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Dravidian civilizations comprise of several groups which belong to the Dravidian family of ethnicities and languages in South Asia. These groups are indigenous to Southern and Central India, Northeastern Sri Lanka, Maldives and parts of Pakistan & Bangladesh. In Southern India, the Dravidian areas are composed of four states namely Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Within the four major Dravidian states are the Tuluvas and Kodavas, while in Central India are the Kolamis, Gonds, Gadaba, Kuis, Parjis, and Kurukhs. In Sri Lanka are the Tamils of Northeastern Sri Lanka, while in the Central part of the island are Tamils of Indian origins.

The Dravidian civilizations of South Asia each have their own distinct language, scripts, history, arts, and culture. In South Asia, there are the South, South-Central, Central, and Northern Dravidians. As for the South Dravidians of the Indian peninsula and Sri Lanka had the advantage of the sea to engage in trade and commerce as far west as the Arabian peninsula to as far east as China. The tremendous commercial and religious expansion two thousand years ago, which gave all Southeast Asia the stamp of its culture it still bears, stemmed first from private enthusiasm of the Tamils and later from the expansionistic courts of their kings. Tamil merchants, priests, warriors, dancers, and scholars spilled over geographical boundaries and, in expanding, shared their culture with vast home and overseas areas.

Origins

The Dravidian family of ethnicities throughout South Asia bear resemblances of the indigenous people of Australia and Eastern Africa. In the early post-glacial period, there lived in the Indian peninsula dark-skinned people akin to the early people of Africa and Melanesia. These populations were of two major types, one of smaller stature, living in the forest and the other of high stature, living in the plains. Another group on the Southern Indian sub-continent were the people akin to the Veddas of Ceylon and the Irula of the Nilgiris whom have intermingled with the first two populations. These people were short of stature and had long hair and broad noses. They were called th Veddids who fall into two subtypes, Malids and Gondids.

The second group termed Melanids have a high degree of variation in physical charcteristics which can be seen in the Tamils of Northern Ceylon and Southern India. It should also be stated that current Australia received her indigenous population by migration through Ceylon and Melanesia from Southern India. The Tamils of the Neolithic Age show a fair degree of civilization, as judged by the prehistoric antiquities of South India and materials brought to light by excavations of graves. Tamil literature of the Sangam Age, though belonging to the early centuries of the Christian era, ma well contain subject matter showing the cultural continuity of the Tamils from Neolithic times.

Ethnic Groups

Languages and Scripts

Language

The Dravidian family of languages is comprised of approximately 23 languages that are spoken in southern India, northeastern Sri Lanka, Maldives, and parts of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and central India. Of these languages, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu are considered to be the four literary languages because they have their own independent scripts and literary histories dating back from the early pre-Christian era to the 11th Century A.D. These four languages constitute respectively the basis for the demarcation of the four linguistic states of South India namely Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.

The other Dravidian languages such as Gondi, Kolami, Kui, Kurukh, Malto and Brahui are mostly found in different parts of central and northern India. The Brahui language of the Dravidian group is spoken at present in the Baluchistan region of Pakistan, near the river Sindu.

Scripts

The Dravidian scripts unlike the Devanagiri scripts of Sanskrit and its offshoots were separate and distinct. Vatteluttu ( Error: {{Transliteration}}: missing language / script code (help)) or "rounded writing" was the abugida writing system used amongst Dravidian groups such as the Tamils, Telugus, and Malayalis. This style of writing has had an influence on various scripts in Southeast Asia. Vatteluttu was also commonly known as the Pallava script by scholars of Southeast Asian studies such as George Coedes and D.G.E. Hall. The linguistic and cultural influence of Dravidian India on Southeast Asia is evident in the spread of writing and literacy beyond South Asia: the Pallavas, a Tamil dynasty from the early centuries of the Common Era (c. 275 to 500 CE), carried their writing system on their voyages to the east. The Pallava writing system forms the basis for several writing systems of Southeast Asia and beyond: Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sulawesi (the Celebes) and the Philippines.

(Vatteluttu scripts of South and Southeast Asia.)

Language	Script
Tamil	வனக்கம்
Malayalam	നൊമസ്കര്
Kannada	ನಮಸ್ಕರ
Telugu	నమస్కరమ్
Thai
Khmer
Laos
Myanmar	File:Natein.gif

History

Carbon dating on ash mounds associated with neolithic cultures in South India date back to 8000 B.C.E.. Artifacts such as ground stone axes, and minor copper objects have been found in the region. Towards the beginning of 1000 B.C.E., iron technology spread through the region; however, there does not appear to be a fully developed Bronze Age preceding the Iron Age in South India. In Tamilakkam, the oldest the tribes were Villavar and Minavar. The Villavar or bowmen (from th Dravidian word vil meaning a bow) inhabited hilly tracts and jungles and lived by the chase: and the Minavar or fishermen (from the Dravidian mean, a fish) subsisted by fishing and resided in the valleys and plains, or on the sea-coast. These groups were later conquered by the Nagas who were a very numerous and advanced civilization. The Nagas ruled in various parts of South India and Northern Sri Lanka.

