The Thiruvalluvar Statue is a 40-metre stone sculpture of the Tamil poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar, standing on a rocky islet adjacent to the Vivekananda Rock off the tip of Kanyakumari. Thiruvalluvar is the author of the Thirukkural, a classical Tamil text on virtue, wealth, and love that is considered one of the great works of world literature. The statue was completed in 2000 and can be visited by ferry from the same pier as the Vivekananda Rock Memorial.
The scale of the statue is impressive from the shore, but visiting the base by ferry gives a better sense of its size — the figure stands nearly as tall as the Statue of Liberty from its pedestal to its crown. The posture, with one hand raised in teaching, is characteristic of depictions of Thiruvalluvar throughout Tamil Nadu.