Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with a Russian translation of the ancient Tamil classic ‘Thirukkural’ during their bilateral meeting in New Delhi on September 11, held on the sidelines of the 18th BRICS Summit.
The edition gifted to Putin contains all 1,330 couplets of the work, attributed to Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar, covering themes of virtue, wealth, governance, ethics and love. It was published by India’s Central Institute of Classical Tamil and translated into Russian by Naira Mkrtcheyan.
The gesture builds on Modi’s earlier literary exchanges with Putin, including a Russian-language copy of the Bhagavad Gita presented during the Russian President’s state visit to India in December 2025. At the 2024 BRICS Summit in Kazan, Modi had also gifted Putin a Sohrai painting from Jharkhand.
The gift also continues a broader pattern of Modi showcasing Tamil literature and culture on the international stage. He first invoked Tamil heritage globally during his address to the UN General Assembly in 2019, when he quoted Tamil poet Kaniyan Pungundranar to highlight the Indian tradition of universal brotherhood. More recently, during a state visit to Uzbekistan, Modi proposed translating the Thirukkural into Uzbek as well.
The ‘Thirukkural’ remains one of the most widely studied works of classical Tamil literature, valued as a treatise on morality and everyday ethical conduct, and continues to hold a significant place in Tamil cultural identity even beyond India’s borders.