The Ceylonese historical works all begin with an account of the Nagas. It appears from these works that in the 6th century B.C.E. there were powerful Naga kingdoms on the western coast of the island which was called Nagadwipa or Naga island on that account. The Naga capital was at Kalyani. The neice of the king of Kalyani was married to a Naga king of the Kanawaddamano mountain, which was evidently kandamadanam, a hill near the modern Ramesvaram on the Indian coast, opposite of Kalyani.

Kingdoms and dynasties

Some of the earliest Dravidian kingdoms are mentioned on Mauryan emperor Asoka's Rock Edicts II & XIII. During the 3rd century B.C.E. Asoka's empire stretched from parts of present day Pakistan to Bengal and as far south as the northern part of the Andhra country. Some other areas of Southern India are mentioned in Asoka’s inscriptions, but they are mentioned as lying beyond the borders of the empire: Chola, Pandya, Keralaputra and Satyaputra. Among them is also mentioned Ceylon (Tamraparni) in the south of India.

The far south of India beyond the Venkata Hills, known as the Dravida country, was parceled out among many States of which three were important, namely, Chola, Pandya and Kerala. The Cholas occupied the present Tanjore and Trichinopoly districts with some adjoining areas, and showed great military activity in the second century B.C. A Chola prince, Elara, conquered Ceylon and many anecdotes have been preserved which testify to his strong sense of justice. The Pandyas excelled in trade and learning. They occupied the districts of Madura and Tinnevelly with portions of South Travancore. A Pandya king sent an embassy to the Roman emperor, Augustus, in the first century B.C. To the north and west of the Pandyas lay the Kerala country embracing Malabar, Cochin and North Travancore. Below is a list of various Dravidian kingdoms from different times:

Early trade and commerce

The southern part of the sub-continentof India was a crossroads of the ancient world, linking the Mediterranean and the Far East. The southern coastline from Karwar to Kodungallur was the most important trading shore in the Indian subcontinent resulting in intermingling between locals and traders. The South Indian coast of Malabar and the Tamil people of the Sangam age traded with the Graeco-Roman world. They were in contact with the Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Syrians, Jews, and the Chinese.

The existence of Dravidianized kingdoms such as Gangga Negara, Old Kedah, Srivijaya since approximately 1500 years ago. Early contact between the kingdoms of Tamilakkam and the Malay peninsula had been very close during the regimes of the Pallava Kings (from the 4th to the 9th Century C.E.) and Chola kings (from the 9th to the 13th Century C.E.). The trade relations the Tamil merchants had with the ports of Malaya led to the emergence of Indianized kingdoms like Kadaram (Old Kedah) and Langkasugam. Furthermore, Chola king Rajendra Chola I sent an expedition to Kadaram (Sri Vijaya) during the 11th century conquering that country on behalf of one of its rulers who sought his protection and to have established him on the throne. The Cholas had a powerful merchant and naval fleet in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. Three kinds of craft are distinguished by the author of the Periplus – light coasting boats for local traffic, larger vessels of a more complicated structure and greater carrying capacity, and lastly the big ocean-going vessels that made the voyages to Malaya, Sumatra, and the Ganges.

Islamic invasions

The early medieval period saw the rise of Muslim power in South India. The defeat of the Kakatiya dynasty of Warangal by Tughlaq forces of the Delhi Sultanate in 1323 C.E. heralded a new chapter in South Indian history. The struggle of the period was between the Bahmani Sultanate based in Gulbarga (and later, Bidar) and the Vijayanagara Empire with its capital in Vijayanagara in modern Hampi. With the fall of Vijayanagara and the break-up of the Bahmani sultanate, the Qutb Shahi dynasty of Golconda and Hyderabad became the dominant power in the region. Qutb Shahi dominance of the region continued until the middle of the seventeenth century, when the Mughals under Aurangzeb made determined inroads into the Deccan. Following Aurangzeb’s death, Mughal power weakened, and South Indian rulers gained autonomy from Delhi. The Wodeyar kingdom of Mysore, the Asaf Jahis of Hyderabad, and Marathas all gained power.

European colonization

Vasco da Gama's voyage to Kerala from Portugal in 1498 was largely motivated by Portuguese determination to break the Arabs' control over trade of spices grown in Kerala. The spice trade with the Middle East pre-dates Islam. Da Gama established India's first Portuguese fortress at Cochin (Kochi) in 1503 and, taking advantage of rivalry between the royal families of Calicut and Cochin, ended the Arab monopoly. Conflicts between Calicut and Cochin, however, provided an opportunity for the Dutch to come in and finally expel the Roman Catholic Portuguese from their forts.

