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Tamil people

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Peoples

                                     Tamils
             Total population           74,000,000 (1997 estimate)
   Regions with significant populations India: 63,000,000

                                        Sri Lanka: 3,600,000
                                        Malaysia: 1,500,000
                                        Singapore: 250,000
                 Language               Tamil
                 Religion               Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Jainism
          Related ethnic groups         Dravidian people
                                          * Brahui people
                                          * Kannadigas
                                          * Malayalis
                                          * Tamils
                                          * Telugus
                                          * Tuluvas
                                          * Gonds

   The Tamil people are an ethnic group from South Asia with a recorded
   history going back more than two millennia. The oldest Tamil
   communities are those of southern India and northeastern Sri Lanka.
   There are also a number of Tamil emigrant communities scattered around
   the world, especially in central Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Africa and
   Singapore, with more recent emigrants also found in Australia, Canada,
   the United States, and parts of Europe.

   Unlike many ethnic groups, Tamils were not governed by a single
   political entity during most of their history; Tamilakam, the
   traditional name for the Tamil lands, was only politically united for a
   brief period between the 9th and 12th centuries under the Chola Empire.
   The Tamil identity is primarily linguistic, with Tamils being those
   whose first language was Tamil. In recent times, however, the
   definition has been broadened to include also emigrants of Tamil
   descent who maintain Tamil cultural traditions, even when they no
   longer speak the language.

   Tamils are ethnically, linguistically and culturally related to the
   other Dravidian peoples of South Asia. There are an estimated 74
   million Tamils around the world.

History

The pre-classical period

   The origins of the Tamil people, like those of the other Dravidian
   peoples, are unknown, although genetic and archaeological evidence
   suggest a possible migration into India around 6000 BC (Gadgil 1997).
   Connections with the Elamite people of ancient Iran have been
   suggested, but there is little solid evidence to support this view. It
   has also been suggested that the people of the Indus Valley
   Civilization were either Tamil or another Dravidian people (see e.g.
   Parpola 1974; 2003), but this theory is deeply controversial and there
   is at present no academic consensus on the identity of the Indus
   people.

   The earliest clear evidence of the presence of the Tamil people in
   modern Tamil Nadu (see also History of Tamil Nadu) are the megalithic
   urn burials, dating from around 1000 BC and onwards, which have been
   discovered at various places in Tamil Nadu, notably Adichanallur. These
   burials conform in a number of details to the descriptions of funerals
   in classical Tamil literature, and appear to be concrete evidence of
   the existence of Tamils in southern India during that period. Recent
   excavations at these sites have also provided samples of early Tamil
   writing, dating back to at least 500 BC (The Hindu, 2005). ^

The classical period

   At around the 3rd century BC onwards, three royal dynasties—the Cholas,
   the Cheras and the Pandyas—rose to dominate the ancient Tamil country.
   Each of these dynasties had its own realm within the Tamil-speaking
   region. Classical literature and contemporary inscriptions also
   describe a number of vēlīr, or smaller chieftains, who collectively
   ruled over a large part of central Tamil Nadu. Wars between the kings
   and the chieftains were frequent, as were wars with Sri Lanka, but
   these appear to have been fought to assert might and demand tribute,
   rather than to subjugate and annex those territories. The kings and
   chieftains were patrons of the arts, and a significant volume of
   literature exists from this period. The literature shows that many of
   the cultural practices that are considered peculiarly Tamil date back
   to the classical period.

   Agriculture was important during this period, and there is evidence
   that irrigation networks were built, including the Kallanai dam,
   considered to be one of the oldest dams still in use. The economy,
   however, was centred around foreign trade, and there is evidence of
   significant contact with Europe. Large hoards of Roman coins and
   evidence of the presence of Roman traders have been discovered at Karur
   and Arikamedu, and there is evidence that at least two embassies were
   sent to the Roman Emperor Augustus by Pandya kings. Potsherds with
   Tamil writing have also been found in excavations on the Red Sea,
   suggesting the presence of Tamil merchants there (Mahadevan 2003). An
   anonymous 1st century traveler's account written in Greek, Periplus
   Maris Erytraei, describes the ports of the Pandya and Chera kingdoms
   and the trade with them in substantial detail, and indicates that the
   chief exports of the Tamils in those days were pepper, malabathrum,
   pearls, ivory, silk, spikenard, diamonds, sapphires, and tortoiseshell
   (Casson 1989).

