Statue of Russian poet Pushkin may be set up in Chennai
At a time when the Central government decided to celebrate the birth anniversary of Tamil poet Tiruvalluvar in schools across the country, his majestic statue may soon find a place at Moscow in Russia.
“Tiruvalluvar is a great and celebrated poet. His contribution to the Tamil literature is well known. We have received a request from an organisation to install his statue in Moscow. We are eager to establish his statue,” Sergey L. Kotov, Consul General of Russia, told The Hindu here.
There is also a move to set up a statue of Aleksandr Pushkin, legendry Russian poet and founder of modern Russian literature, in Chennai. His country would be pleased to have his statue in India, the envoy said.
Popular in Russia
The modalities of installing the statue, its location and the agency to be involved in it were being worked out. It would improve the overall India-Russia relationship, he said, adding that it would also help step up cultural exchanges between the two countries.
Stating that Tamil folk music, cinema and dances were popular in Russia, Mr. Kotov said such opportunities to showcase the cultural richness had not been utilised for long.
There was hardly any cultural visit and exchanges between the two countries, especially South India and Russia.
Cultural ties
Calling for more cultural exchanges, he said Russia was ready to take a lead in this. It would appreciate government, semi-government and private channels to carry forward the task of improving cultural ties.
Efforts, however, must also come from the Indian side, he said.