The Dutch were, in turn, routed by the Travancore (Thiruvithamcoore) ruler Marthanda Varma at the Battle of Kulachal in 1741. Hyder Ali of Mysore conquered northern Kerala in the 18th century, capturing Kozhikode in 1766. Hyder Ali and his successor, Tipu Sultan, came into conflict with the British, and the four Anglo-Mysore wars were fought across southern India in the latter half of the 18th century. Tipu Sultan ceded Malabar District to the British in 1792

In the middle of the eighteenth century, the French and the British initiated a protracted struggle for military control of South India. Shifting alliances between the two European powers and the local powers marked the period with mercenary armies being employed by all sides causing general anarchy in South India. The four Anglo-Mysore wars and the three Anglo-Maratha wars saw Mysore, Pune and Hyderabad allying themselves with the British or the French. South India during the British colonial rule was divided into the Madras Presidency and Hyderabad, Mysore, Thiruvithamcoore (also known as Travancore), Kochi (also known as Cochin or Perumpadapu Swaroopam), Vizianagaram and a number of other minor princely states. British Residents were stationed in the capitals of the important states to supervise and report on the activities of the rulers. As for Sri Lanka, three states (one Tamil, and two Sinhala) were united under the British rule into one state.

Post independence

After independence, most of South India was included in Madras state, which included the former Madras Presidency and the princely states of Banganapalle, Pudukkottai, and Sandur. In 1953, the government yielded to pressure from the northern Telugu-speaking districts of Madras State, and allowed them to create India's first linguistic state - Andhra State on October 1,1953. The States Reorganisation Act (1956) created several new states along linguistic lines. Andhra State was renamed Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala was created from the Malayalam-speaking region. Madras State, which after 1956 included the Tamil-majority regions, changed its name to Tamil Nadu in 1968, and Mysore State was renamed Karnataka in 1972. Portuguese India, which included Goa, was annexed by India in 1961, and Goa became a state in 1987. The enclaves of French India were ceded to India in the 1950s, and the southern four were organised into the Union Territory of Pondicherry.

Literature

South India has a literary tradition reaching back over two thousand years. The first known literature of South India are the poetic Sangams, which were written in Tamil around two to one and a half thousand years ago. The Kannada classic Kavirajamarga, written in 850 CE by King Amoghavarsha I, makes references to Kannada literature of King Durvinita in early sixth century CE. Tamil Buddhist commentators of the tenth century CE, Nemrinatham makes references to Kannada literature of fourth century CE Distinct Malayalam and Telugu literary traditions developed in the following centuries. The artistic expressions of the South Indian people shows their admiration of the magnificence of nature and its rhythms. Some of the works include Silappadhikaram by Ilango Adigal, Tholkappiam written by Tholkappiar, Thiruvalluvar’s Thirukural and Kumaravyasa's Karnata Bharata Katamanjari and Pampa's Vikramarjuna Vijaya. The Tamil text of the Tirukkural of Tiruvalluvar is regarded as one of the most important books by the Tamilians like the Bhagavadgita of the Hindus and the Dhammapada of the Buddhists. It primarily is about the the code of conduct during ones lifetime. In South Indian literature and philosophy, women are considered very powerful. A married woman is regarded as auspicious, her shakti or mother-feminine power, protects and empowers her husband and their children. Contemporary Kannada writers have received seven Jnanapith awards which is the highest for any Indian language. Some of the big names in the contemporary South Indian literature includes Kuvempu, Shivarama Karanth, S.L. Bhyrappa, D.R. Bendre, U.R. Ananthamurthy and Girish Karnad.

Music

The ascendancy of the Tamilakkam towards the end of the first millennium B.C.E. is associated with the rise of three chieftaincies -- the Cholas, Cheras, and Pandyas -- located around the lower Kaveri and the west coast of southern India. While the earliest Tamil writings date from the second century B.C.E., it is from the first century C.E. that we come across the emergence of a poetic corpus of very high quality, known as Sangam literature (100 B.C.E. - 300 C.E.). Sangam poetry accorded a very special and exalted place to bards and referred specifically to panns and pannars or singers of panns. Panns are now understood to represent ancient Tamil melodic entities that were suitable for bardic lore, whether these were the precursors of modern ragas is difficult to ascertain. What is clear is that pans reflected the workings of a rich musical culture amongst the Dravidians in southern India but over time became part of a recitative tradition, used more extensively in singing devotional songs like the Tevaram hymns of the Saivite saints, thereby preserving its unique Tamil resonance.

The extension of what historians call the classical pattern into south India accompanied the emergence of regional kingdoms like the Pallavas and the Chalukyas in the Tamil country and the western Deccan in the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries C.E. These kingdoms drew their inspiration from the classical phase of north Indian kingship and demonstrated their adherence to Vedic Brahmanism, the new social alliance with the brahmins, and the patronage of Sanskrit literature and theter all of which, set in motion a complex, cultural interchange of ideas and styles. This found refletion in language and literary development, architecture, and the performing arts, wherin, it was expressed in terms of the Desi-Margi paradigm. A seventh century inscription of a Chalukya king at Badami mentioned Kannada as the local Prakrit or natural language and Sanskrit as the language of culture -- a distinction that underscored the difference in the social context of languages and literatures.