   The classical period ended around the 4th century AD with invasions by
   a northern people referred to as the kaḷvār(kalapirar), who are
   described as barbarians coming from lands to the north of the Tamil
   country and being evil and oppressive rulers. This period, commonly
   referred to as the dark age of the Tamil country, ended with the rise
   of the imperial Pallava dynasty.

The imperial and post-imperial periods

   Detail from a temple in Chidambaram. The Tamil kings were patrons of
   the arts, and built many ornate temples.
   Enlarge
   Detail from a temple in Chidambaram. The Tamil kings were patrons of
   the arts, and built many ornate temples.

   Although the Pallavas are mentioned in records from the 3rd century,
   they did not rise to prominence as an imperial dynasty until the 6th
   century. The dynasty does not appear to have been Tamil in origin, and,
   although they rapidly adopted Tamil ways and the Tamil language, Tamil
   society was transformed during their reign. The Pallavas sought to
   model themselves after great northern dynasties such as the Mauryas and
   Guptas. They therefore transformed the institution of the kingship into
   an imperial one, and sought for the first time to bring vast amounts of
   territory under their direct rule. The Pallavas also encouraged the
   growth of devotional worship centered around Siva and Vishnu, and began
   the culture of building large, ornate temples with many murals and
   sculptures. The caste system is thought to have been formalised and
   institutionalised during this period (Hart 1987).

   The Pallava dynasty was overthrown in the 9th century by the resurgent
   Cholas and Pandyas. The Cholas become dominant in the 10th century and
   established an empire covering most of southern India and Sri Lanka.
   The empire was sustained by strong trading links with China and
   Southeast Asia. The Cholas were the first dynasty in South India to
   possess a navy that went as far as Thailand, Burma and Sumatra. A major
   and successful naval campaign was conducted by the empire against the
   Srivijaya Empire as a result of trade disputes. Chola power declined in
   the 12th and 13th centuries, and the Pandya dynasty enjoyed a brief
   period of resurgence thereafter, but repeated Muslim invasions from the
   15th century onwards placed a huge strain on the empire's resources,
   and the dynasty came to an end in the 16th century (Sastri 2002).
   The remains of a palace of Ettappan, a Nayak who ruled Ettayapuram.
   Enlarge
   The remains of a palace of Ettappan, a Nayak who ruled Ettayapuram.

   No major empires arose thereafter, and Tamil Nadu was for a while ruled
   by a number of different local chiefs, such as the Nayaks of the
   present-day Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh regions. From the 17th
   century onwards, European powers began establishing settlements and
   trading outposts in the region. A number of battles were fought between
   the British, French and Danish in the 18th century, and by the end of
   the 18th century most of Tamil Nadu was under British rule.

   The western Tamil lands became increasingly politically distinct from
   the rest of the Tamil lands after the Chola and Pandya empires lost
   control over them in the 13th century. They developed their own
   distinct language and literature, which increasingly grew apart from
   Tamil, evolving into the modern Malayalam language by the 15th century
   (Chaitanya 1971).

Tamils in Sri Lanka

   The Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna
   Enlarge
   The Nallur Kandaswamy temple in Jaffna

   There is little consensus on the history of the Tamil-speaking parts of
   Sri Lanka prior to the Chola period. The most radical Sinhalese
   historians argue that there was no organised Tamil presence in Sri
   Lanka until the invasions from southern India in the 7th century,
   whereas many Tamil historians contend that Tamils are the original
   inhabitants of the island.

   The historical evidence is not conclusive either way. A few poems from
   the Sangam period are attributed to a poet called "Pūtan̲r̲evan̲ār from
   īl̲am." Il̲am, also spelled Eelam, is an old Tamil name for Sri Lanka,
   and this is generally used by Tamils as evidence that there were Tamil
   settlements in Sri Lanka at that time. Sinhalese historians, however,
   do not accept that and claim that there is no archaeological evidence
   of Tamil settlement in Sri Lanka until much later. Accounts from that
   period, whilst not offering conclusive evidence either way, demonstrate
   that Tamils fought wars against the Sinhalese kingdoms and occasionally
   ruled over parts of Sri Lanka, and served as counsellors to Sri Lankan
   kings from a fairly early date. It is, however, unclear whether these
   Tamils came from India or were native to Sri Lanka.

