On the eve of the Tamil new year, the state assembly Wednesday adopted a resolution seeking national literature status for "Thirukkural", a Tamil devotional text.
Moving the resolution, Chief Minister J. Jayalalitha said the "Thirukkural" contains the "basics of democracy, politics, governance, secularism and social justice, which were the guiding principles of the country's constitution".
The text, supposed to have been compiled by Tamil savant Thiruvalluvar more than 2,000 years ago, deserves national status, she said.
Though much is not known about his life, Thiruvalluvar is believed to have been born in 31 B.C. in the Mylapore region of the then Madras.
His couplets in praise of lord Shiva and his words of wisdom are compiled into a classical text of 133 chapters, each chapter containing 10 couplets, totalling 1,330 couplets.
The "Thirukkural" is divided into three sections - the Arathupaal (on principles), Porutpaal (on public life and relationships) and Kamathupaal (on love).
It has been translated into Indian and foreign languages, including English, French, German, Spanish and Portuguese.