It was not until the 18th and 19th centuries when Carnatic music was born, composed by Tyāgarāja along with his contemporaries Muthuswami Dikshitar and Syama Sastri forming the trinity of Carnatic Music composers. He was a prolific artist and highly influential in the development of the South Indian classical music tradition. Tyagaraja composed hundreds of devotional songs, most of them in praise of the Hindu god Rama. His compositions are very popular even today. Five of his compositions called the 'five gems' (Pancharatna Krithis), are often sung in programs in honour of Tyagaraja.

Dance

From ancient days art and culture developed side by side with other expressions of civilization. The ancient dynasties of the South were the Cheras, the Cholas, the Pandyas, then later the Rayas, Nayakas and the Mahrattas which encouraged art in all its forms and even to this day the beautiful sculpture, painting and architecture of their time is unrivalled. Dance and music reached a climax of perfection and played an important role in the minds and hearts of the people.

Various Dravidian dance forms consist of numerous classical and folk dances primarily from southern India, and northeastern Sri Lanka. Amongst the Tamils there is the classical dance of Bharatanatyam, while in the state of Kerala is home of the classical dances of Mohiniaattam and Kathakali. Another very similar style is called Kuchipudi which is the classical dance of Andhra Pradesh. Its neighboring state of Karnataka specializes in its own classical dance form of Yakshagana. Apart from the classical dances are the numerous folk dances of the four Dravidian states of southern India which are Koodiyattam, Theyyam, Ottamthullal, Devarattam, Kolattam, and Veeranatyam, just to name a few .

In the golden era of the Pallava and Chola kings (6th to 13th centuries AD) there arose in South India great temples with towering gopurams, vast pillared halls and corridors adorned with sculptured gods of the Hindu pantheon and celestial dancers. In these magnificent shrines of the gods, Siva and Vishnu, holy ritual and dance were merged in a beautiful temple service—a sublime synthesis of art and religion. It was the Pallavas and Cholas who brought their dance form of Bharatanatyam to South East Asia on their sea expeditions. The dance particularly , was bound to be affected by this transference. Without the shastraic literature which kept it alive and gave it the basis upon which it could develop, its form gradually petrified, its mudras (hand gestures) lost meaning and dropped out of use. Now, although still very beautiful, the dances of Bali and Cambodia bear only a superficial resemblance to the Dasi Attam which was their initial inspiration.

Martial arts

Dravidian martial arts have been practiced by the Dravidian people in South India and northeastern Sri Lanka since the Sangam period. Various artforms consist of both emtpty-hand and weapons combat. The origins of Dravidian martial arts date back to the 2nd possible 3rd century BC, when various martial arts were described in Sangam literature at the time. The Akananuru and Purananuru describe the martial arts of ancient Tamilakkam, including forms of one-to-one combat, and the use of spears, swords, shields, bows and silambam. The word "kalari" appears in the Puram (verses 225, 237, 245, 356) and Akam (verses 34, 231, 293) to describe to both a battlefield and combat arena.

Each warrior in the ancient Tamilakkam received regular military training in target practice and horse riding, and specialized in the use of one or more of the important weapons of the period, including the lance or spear (vel), sword (val) and shield (kedaham), and bow (vii) and arrow. The combat techniques of the Sangam period were the earliest precursors to Kalarippayattu.

Religions

Animism

The early Dravidian groups practiced Animistic faiths and were closely associated with the earth. During the megalithic period of about 1000 BCE - 400 BCE, people of South India including Tamilakam, shared many beliefs and practices with the megalithic builders elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent and beyond. The famous 3.5 metre-high granite figure excavated at Mottur, in present-day Vellore district, is considered the oldest known anthropomorphic representation of God in stone in the Tamil country. Some form of Mother Goddess worship was prevalent in the megalithic period, as suggested by the discovery of a copper image of a Goddess in the urn-burials of Adichanallur and other excavations in Tamil Nadu that have yielded headstones, shaped like the seated Mother. Megalithic culture attached great importance to the cult of the dead and ancestors. It is also likely that certain gods later absorbed into the Hindu pantheon, such as Aiyanar (or Sastha), Murugan (the later Kartik), Korravai (Durga), Naga deities, etc., were originally tribal gods of this period.

The Nagas, who conquered the aboriginal tribes such as the Villavar and the Minavar, worshipped the dread goddess Kali and carried out animal sacrifices at her shrines. The image of Kali was decked in a most frightful manner: her matted hair was tied up like a crown on her head with the shining skin of a cobra and the curved tusk of a boar was fastened in her hair to resemble the crescent. A string of tiger's teeth served as a necklace around her shoulders. The striped skin of a tiger was wound around her waist like a garment. She was mounted on a tall stag with branching antlers and held a strong bow bent and ready to shoot. Drums rattled and pipes squeaked in front of her image while fierce Nagas slaughtered buffaloes at her altar.