   The historical record does establish that the Tamil kingdoms of India
   were closely involved in Sri Lankan affairs from a very early date.
   There is evidence of Tamil traders in Anuradhapura quite early on.
   Tamil adventurers invaded the island as far back as 75 BC. From the 7th
   century onwards, the empires of Tamil Nadu played a significant role in
   Sri Lankan politics, and there is concrete evidence of Tamil
   settlements in Sri Lanka during that period. Tamil wars against Sri
   Lanka culminated in the Chola annexation of the island in the 10th
   century, which lasted until the latter half of the 11th century.

   The decline of Chola power in Sri Lanka was followed by the
   re-establishment of the Polonnaruwa monarchy in the late 11th century.
   In 1215, the Arya Chakaravarthi dynasty established an independent
   Jaffna kingdom in the Jaffna peninsula and parts of northern Sri Lanka.
   The Arya Chakaravarthi expansion into the south was halted by
   Alagakkonara, a Tamil in the service of the Sinhalese monarch.
   Alagakkonara built a fortress at Kotte, and held the Arya Chakravarthi
   army there while he defeated the invading fleet at Panadura. A
   descendent of Alagakkonara (Tamil-Alagakonar)later became King of the
   Sinhalese, but this line was deposed by the Ming admiral Cheng Ho
   (Zheng He) in 1409.

   The Arya Chakaravarthi dynasty ruled over large parts of northeast Sri
   Lanka until 1619, when it was conquered by the Portuguese. The coastal
   areas of the island was then taken by the Dutch, and in 1796 these
   became part of the British Empire.

The modern period

   A colonial-era photograph of a Tamil couple.
   Enlarge
   A colonial-era photograph of a Tamil couple.

   The British colonists consolidated the Tamil lands in southern India
   into the Madras Presidency, which was integrated into British India.
   Similarly, the Tamil parts of Sri Lanka were joined with the other
   regions of the island in 1802 to form the Ceylon colony. They remained
   in political union with India and Sri Lanka after their independence,
   in 1947 and 1948 respectively.

   When India became independent in 1947, Madras Presidency became Madras
   State, comprised of present-day Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh,
   northern Kerala, and the southwest coast of Karnataka. The state was
   subsequently split up along linguistic lines. In 1953 the northern
   districts formed Andhra Pradesh. Under the States Reorganization Act in
   1956, Madras State lost its western coastal districts. The Bellary and
   South Kanara districts were ceded to Mysore state, and Kerala was
   formed from the Malabar district and the former princely states of
   Travancore and Cochin. In 1968, Madras State was renamed Tamil Nadu.

   There was some initial demand for an independent Tamil state following
   the adoption of the federal system. However, the Indian constitution in
   practice granted significant autonomy to the states, and, protests by
   Tamils in 1963 led to the government adopting a new policy called the "
   three language formula," which protects speakers of regional languages
   from the imposition of Hindi. This has led to Tamils in India becoming
   increasingly satisfied with the federal arrangement, and there is very
   little support for secession or independence today.

   In Sri Lanka, by contrast, the unitary arrangement led to the slow
   growth of a feeling amongst Tamils that they were being discriminated
   against by the Sinhalese majority. This resulted in a demand for
   federalism, which in the 1970s grew into a movement for independence.
   The situation deteriorated into civil war in the early 1980s. A
   ceasefire in effect since 2002 broke down in August, 2006 amid shelling
   and bombing from both sides.

Geographic distribution

   Farm workers in Coimbatore.
   Enlarge
   Farm workers in Coimbatore.

Tamils in India

   Most Indian Tamils live in the state of Tamil Nadu, which includes the
   major part of the former Madras Presidency. The state was given its
   present borders in 1956, and in 1968, it was given the name Tamil Nadu.
   Tamils are in clear majority in the union territory of Pondicherry, a
   former French colony. Pondicherry is a subnational enclave situated
   geographically within Tamil Nadu.

   There are also Tamil communities in other parts of India. Most of these
   are fairly recent, dating to the colonial and post-colonial periods,
   but some—particularly the Hebbar and Mandyam Tamils of southern
   Karnataka, the Tamils of Palakkad in Kerala, and the Tamils of Pune,
   Maharashtra—date back to at least the medieval period.

