Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi has sparked fresh controversy over depicting Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar in saffron robes with religious symbols, a move that drew sharp criticism from political leaders.

The image, printed in a Raj Bhavan invitation for a multilingual seminar comparing Thiruvalluvar, Kabir Das and Yogi Vemana, shows the Tamil scholar wearing saffron clothes with rudraksha beads and religious marks on his forehead. Traditionally in Tamil Nadu, Thiruvalluvar is portrayed in white robes without religious symbols.

CPI State Secretary R Mutharasan accused the Governor of deliberately promoting "Manu dharma and BJP's agenda" in the Dravidian state.

"The Governor is trying to create tension and disturb peace in Tamil Nadu," Mutharasan told reporters here today.

This is, however, not the first time that RN Ravi has stirred a row over saffron-tinting the Tamil poet-scholar. In May 2024, on the occasion of Thiruvalluvar’s birthday, the Governor along with his wife had paid respects to a similar picture in which Thiruvalluvar was clad in saffron, wearing rudraksha beads, holy ash and vermillion. 

Earlier in 2024, the same illustration of Thiruvalluvar was also spotted in the Hindi textbooks prescribed by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for class VIII students. In the same picture, his wife Vasuki was shown serving food for Thiruvalluvar. The accompanying text said, "Thiruvalluvar was a world-famous Tamil-speaking poet and philosopher. Thiruvalluvar's wife's name was Vasuki. She was a woman who grew up in  the domestic ways of a Tamil family. She would always obey her husband and would work day and night in his work and service. Vasuki performed her duty all his life,” said the text.  Many have slammed the text that eulogises her as just a wife who did her duties.

Previously, in 2019, the BJP Tamil Nadu’s official Twitter handle had also posted a tweet with Thiruvalluvar in orange robes and holy ash smeared on his forehead that also received flak.