Hinduism

Through the course of time some of the Vedic ideologies of the Indo-Aryans had made its way into various Dravidian beliefs. During the Sangam age, Hinduism, including VedicBrahmanism, had become a popular religion among the people. Siva, Muruga, Krishna, Balarama and Kali were some of the popular deities among the Hindus. The division of the Sangam landscape into five regions, is also apparent in religion - with each region having had its own patron deity. Today, a majority of the Hindu pantheon are of indigenous background. Murugan, the hill god is the chief deity of the Tamils. Their god Indiran of the agricultural region is very different from Indra (Purandara) of the Aryans. Their god Kannan (Krishna) of the pastoral region, it is said, is not the Krishna of the Bhagavad Gita. The view that, when the Aryan rishis moulded the Vedic cult, they utilized the pre-existing god and adapted them to their philosophical concepts seems to accord well with the theory that Harappan gods were absorbed into the Indo-Aryan pantheon.

The people of the or the mountainous regions worshipped Muruga, the god of war. He was portrayed as having six faces and twelve arms. His shrines were usually on the peaks of high hills or in the midst of dense forests. He carried a lance as his weapon and hence was called Velan or lancer. Animal sacrifices were carried out under sheds that were put up for the purpose, with flags hoisted over them that bore the emblem of Muruga, the rooster. Ancient mythology has it that Muruga was the commander-in-chief of the celestial army when it fought the Asuras or the demons. According to the tradition of the Kuravas, the hill people, Muruga married a maiden of their tribe. The people of the pastoral lands or the regions worshipped Krishna and his brother Balarama. The shepherd races of these regions amused themselves by enacting plays that portrayed the main events of Krishna’s mythical life, such as his childhood pranks, his victory against the evil Kamsa, his embassy to Duryodhana and other episodes involving him in the Mahabaratha. Krishna was also popularly known as Mayavan or Mayon, the deceiver. Balarama his elder brother was believed to have extraordinary physical strength. The people worshipped Indra or Ventan, while the people considered Varunan or Katalon to be their patron deity and the people worshipped Korravai or Kali. Among the higher classes of the Tamil society, the favorite deity was Siva. He was portrayed as a man of fair complexion with tangled locks of red hair and three eyes, the third one situated in the middle of his forehead. He wore tiger’s skin and rode a bullock, armed with a battle-axe and the trishul. The temples of Siva were considered the most stately and august of the public edifices.

Buddhism

Tradition associates the Buddha with at least two places in modern Tamil Nadu. These are: Kanchipuram and Buddhavedu. Kanchipuram, near present day Chennai, is the most ancient and historic city of the Pallavas in Tamil Nadu. The Buddha said to have visited Kanchipuram more than once. Besides Kanchipuram, another site in Tamil Nadu traditionally associated with the Buddha is Buddhavedu, a small village alo near Chennai. It is said the Budha rested here when he went to the South of the sub-continent. The archaeological evidence since discovered at Buddhavedu includes a Buddha image, a Bodhi tree, and remains of a monastery. According to an inscription discovered on the site, the village had been dedicated to the Budhist Sangha during the reign of Rajara Chola in the tenth century C.E. Also, during the reign of the Cholas (850-1200 C.D.), there were Buddhist settlements at Nagapattinam on the east coast and at Srimulvasam in the West. Raja Raja Chola I, (1014 C.E.), in particular, gave generous support to the Buddhist institutions. And even Buddhism was, considered sufficiently important for some scene from Buddha's life to be represented in decorative panels in a balustrade of thegreat temple at Tanjore (Thanjaur) built by him. He also encouraged Sri Mara Vijayayottunagavarman, the Sailendra rule of Sri Vijaya (Sumatra) to build a Buddha Vihara at Nagapatam. Later, another Sri Vijaya king sent an embassy in 1090 to the Chola King Kolottunga I (1070-1122) to enquire about the affairs of the Buddha Vihara which his ancestors had built at Nagapattam. There were several Tamil Buddhist saints and scholars who have contributed to Tamil literature such as Ilambodhiyar's Nattrinai, Sitalai Satatanar's Manimekhalai, and Aravana Adigal who propogated the Dhamma in the ancient Chera, Chola, and Pandyan kingdoms of Southern India.

In Kerala, home of the Chera kingdom, the most important Buddhist king was Bana Permual who flourished towards the closing years of the third century C.E. Though Kerala, like Tamil Nadu, lay outside the Buddhist Mauryan Empire, it seems certain that Buddhism cam firmly to this tiny state during Asoka's reign (273-232 B.C.E.). In Asoka's second major rock edict found at Girnar, he referes to the rulers of this land as Keralputras living on his frontiers. According to the traditional history of Chera Desa or Kerala, the first Buddhist ruler of Kerala was Jayasimha Perumal, the ruler of Quilon in Travancore in the first century B.C.E. Some other Chera kings also patronised Buddhism. The capital of the Chera Vanji or Vanchi, now known as Karur. Another important Buddhis ruler of Kerala was King Vikramaditya Baragunan. He ruled central part of Kerala in the ninth century C.E. His capitol was Srimulavasam. As for Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, they had come under the rule of Asoka where Buddhism had an impact.