Tamils in Sri Lanka

   Most Hill Country Tamils in Sri Lanka still work on tea plantations
   similar to this one near Nuwara Eliya.
   Enlarge
   Most Hill Country Tamils in Sri Lanka still work on tea plantations
   similar to this one near Nuwara Eliya.

   There are today two groups of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The first are the
   Sri Lankan Tamils, who are descended from the Tamils who lived in the
   old Jaffna kingdom or who migrated to the East coast. The second are
   the Indian origin Tamils or Hill Country Tamils, who are descended from
   bonded labourers sent from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka in the 19th century
   to work in tea plantations there. Ceylon Tamils mostly live in the
   northern and eastern provinces, whereas hill-country Tamils largely
   live in the central highlands. The hill-country Tamils and Ceylon
   Tamils historically have seen themselves as separate communities.

   In 1949, the United National Party Government, which included GG
   Ponnabalam, a leader of the Tamil Congress and of the Sri Lankan
   Tamils, stripped the Indian Tamils of their nationality, including
   their right to vote. But it should be noted the prominent Tamil
   political leader S.J.V Chelvanayagam and his Tamil opposition party
   that represented the political will of most Sri Lankan Tamils opposed
   this vote.

   Under an agreement between the Sri Lankan and Indian governments in the
   1960s, around 40% of hill-country Tamils were granted Sri Lankan
   nationality, and many of the remainder were repatriated to India.
   However, the ethnic conflict has led to the growth of a greater sense
   of common Tamil identity, and the two groups are now more supportive of
   each other (Suryanarayan 2001). By the 1990s most Indian tamils had
   received Sri Lankan citizenship.

   The late MG Ramachandran, the Tamil film star, former Chief Minister of
   Tamil Nadu and founder of the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam,
   was an Indian born to Malayalee parents from Sri Lanka. Conversely, the
   late Saumyamurthy Thondaman, the leader of the Ceylon Workers'
   Congress, was born in India.

   There is also a significant Tamil-speaking Muslim population in Sri
   Lanka. Unlike Tamil-speaking Muslims from India, however, they do not
   identify themselves as ethnic Tamils and are therefore usually listed
   as a separate ethnic group in official statistics. Those of Indian
   origin (Indian Moors) are rarely listed separately from those of Sri
   Lankan origin.

Tamil emigrant communities

   Mass Tamil emigration began in the 18th century, when many poor Tamils
   were sent as bonded labourers to far-off parts of the British Empire,
   especially Malaya, South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius and the Caribbean. At
   about the same time, many Tamil businessmen also emigrated to other
   parts of the British Empire, particularly Burma and East Africa. Many
   Tamils still live in these countries, and the Tamil communities in
   Singapore, Reunion Island, Malaysia and South Africa have retained much
   of their culture and language. Many Malaysian children attend Tamil
   schools, and a significant portion of Tamil children in Mauritius,
   Reunion and Singapore are brought up with Tamil as their first
   language. To preserve the Tamil language, the Singapore government has
   made it a national language despite the fact that Tamils make up only
   about 4.2% of the population, and has also introduced compulsory
   instruction on the language for Tamils. Other Tamil communities, such
   as those existing in South Africa, no longer speak Tamil as a first
   language, but still retain a strong Tamil identity.

   A large emigration also began in the 1980s, as Sri Lankan Tamils sought
   to escape the ethnic conflict there. These recent emigrants have most
   often fled to Australia, Europe, North America and Southeast Asia.
   Today, the largest concentration of Tamils outside southern Asia is in
   Toronto, Canada.

   Many young Tamil professionals from India, particularly computer
   programmers, have also emigrated to Europe and the United States in
   recent times in search of better opportunities. These new emigrant
   communities have established cultural associations to protect and
   promote Tamil culture and language in their adopted homes.

Culture

Language and literature

   Tamils have strong feelings towards the Tamil language, which is often
   venerated in literature as "tamil̲an̲n̲ai," "the Tamil mother." It has
   historically been, and to large extent still is, central to the Tamil
   identity (Ramaswamy 1998). Like the other languages of South India, it
   is a Dravidian language, unrelated to the Indo-European languages of
   northern India. The language has been far less influenced by Sanskrit
   than the other Dravidian languages, and preserves many features of
   Proto-Dravidian, though modern-day spoken Tamil, especially in Tamil
   Nadu, freely uses loanwords from Sanskrit and English. Tamil literature
   is of considerable antiquity, and the language was recently recognised
   as a classical language by the government of India.

