MARYLAND, USA, July 7, 2005: A three-day international conference on Tirukural, a 2000-year-old literary and ethical treatise in Tamil starts on July 8 at Smith Auditorium, Howard Community College, Columbia Maryland in USA. Professor George Hart, who holds the position of The Tamil Chair at the University of California Berkeley, will be one of the keynote speakers, organizers said. The State of Maryland has issued a proclamation declaring 8-10 July as a “Tirukural Conference Week.” The Maryland conference is being sponsored by expatriate Tamil organizations in the U.S. and the proceedings will be in English and in Tamil, organizers said. Several Tamil scholars from South India are expected to address the conference. The objectives of the conference are, “to understand how Tirukural can be a guide to humanity, to create and promote awareness of Tirukural in USA among Americans and the youth of Indian origin and to compare Thiruvalluvar with other philosophers of the world,” the conference leaflet said. The prefix Tiru, means ‘sacred’ and the word ‘Kural’ means a ‘pithy couplet.’ The 1330 couplets of Tirukural are divided into 133 chapters of 10 couplets each and grouped into three sections, Ahathuppal or Justice, which contains lessons on dharma and morals, Porutpal or material aspects, which contains teachings on man’s duties and guidance to the right way to lead one’s material life, and Inbathuppal or section on love, which teaches about love.
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