Andhra Pradesh's contribution to Buddhism was Acharya Nāgārjuna who existed around 150 C.E. to 250 C.E.. He was a philosopher who was the founder of the Madhyamaka (Middle Path) school of Mahāyāna Buddhism, and arguably the most influential Buddhist thinker after Gautama Buddha himself. His writings were the basis for the formation of the Madhyamaka (Middle Way) school, which was transmitted to China under the name of the Three Treatise (Sanlun) School. He is credited with developing the philosophy of the Prajnaparamita sutras, and was closely associated with the Buddhist university of Nalanda. In the Jodo Shinshu branch of Buddhism, he is considered the First Patriarch.

Jainism

Jainism was practiced amongst the Dravidain peoples of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The Jains (a.k.a Nigranthas) worshipped Argha whom they considered to be the Supreme Intelligence which governs the Universe. His image was that of a naked man, seated or standing under an Ashoka tree, holding up a triple umbrella. The main priniciples that the Jains followed were to not harm any living creature, not speak an untruth and to avoid envy, greed, anger and evil speech. Their community was divided into two sections, the laymen or sravakas (literally, hearers) and the religious men. The religious men were further divided into five classes called the Panchaparameshtin. These were the Argha the holy men, the Siddha who had supernatural powers, the Upadhyaya or the religious teachers, the Acharaya or the priests and the Sadhu or pious people. Both men and women were allowed to enter the monastery and take vows of celibacy. The monks preached from pulpits that were erected near their temples or in the open squares at the crossing of public roads. They carried an alms bowl, a hoop made of twine to hold the water-pot and a bundle of peacock feathers that they used to gently sweep off insects to avoid hurting them, before sitting or lying down on a place. They repeated a short prayer called the Panchamantra. Some of the notable people were Ilango-Adigal, a Jaina ascetic and brother of the Chera monarch who wrote Silappadikaram and Thiruvalluvar who wrote the Thirukkural (The crown of Tamil literature).

Ayyavazhi

Ayyavazhi is a dharmic belief system that originated in South India in the 19th century. It is conceived as a monisticreligion, but in Indian censuses and in government surveys the majority of its followers declare themselves to be Hindu, so it is also considered a sect of Hinduism. Although the religion is strongly related to Hinduism, its theologians, several newspapers,magazines, and some academics consider it a separate religion. Certain groups outside Ayyavazhi also recognize it as a separate religion, including some social, as well as religious faculties. Though Ayyavazhi followers are spread across India, they are primarily present in South India and highly concentrated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Judaism

Jews came to Kerala and settled as early as 700 BC for trade. An old, but not particularly reliable, tradition says that Jews of Cochin came in mass to Cranganore (an ancient port, near Cochin) after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E. A chieftain by the name of Joseph Rabban, according to local tradition, was granted a principality over the Jews of Cochin by the Chera Emperor of Kerala, Bhaskara Ravivarman II . His descendents had, in effect, their own principality (called Anjuvannam in Indian sources) for many centuries until a chieftainship dispute broke out between two brothers (one of them named Joseph Azar) in the 15th century. The dispute led neighboring princes to dispossess them. In 1524, the Muslims, backed by the ruler of Calicut (today called Kozhikode), attacked the Jews of Cranganore on the pretext that they were tampering with the pepper trade. Most Jews fled to Cochin and went under the protection of the Hindu Raja there. Today, they are known as the Cochinese Jews who traditionally speak Judeo-Malayalam, a form of the Malayalam tongue, native to the state of Kerala.

Christianity

Christianity is prevalent amongst the Dravidian people in many denominations. Southern India had maritime trade with the West since ancient times. Egyptian trade with India and Roman trade with India flourished in the first century AD. In AD 47, the Hippalus wind was discovered and this led to direct voyage from Aden to the South Western coast in 40 days. Muziris (Kodungallur) and Nelcyndis or Nelkanda (near Kollam) in South India, are mentioned as flourishing ports, in the writings of Pliny (23-79 AD). Pliny has given an accurate description of the route to India, the country of Cerebothra (the Cheras). Pliny has referred to the flourishing trade in spices, pearls, diamonds and silk between Rome and Southern India in the early centuries of the Christian era. Though the Cheras controlled Kodungallur port, Southern India belonged to the Pandyan Kingdom, that had sent embassies to the court of Augustus Caesar.

Apostle Thomas (one of the twelve disciples of Christ) landed in Kodungallur in AD 52, in the company of a Jewish merchant Hebban. There were Jewish colonies in Kodungallur since ancient times and Jews continue to reside in Kerala, tracing their ancient history. The Jewish Christians (or Nazareens) were supported from Mesopotamia and Persia, since ancient times.