   Classical Tamil literature, which ranges from lyric poetry to works on
   poetics and ethical philosophy, is remarkably different from
   contemporary and later literature in other Indian languages, and
   represents the oldest body of secular literature in South Asia (Hart
   1975). Notable works in classical Tamil literature include the
   Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar, the five great Tamil epics and the works of
   Auvaiyar. The written language has changed very little over the years,
   with the result that much of classical literature remains easily
   accessible to modern Tamils and continues to influence modern Tamil
   culture.

   Modern Tamil literature is considerably diverse, ranging from Indian
   Nationalism in the works of Subramanya Bharathy, to historical
   romanticism in the works of Kalki Krishnamurthy, to radical and more
   moderate social realism in the works of Pudhumaipithan and Jayakanthan
   respectively, to feminism in the works of Malathi Maithree and Kutti
   Revathi. Sujatha, an author whose works range from romance novels to
   science fiction, is one of the most popular modern writers using the
   Tamil language. In more recent years, Sri Lankan Tamil literature has
   produced several powerful pieces reflecting the civilian tragedy caused
   by decades of war. There is also an emerging diaspora literature in
   Tamil.

Visual art and architecture

   Tamil visual art displays considerable unity across its three main
   forms, architecture, sculpture and painting, and is clearly situated
   within the South Asian artistic tradition. As with other South Asian
   art, Tamil art stresses the plasticity and fluidity of forms. Most
   traditional Tamil art is at least nominally religious, usually centred
   on Hinduism, although the religious element is often only a means to
   represent universal—and, occasionally, humanist—themes (Coomaraswamy
   1946). The classical art forms continue to be practiced, and therefore
   represent a living tradition.

   The most important form of Tamil painting is Tanjore painting, which,
   as the name suggests, originated in Tanjore (now Thanjavur) in the 9th
   century. The paintings are prepared on a base of cloth coated with zinc
   oxide, over which the image is painted using dyes and decorated with
   semi-precious stones and gold or silver thread. A style which is
   related in origin, but which exhibits significant differences in
   execution, is used for painting murals on temple walls, the most
   notable example being the murals on the Mīn̲āṭci temple of Madurai.
   Tamil painting in general is known for its stylistic elegance, rich
   colours and attention to small details.
   A gopuram of the Meenakshi temple in Madurai.
   Enlarge
   A gopuram of the Meenakshi temple in Madurai.

   Tamil sculpture is usually worked with bronze (using the lost wax
   technique) or stone (usually associated with temples), and surviving
   pieces date from the 7th century onwards. Unlike most Western art, the
   material in Tamil sculpture does not influence the form taken by the
   sculpture; instead, the artist imposes his vision of the form on the
   material. As a result, one often sees in stone sculptures the sort of
   flowing forms that would normally be reserved for metal (Sivaram 1994).
   As with painting, these sculptures show a fine eye for detail, with
   great care being taken in sculpting minute details of jewellery worn by
   the subjects of the sculpture. The lines tend to be smooth and flowing,
   and many pieces capture movement with great skill. The cave sculptures
   at Mamallapuram are a particularly fine example of the technique, as
   are the bronzes of the Chola period. A particularly popular motif in
   the bronzes was the depiction of Siva as Nataraja, in a dance posture
   with one leg upraised and a fiery circular halo surrounding his entire
   body.
   An inside view of Tamil house
   Enlarge
   An inside view of Tamil house

   Tamil temples were often simply treated as sculptures on a grand scale.
   The temples are most notable for their high spires, known as Gopura,
   consisting of a number of stepped levels, each with its own miniature
   shrine. These spires tended to be simple and elegant and only sparsely
   adorned with sculpture in the earliest temples, but they became
   progressively more elaborate and ornate, as exemplified by the
   Brihadīsvara temple of Thanjavur. From the 13th century onwards, the
   entrance gates to the temples—called gopurams in Tamil—also began to
   grow bigger and more elaborate. The temples at Chidambaram and
   Srirangam have particularly impressive gopurams, covered with
   sculptures and reliefs of various scenes and characters from Hindu
   mythology (Pillai 1976).

