The Tamil Nadu Government today said it was continuing to pressurise the Centre to accord National Book status to the treatise 'Thirukkural,' penned by saint poet Thiruvalluvar. "Amma's (AIADMK) government is continuing to pressurise the Centre to accord National Book status to Thirukkural", K Pandiarajan, the minister for Tamil official language and tamil culture said. He was talking to reporters here after garlanding the statue of Thiruvalluvar, along with Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar on the occasion of Thiruvalluvar Day. January 15 is celebrated as Tiruvalluvar day as part of the celebrations of the harvest festival 'Pongal'. Pandiarajan said the government had also requested UNESCO to accord 'world heritage status' to Thirukkural. "On behalf of the Tamil department, we have also requested UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) to recognise it globally by according it world heritage status", he said. Thirukkural is categorised into 133 chapters, each containing couplets of seven words. It has already been translated into several languages.
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