As recorded in the Travancore Manual, around 345 AD, Thomas Cana (Kona Thomas) merchant and missionary, visited the Malabar coast. He brought to Kodungallur a group of four hundred Christians from Bagdad, Nineveh and Jerusalem. Cheraman Perumal, the King, gave him grants of privileges. (Reference Manuscript volume dated 1604 AD kept in British Museum). After him, came the Portuguese who introduced Catholicism, then the British who introduced the Protestant denominations. In Tamil Nadu and Northeastern Sri Lanka, most of the Christians are Methodist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Brethren, and Catholic. Catholicism is also predominant in the South Indian state of Kerala.

Islam

In the Tharisappally records, migrants from Syria arrived the shores of Kerala during the 9th century CE. With the advent of Islam in West Asia the traders visiting Kerala's shores contained ever larger proportions of Muslims. Malik Ibn Dinar created the first Muslim settlement in Kerala in the 7th century CE. As the Muslim settlers gained strength clashes erupted between them and the Christian & Jewish settlers in the 9th century CE. This resulted in Muslim control of trading centres and the latter communities scattering to places such as Angamaly and others further south.Islam had reached South India, particularly Tamil country in during the early 14th century, as a result of the invasion of the Delhi sultanate. Muslim traders of the Coromandel Coast are said to have been even politically influential in historical Malaya. In 1445 A.D. Tamil Muslim traders staged a coup at Malacca, installing a sultan of their choice. This was during the decline of Hinduism and Buddhism in the Malay peninsula and the Indonesian archipelago.

Festivals

There are numerous festivals celebrated by various Dravidian groups in South Asia most which are indigenous and some that are of Sanskritic influence. One of the most famous festivities are the New Years celebrations which goes by the Solar calendar. These are Tamil New Year (Puthandu), Malayalam New Year (Vishu), Telugu New Year (Ugadi), and Kannada New Year (Ugadi) which all falls on April 14th. Deepavali is another very popular festival of lights. This event is celebrated by most people throughout India and its diaspora. For example, in Malaysia and Singapore this day has been a public holiday for a long time.

Tamil festivals

Amongst the Tamils, another big festival is Thaipusam. Thaipusam religious festival dedicated to the Tamil deity Murugan which occurs on the day in the Tamil month of Thai (January-February) when the asterism Poosam is on the ascendant. A popular festival in Tamil Nadu and Northeastern Sri Lanka, its celebration is recorded by immigrant laboreres from the earliest dates. It is also celebrated in grand style in the temples of Singapore, Penang, and Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia for three days. Thus one can see various forms of self-mortification that are common in Tamil Nadu and Northeastern Sri Lanka. One of the most significant rites performed is the carrying of the kavadi, a large wooden decorated arch, as an act of penance. When deities were taken on procession from one shrine to another, they would be followed b a number of these voluntary kavadi-bearers. In other towns and estates, kavadis would be taken fr other festivals like Chittirai Paruvam. As back in the Tamil country, some of the more rigid practitioners would bear spikes, spears, and hooks pierced into their bodies. The Chittirai Paruvam festival and festivals to the Tamil deity Mariamman are usually accompanied by a fire-walking ceremony. Thai Pongal is a festival of the Tamils occurring on the first day of the month of Thai. In Tamil Nadu and Northeastern Sri Lanka it is celebrated as a harvest festival when the first grains are gathered and brought in for the ceremony.

Malayalee festivals

Onam is an annual harvest festival, celebrated mainly in Kerala, although celebrations also occur among the diaspora. It is the foremost festival among the cultural repertoire of Malayalees, and falls during the month of Chingam (August-September as per the Gregorian calendar), the first month of the Malayalam calendar and lasts for ten days. Though it is essentially a harvest festival of Malayalees, mythologically it is linked to Malayalee-Hindu folktales. Like many other religious festivals in India, Onam is celebrated by people across all castes and faiths. Onam has been part of Malayalee psyche for centuries. There are records of Onam being celebrated during the Sangam Age. The earliest record of Onam is found during time of Kulasekhara Perumals around AD 800, soon after the Kalabhra Interregnum of Kerala History.

Pooram is an annual temple festival held after the summer harvest,celebrated by malayalees,mainly in north Kerala. The name has its origin in 'Poora Kali' which comes from the Malayalam language used by the people of Kerala,India). Most pooram festivals have at least one ornately decorated elephant parading in the procession. However, there are some, such as Aryankavu Pooram, near Shoranur that do not use the decorated elephant. The most famous Pooram is Thrissur Pooram as it has become a tourist destination for Europeans and North Americans. Other well known pooram festivals are Arattupuzha - Peruvanam Pooram, Nenmara vallangi vela, Wadakkancherry pooram and Edakkunni Uthram Vilakku (often called Vela).

Telugu festivals

Bonalu is a popular and grand Hindu festival of Hyderabad, Secunderabad and some parts of Telangana, in ritual honour of Mahankali (The Mother Goddess), and is primarily celebrated in the urban areas. Bonam means Bojanaalu (meaning meal in Telugu) , and this is an offering to the Goddess, women bring cooked rice mixed with milk and sugar sometimes onions, and filled with water, in polished brass vessels or in earthen-pots (usually two pots), put small neem branches, colored in scared colors of pasupu (turmeric), kunkum(vermilion) (sometimes Kadi) in a spotted manner, lit up atop with deepam/diya and bring them on their heads come join a big procession and go to the Goddess at a local temple, led by pounding drum beaters and dancing men. This century-old tradition, since the time of The Nizams who participated in the event, is celebrated with utmost gaiety, zest and devotional fervour.

