Chennai, Mar 14 (UNI) The famous Tamil couplet Thirukkural would be translated into

28 different Asian, African and European languages in the next three years by International publishers, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu announced on Friday.

Presenting the 2025-26 budget in the State Assembly, he said the Tamil Nadu Textbook

and Educational Services Corporation, in collaboration with other educational institutions,

will complete this translation project within the next three years and a sum of Rs.133 lakh

has been allocated for this purpose.

"It is our bounden duty to propagate across the world the profound principles of life in

Thirukkural, which is acclaimed as a universal scripture", he said.

Thirukkural has been translated into 28 Indian languages and 35 world languages so

far through the persistent efforts of scholars and the initiatives of numerous educational

institutions.

At the recently concluded Chennai International Book Fair, international publishers have

come forward to translate the Thirukkural into 28 different Asian, African and European

languages.

Subsequently, when Thirukkural is translated into 45 additional world languages, it will

achieve the distinction of being translated into all official languages of 193 member

nations recognized by the United Nations, the Minister said.

To fulfill this noble objective of spreading Vanpughazh Valluvam’s fame across the globe,

the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation, in collaboration with

other educational institutions, will complete this translation project within the next three

years and a sum of Rs.133 lakh has been allocated for this purpose, he said.

Further, as the first step towards the grand initiative of making acclaimed Tamil literary

works accessible in international languages, 500 select Tamil literary masterpieces will

be translated into English.

This grand project will be executed in collaboration with over 20 leading national and

international publishing houses under the aegis of the Tamil Nadu Textbook and

Educational Services Corporation.

Accordingly, 100 books will be translated annually and 500 books will be translated

into English in the next five years.

Mr Thennarasu said an initial allocation of Rs.10 crore has been made for this purpose.

In line with the rapid advancements in technology, a sum of Rs.2 crore will be allocated

to enable instant publication of Tamil translations of advanced technical textbooks, including

those in medicine and engineering, using machine translation technology, under the guidance

of domain experts.

Furthermore, for the digitization of ancient Tamil palm-leaf manuscripts, rare publications,

and the handwritten records of eminent personalities, an amount of Rs.2 crore has been

allocated in the coming financial year.

UNI GV 1430