Court refuses to declare Thiruvalluvar's birthday, says no concrete proof

HOLDING that there is no clinching material to show the exact date of birth of Tamil saint-poet Thiruvalluvar, the Madras High Court has refused to order celebration of his birthday on the 'Anusham' star day in Vaikasi month in Tamil calendar instead of the second day of Thai.

Justice M Dhandapani, while dismissing the petition filed by a Tamil scholar Samy Thiyagarajan, said, "In the absence of any concrete proof evidencing the birthday of Thiruvalluvar, this court, under Article 226 of the Constitution, the court cannot give any affirmative direction to fix the birthday of Thiruvalluvar as falling on the Anusham star in Vaikasi."