Sankranthi, or Sankranti is a festival that signifies the beginning of the harvest season in the state of Andra Pradesh. It is equivalent to the Tamil harvest festival called Pongal. The auspicious day of Sankranthi is celebrated typically in Andhra Pradesh, the festival is celebrated for three days.

Architecture

Dravidian architecture, was a style of archietecture that emerged thousands of years ago in the Indian subcontinent. They consist primarily of pyramid shaped temples which are dependent on intricate carved stone in order to create a step design consisting of numerous statues of deities, warriors, kings, and dancers. The majority of the existing buildings are located in the Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka. Various kingdoms and empires such as the Pallavas, Cholas, Chalukyas, and Hoysalas amongst the many others have made a substantial contribution to the evolution of Dravidian architecuture through the ages. Dravidian styled architecture can also be found in parts of Northeastern Sri Lanka, Maldives, and various parts of Southeast Asia.

Dravidian style temples consist almost invariably of the four following parts, arranged in various manners, as afterwards to be explained, but differing in themselves only according to the age in which they were executed:

1. The principal part, the actualtemple itself, is called the Vimana. It is always square in plan, and surmounted by a pyramidal roof of one or more stories; and it contains the cell in which the image of the god or his emblem is placed.

2. The porches or Mantapams, which always cover and preced the door leading to the cell.

3. Gate-pyramids, Gopurams, which are the principal features in the quadrangular enclosures that surround the more notable temples.

4. Pillard halls or Chaultris -- properly Chawadis -- used for various purposes, and which are the invariable accompaniments of these temples.

Besides these, a temple always contains tanks or wells for water -- to be used either for sacred purposes or the convenience of the priests -- dwellings for all the various grades of the priest-hood are attached to it, and numerous other buildings for state or convenience.

References

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2. ^ Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (1970). Advanced History of India. Calcutta: Allied Publishers Pvt. Ltd. pp. p. 18-20. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
3. ^ International Tamil Language Foundation (2000). The Handbook of Tamil Culture and Heritiage. Chicago: International Tamil Language Foundation. pp. p. 726 & 727. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help) Cite error: The named reference "International2000" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
4. Steever, Sanford B. (1998). The Dravidian Languages. London; New York: Routledge.
5. Agarwal, D.P."Urban Origins in India", 2006. Archaeology and Ancient History, Uppsala Universitet
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7. ^ Gokhale, B.G. (1966). Asoka Maurya. Twaine Publishers, New York. p. p. 130. {{cite book}}: |page= has extra text (help) Cite error: The named reference "Gokhale1966" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
8. T.K Velu Pillai, 1940; Wilfred Schoff 1912 "Periplus Maris Erythraei" (trans) 1912, Menachery, G 1998; James Hough 1893; K.V. Krishna Iyer 1971
9. Sastri, K.A. Nilakanta (2000) . Cholas (fifth printing ed.). Chennai: University of Madras. pp. pp. 86 & 318. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
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11. ^ Subramanian, Lakshmi (2006). From the Tanjore Court to the Madras Music Academy: A Social History of Music in South India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. pp. 29, 30. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
12. Sarabhai, Mrinalini (1981). Understanding Bharata Natyam. Ahmedabad: The Darpana Academy of Performing Arts. pp. p. 131. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
13. Devi, Ragini (1972). Dance Dialects of India. New Delhi: Motilal Bonarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
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20. Raman, K.V (2002). "Sakti Cult in Tamil Nadu - a Historical Perspective". Proceedings of the 9th session of Indian Art History Congress. Hyderabad: Sundeep Prakashan, New Delhi. pp. ch. 19. {{cite conference}}: Unknown parameter |booktitle= ignored (|book-title= suggested) (help)
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22. FieserPh.D., James and Bradley Dowden, Ph.D. (2002). Nagarjuna's Life, Legend and Works. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
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25. Dr. R.Ponnu's, Sri Vaikunda Swamigal and the Struggle for Social Equality in South India, Ram Publishers, Page 98.
26. V.T. Chellam's, Thamizhaka Varalarum Panpadum Chapter 12, Page 494 "The refined religious system by Vaikunda Samikal spread in the Southern districts of Thiruvithancore and Tamil Nadu."
27. ^ Katz 2000; Koder 1973; Thomas Puthiakunnel 1973.
28. The Indian Christians of St Thomas, Leslie Brown, page 81
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30. Kulke, Hermann & Rothermund Dietmar (1986). A History of India. New Jersey: Barnes & Noble Books.
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32. ^ Fergusson, James (1997) . History of Indian and Eastern Architecture (3rd ed.). New Delhi: Low Price Publications. pp. p. 309. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)

See Also

External Links

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