and Czech PEN Centre Medal. In 2014 South India state of Tamil Nadu awarded Master Dao Yi with Thiruvalluvar Award in literature. He was the first foreigner ever to receive it.
Unraveling of the statue