   As with Indian art in general, Tamil art does not traditionally aspire
   to portraiture or realism. Much more emphasis is placed on the
   representation of ideal prototypes and on depicting the symbols with
   which the theme of the artistic work is associated. This means that
   small details, such as the direction which a hand faces, the animals or
   trees portrayed, or the time of day depicted, are often of critical
   importance to understanding the meaning of a work of art.

Performing arts

   The traditional Tamil performing arts have ancient roots. The royal
   courts and temples have been centres for the performing arts since at
   least the classical period, and descriptions of performances in
   classical Tamil literature and the Natya Shastra, a Sanskrit treatise
   on the performing arts, indicate a close relationship between the
   ancient and modern artforms. Much like other Indian traditions, Tamil
   tradition stresses the unity of the various performance arts, and their
   symbiotic relationship with the visual arts and literature. The aim of
   a performance in Tamil tradition is to bring out the rasa—the flavor,
   mood, or feeling—inherent in the text, and its quality is measured by
   the extent to which it induces the mood in the audience.

   Tamil shares a classical musical tradition, called carnatic music, with
   the rest of South India. Carnatic music evolved from the ancient music
   forms of South India, some of which are recorded in classical Tamil
   literature, and was influenced by the musical theory of the Natya
   Shastra. It is primarily oriented towards vocal music, with instruments
   functioning either as accompaniments or imitating the role of the
   singer. Carnatic music is organized around the twin notions of melody
   types (rāgam) and cyclical rhythm types (thāḷam). Unlike the northern
   Hindustani music tradition, carnatic music is almost exclusively
   religious.

   In sharp contrast with the restrained and intellectual nature of
   carnatic music, Tamil folk music tends to be much more exuberant.
   Popular forms of Tamil folk music include the Villuppāṭṭu, a form of
   music performed with a bow, and the Nāṭṭuppur̲appāṭṭu, ballads that
   convey folklore and folk history. Some of the leading Tamil folk
   artists in the early 21st century are Pushpuvanam Kuppuswamy and his
   wife Anitha, and Chandramukhi Chinnaponnu.

   The dominant classical dance amongst Tamils is Bharatanatyam.
   Bharatanatyam is performative rather than participative. A dance is an
   exposition of the story contained in a song, and is usually performed
   by one performer on stage, with an orchestra of drums, a drone, and one
   or more singers backstage. The story is told through a complicated
   combination of mudras (hand gestures), facial expressions, and body
   posture. The dance form evolved from a specialized form of
   temple-dancing, and was only performed in temples until the 1930s.
   Dancers used to be exclusively female, but the dance now also has
   several well-known male practitioners.

   Tamils also have a large number of folk dances. The most celebrated of
   these is karakāṭṭam. In its religious form, the dance is performed in
   front of an image of the goddess Mariamma. The dancer bears on his or
   her head a brass pot filled with uncooked rice, decorated with flowers
   and surrounded by a bamboo frame, and tumbles and leaps to the rhythm
   of a song without spilling a grain. Karakāṭṭam is usually performed
   to a special type of song known as temmanguppāṭṭu or thevar pāṭṭu,
   a folk song in the mode of a lover speaking to his beloved, to the
   accompaniment of a nadaswaram and melam. Other Tamil folk dances
   include mayilāṭṭam, where the dancers tie a string of peacock
   feathers around their waist; ōyilāttam, danced in a circle while waving
   small pieces of cloth of various colors; poykkāl kuthiraiyaaṭṭam,
   where the dancers use dummy horses; mān̲āṭṭam, where the dancers
   imitate the graceful leaping of deer; par̲aiyāṭṭam, a dance to the
   sound of rhythmical drumbeats, and thīppandāṭṭam, a dance involving
   playing with burning wooden torches. (Sharma 2004).

   Tamil dance is closely intertwined with the Tamil theatrical tradition.
   Most art forms include a blend of both. The kuravañci is a type of
   dance-drama, performed by four to eight women. The drama is opened by a
   woman playing the part of a female soothsayer of a wandering kurava
   tribe, who tells the story of a lady pining for her lover. The songs
   themselves have a lyrical beauty, which is amplified by the
   performance.

