Professional Documents
Culture Documents
2 Literary sources
Main articles: Sources of ancient Tamil history and
Sangam literature
There is a wealth of sources detailing the history,
socio-political environment and cultural practices of ancient Tamilakam, including volumes of literature and
[3]
?
Sangam period (Tamil: , Sangaklam , epigraphy.
Malayalam : ) is the period in the history of Tamilakams history is split into three periods; prehisancient southern India (known as the Tamilakam) span- toric, classical (see Sangam period) and medieval. A vast
ning from c. 3rd century BC to c. 4th century AD. It is array of literary, epigraphical and inscribed sources from
named after the famous Sangam academies of poets and around the world provide insight into the socio-political
scholars centered in the city of Madurai.
and cultural occurrences in the Tamil nation. The ancient
In Old Tamil language, the term Tamilakam (Tamiakam Tamil literature consists of the great grammatical work
, Purananuru 168. 18) referred to the whole of Tolkappiyam,the ten anthologies Patthupattu, the eight
the ancient Tamil-speaking area, corresponding roughly anthologies Ettuttogai, the eighteen minor works Pathito the area known as southern India today, consisting nenkeelkanaku and the ve great epics, Silappadikaram,
of the territories of the present-day Indian states of Manimegalai, Sivaga-Cindamani, Valayapathi and KunTamil Nadu, Kerala, parts of Andhra Pradesh, parts of dalakesi.
South India in Sangam Period
3 Culture
Further information: Economy of ancient Tamil country,
Agriculture in ancient Tamil country, and Industry in
ancient Tamil country
History
3.1 Religion
Main article: Ancient Tamil religion
The religion of the ancient Tamils closely follow roots
of nature worship and some elements of it can also be
found in Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta traditions. In the ancient Sangam literature, Sivan was the supreme God, and
Murugan was the one celebrated by the masses; both
1
3 CULTURE
3.2
Calendar
3.3
Festivals
3.4 Arts
pongal, the festival of harvest and spring, See also: Ancient Tamil music
thanking Lord Indiran and Lord El (the sun),
comes on January 14/15 (Thai 1).
Musicians, stage artists and performers entertained the
PeruVaenil Kadavizha, the festival for wishing kings, the nobility, the rich and the general population.
quick and easy passage of the mid-summer months, Groups of performers included:
on the day when the Sun or El stands directly above
the head at noon (the start of Agni Natchaththiram)
Thudian, players of the thuda, a small percussion
at the southern tip of ancient Tamil land. This day
instrument
comes on April 14/15 (Chithirai 1).
Paraiyan, who beat maylam(drums) and performed
Mazhai Vizhavu, aka Indhira Vizha, the feskooththu, a stage drama in dance form, as well as
tival for want of rain, celebrated for one full
proclaiming the kings announcements
3
Muzhavan, who blew into a muzhavu, a wind instrument, for the army indicating the start and end of the
day and battleeld victories. They also performed in
kooththu alongside other artists .
Kadamban who beat a large bass-like drum, the
kadamparai, and blew a long bamboo, kuzhal, the
cerioothuthi (similar to the present naagasuram).
PaaNan, who sang songs in all pann tunes (tunes that
are specic for each landscape) and were masters
of the yaazh, a stringed instrument with a wide frequency range.
Together with the poets (pulavar) and the academic
scholars (saandror), these people of talent appeared to
originate from all walks of life, irrespective of their native profession.
People
See also
History of Tamil Nadu
Tolkappiyam
Purananuru
Paripaatal
References
6.1
Notes
[1] Wilson, A.Jeyaratnam. Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism: Its Origins and Development in 19th and 20th Centuries. They had earlier felt secure in the concept of the
Tamilakam, a vast area of Tamilness from the south of
Dekhan in India to the north of Sri Lanka.... Google. Retrieved 2012-04-28.
[2] Early Interactions Between South and Southeast Asia:
Reections on Cross Cultural exchange. originally imported from Kerala to Tamilakam(Southern India) to Illam(Sri Lanka)". Google. |rst1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
[3] Abraham, Shinu (2003). Chera, Chola, Pandya: using
archaeological evidence to identify the Tamil kingdoms
of early historic South India.. Asian Perspectives. 42.
[4] https://books.google.com/books?id=
P1naAAAAMAAJ&q=nagadipa+naga+nadu&
dq=nagadipa+naga+nadu&hl=en&sa=X&
ei=DkulT8-ZM5OA0AWYhoTtAw&ved=
0CDgQ6AEwAA
[5] Zvelebil, Kamil (1973). The smile of Murugan on Tamil
literature of South India. BRILL. p. 46.
[6] [http://www.archive.today/P4Pvxl The Milieu of the Ancient Tamil Poems, Prof. George Hart]
[7] Mannar Uruvana 'Mallar' Varalaru Archived July 16,
2011, at the Wayback Machine.
[8] https://books.google.com.au/books?id=
VuvshP5_hg8C&pg=PA42&lpg=PA42&
dq=tamils+eighteen+hundred+years+ago+
maravars&source=bl&ots=dr6E9Gbmn-&sig=
WY8jCklcE0gADyTAzKEpMIFn0js&hl=en&sa=X&
ved=0CBwQ6AEwAGoVChMI2rCQl7i4yAIVyLaUCh2d8goz#
v=onepage&q=tamils%20eighteen%20hundred%
20years%20ago%20maravars&f=false
6.2
Bibliography
REFERENCES
7.1
Text
7.2
Images
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Tamil_distribution.png License:
CC
International Borders: University of Texas map library - India Political map 2001
Disputed Borders: University of Texas map library - China-India Borders - Eastern Sector 1988 & Western Sector 1988 - Kashmir
Region 2004 - Kashmir Maps.
State and District boundaries: Census of India - 2001 Census State Maps - Survey of India Maps.
Other sources: US Army Map Service, Survey of India Map Explorer, Columbia University
Original artist: w:user:Planemad
File:Thanjavur_temple.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/Thanjavur_temple.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons. Original artist: The original uploader was Venu62 at English Wikipedia
7.3
Content license