Tirukkural, authored by the sage Tiruvalluvar and dating to the 5th-6th century, is considered one of the greatest works of Tamil writing. The text, divided into 133 chapters of 10 couplets each, covers a wide range of topics pertaining to morality, behaviour and the human condition. From the 12th century, in the tradition of Indian literary discourse, various commentaries have been written on Tirukurral, more so than for any other Tamil text. This is a 19th century copy of Tirukkural with annotated commentary, further highlighting how important the text continued to be even up to the modern period.