   The therukkūthu (which literally means "street play") is a form of
   village theatre or folk opera. It is traditionally performed in village
   squares with no sets and very simple props. The performances involves
   songs and dances, sometimes at the same time, and the stories can be
   either religious or secular. The performances are not formal, and
   performers often interact with the audience, mocking them or involving
   them in the dialogue. Therukkūthu has in recent times been very
   successfully adapted to convey social messages, such as abstinence and
   anti- caste criticism, as well as information about legal rights, and
   has spread to other parts of India.

   The village of Melatur in Tamil Nadu has a special type of performance,
   called the bhagavatamela, in honour of the local deity, which is
   performed once a year and lasts all night. Tamil Nadu also has a well
   developed stage theatre tradition, which has been heavily influenced by
   western theatre. A number of theatrical companies exist, with
   repertoires includes absurdist, realist and humorous plays.

   Both classical and folk performing arts survive in modern Tamil
   society. The folk arts declined during the middle of the 20th century,
   but have seen a resurgence in recent years, particularly in southern
   Tamil Nadu, although their popularity continues to be largely confined
   to rural regions. The Tamil Nadu Folk Arts Society (or "Tamil̲nāṭu
   iyalisai nāṭaka man̲r̲am") is dedicated to the preservation and
   promotion of the folk arts, and has played a significant role in the
   continuance of the tradition.

   Tamil people in Tamil Nadu are also passionate about their cinema. The
   Tamil film industry, commonly dubbed Kollywood, is the second-largest
   film industry in India. Tamil cinema is appreciated both for its
   technical accomplishments and for its artistic and entertainment value.

   The overwhelming majority of Tamil films contain song and dance
   sequences, and Tamil film music is a popular genre in its own right,
   often liberally fusing elements of Carnatic, Tamil folk, North Indian
   styles, hip-hop, and heavy metal. Famous music directors of the late
   20th century included M. S. Viswanathan, Ilayaraaja and A R Rahman.

Religion

   Most Tamils are Hindus, but Islam and Christianity also have presence
   in Tamil Nadu. Tamils worship Lord Muruga as their God. He is called as
   Tamil Kadavul. Jainism was at one time a major religious force in Tamil
   Nadu, but it declined substantially during the Pallava period, and
   there are now only a few thousand Tamil Jains.

   Tamil Hinduism, like other regional varieties of Hinduism, has many
   peculiarities. The most popular deity is Murugan, who has from a very
   early date been identified with Karthikeya, the son of Siva, but who
   may in origin have been a different deity (Hart 1979), and has taken on
   a distinctly local character. The worship of Amman or Mariamman,
   thought to have been derived from an ancient mother goddess, also is
   very common. Kan̲n̲agi, the heroine of the Cilappatikār̲am, is
   worshipped as Paṭṭin̲i by many Tamils, particularly in Sri Lanka.
   There are also many temples and devotees of Vishnu, Siva, Ganapathi,
   and the other common Hindu deities.

   The most important Tamil festivals are Pongal, a harvest festival that
   occurs in mid-January, and varuḍapir̲appu, the Tamil New Year, which
   occurs around mid-April. Both are celebrated by almost all Tamils,
   regardless of religion. The hindu festival Deepavali is celebrated with
   fanfare. Some Tamil Hindu festivals include Thaipusam, and Adipperukku.
   Local deities Vandimalaisaami and Vandimalaichchiamman in Ettayapuram
   Enlarge
   Local deities Vandimalaisaami and Vandimalaichchiamman in Ettayapuram

   The indigenous religion of rural Tamil Nadu has many local deities
   called aiyyan̲ārs, who are thought to be the spirits of local heroes
   who protect the village from harm. Their worship often centers around
   naḍukkals, stones erected in memory of heroes who died in battle. This
   form of worship is mentioned frequently in classical literature and
   appears to be the surviving remnants of an ancient Tamil tradition.

   Saivism, is particularly strong although most of its bases are in the
   North. The Alvars and Nayanars, who were predominantly Tamils, played a
   key role in the renaissance of Bhakti tradition in South India. In the
   10th century, the philosopher Ramanuja who propagated the theory of
   Visishtadvaitam brought lot of changes to worshiping practices,
   creating new regulations on temple worship and accepting lower-caste
   Hindus as his prime disciples. Other notable Tamil spiritualists
   include Vallalar, Ramana Maharshi, and the Siddhars, a group of yogic
   practitioners. The system of Siddha medicine is also associated with
   Tamil Shaivism. Ramayana has many parts based in Tamil regions and
   according to legends, many of Rama's soldiers were Tamil. The only
   temple dedicated to Parashurama is in Tamil Nadu.

