The opposition DMK in Tamil Nadu on Saturday took strong exception to a depiction of Tamil savant Thiruvalluvar in CBSE Class 8 Hindi textbook, in saffron robes, with holy ash smeared on his forehead and arms. The saint-poet, who authored Tamil treatise ‘Thirukkural’,is depicted as having a single knotted hair lock at the centre of his head and wearing rudraksha beads around his neck and arms.

“In one of the Class 8 textbooks, Thiruvalluvar has been given an Aryan makeover. The BJP government is allowing it and the AIADMK government is watching this. Tamil Nadu will not accept the Aryan gimmick in Tamil culture. DMK will not be patient. Warning!” DMK president M K Stalin said in his Facebook post. The DMK and the left parties had earlier criticised the BJP’s Tamil Nadu unit a couple of years back for posting on its twitter handle a picture of Thiruvalluvar in saffron robes with sacred ash on his forehead.

Usually, the image of Thiruvalluvar is in white robes in State government offices without any religious symbols.