Martial arts

   Verumkai, unarmed fighting techniques in Kalariaṭṭam.
   Verumkai, unarmed fighting techniques in Kalariaṭṭam.

   According to Tamil legend, the Chola, Chera and Pandya kings fought a
   hundred-year war at the beginning of the 1st century, during which they
   perfected the art of fighting. Various martial arts are believed to
   have evolved from this, including Kuttu Varisai, Varma Kalai, Silambam
   Nillaikalakki, Maankombukkalai (Madhu) and Kalarippayattu, all of which
   are still practised today in parts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. While the
   most recent art called Kalarippayattu of Kerala includes weapons, each
   weapon in Tamil Nadu is a mastery of itself. Not only is there Silambam
   and Maankombukkalai (madhu), there is, Yeratthai Mulangkol (double
   stick), Surul Pattai (spring sword), Val Vitchi (single sword), and
   Yeretthai Val (double sword). These are just a few amongst the many
   other weapons used.

   Silambam Nillaikalakki is the art of staff combat, and uses a staff 1.6
   metres long. Its techniques were designed to enable a person to use a
   traveller's walking-staff to defend himself against an attack by
   several enemies. Its techniques focus on using the staff without
   stopping its movement, and synchronising staff, foot and body motion.
   Kuttuvarisai is a martial art which teaches empty hand combat employing
   the hands and legs. Varma Kalai is a martial art which trains people to
   attack the vital points of an opponent's body with hands or weapons.
   maankombukkalai involves fighting with a weapon made from the antlers
   of a stag tipped with metal. Kalarippayattu focus on all aspects of
   fighting, including unarmed combat and combat with wooden and metal
   weapons. The Kalarippayattu tradition is strongest in Kerala, where it
   is known as Kalaripayattu.

   The ancient Tamil art of unarmed bullfighting, popular amongst warriors
   in the classical period, has also survived in parts of Tamil Nadu,
   notably Alanganallur near Madurai, where it is known as Jallikaṭṭu or
   mañcuviraṭṭu and is held once a year around the time of the Pongal
   festival.

Institutions

   Because Tamils have been spread over several countries for much of
   their history, there are few formal pan-Tamil institutions. The most
   important national institutions for Tamils have been the governments of
   the states where they live, particularly the government of Tamil Nadu
   and the government of Sri Lanka, which have collaborated in developing
   technical and scientific terminology in Tamil and promoting its use
   since the 1950s.

   Politics in Tamil Nadu is dominated by the Self-respect Movement (also
   called the Dravidian movement), a movement founded by E.V. Ramasami,
   popularly known as Periyar, to promote self-respect and rationalism,
   and to fight casteism and the oppression of the lowest castes. Every
   major political party in Tamil Nadu bases its ideology on the
   Self-respect Movement, and the national political parties play a very
   small role in Tamil politics.

   In Sri Lanka, Tamil politics was dominated by the federalist movements,
   led by the Federal Party (later the Tamil United Liberation Front),
   until the early 1980s. In the 1980s, the political movement was largely
   succeeded by a violent military campaign conducted by several militant
   groups. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam emerged as the most
   important force amongst these groups in the 1990s, and is currently
   negotiating a final settlement with the government. The LTTE controls
   portions of Sri Lanka, and has attempted to establish its own
   government there, which it calls the government of Tamil Eelam. LTTE
   has been banned by the European Union on account of alleged terrorism.
   It has also been banned in India following the assassination of former
   Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

   In the 1960s, the government of Tamil Nadu held a World Tamil
   Conference, and have continued to meet periodically since then. In
   1999, a World Tamil Confederation was established to protect and foster
   Tamil culture and further a sense of togetherness amongst Tamils in
   different countries. The Confederation has since adopted a Tamil flag
   and Tamil song to act as trans-national symbols for the Tamil people;
   the words on the flag quote the opening line of a poem by the classical
   poet Kanian Poongundranaar, and means "Whosoever is our kin;Wheresoever
   is our home"

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