Myth of Independent Tamil Culture

We have theory of North-South contrast and an unknown Dravidian substratum over which the layer of Aryan culture was deposited. This view is only milder than that of the proponents of a separate and secular Tamil Culture, who insist on a physical and cultural Aryan-Dravidian clash as a result of which the pure Dravidian culture got swamped.Let us analyze the History,

Politics of language translation and Identity
Rajagopalachari, a political activist and Tamil scholar coins a word ‘Yakkai Rasayanam’ to denote ‘organicchemistry’. The ‘Yakkai’ has ‘pure’ Tamil root while Rasayanam is culled from Sanskrit but of common use among Tamil people.Yakkai connotes ‘organized’ and alludes to ‘vitalism’ and ‘chief organiser’, that is God. So people find this not secular.
The current technical term in usage ‘Karima Vediyal’(Carbon Chemistry) was suggested by Chennai Magahana Tamil Sangam in 1938 is exorcised of any reference to ‘tradition’ and as matter of fact is very secular. The term Karima means ‘Carbon’ and Vediyal means ‘Chemistry’. However, the term Vediyal is a modern word coined from a root word ‘Vedi’ meaning ‘transmute’. The verb ‘Vethithal’ implies transmutation of baser elements in Siddha tradition of ‘alchemy’. The word Vedi also came to denote drug used by Siddha school of medicine, derived not from plant sources but from chemical source’. How did this secularization of coining of terms
come about? Let us see

Social historians posit that during 1930s there were One group represented the traditional elite - largely dominated by Brahmins and consisting of elite from upper caste Hindu section were characterized by their sympathy towards ‘tradition’- meaning Sanskrit traditions, and in politics advocating ‘Pan Indian Nationalism’. Another group was the Tamil Vellala and non-Brahmin upper caste elite, who articulated ‘Tamil identity politics’ drawing inspiration from the Tamil past. Thirdly, there were the Left/self-respect movements, which not only questioned the ‘past’ but also ‘invalidated’ it.

As the balance of power of the third group swelled in the public sphere during the 1940s; in the ensuing social upheaval, impact of the self-respect movement’s rationalism and the left ideology geared the ‘rediscovery programme’ in a direction of taking it to secular plane away from the‘past tradition’ or ‘indigenous religion’. Rationalism was privileged in the rediscovery programme. E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (Periyar) have very rigid ideas about the ancient history of Tamil Nadu. First, despite all evidence to the contrary,they still insist on the Aryan invasion theory in its most violent version, turning most North Indians and upper-caste Indians into descendants of the invading Aryans who overran the indigenous Dravidian s, and Sanskrit into a deadly rival of Tamil. Consequently, they assert that Tamil is more ancient than Sanskrit, and civilization in the South older than in the North. Once Tamil Nadu's Education minister said The Dravidian civilization is older than the Aryan. It is not uncommon to hear even good Tamil scholars utter such claims. Let us Analyse the evidences

Pre-historical
Culturally, the megalithic people of the South shared many beliefs and practices with megalithic builders elsewhere in the subcontinent and beyond.

Script
The earlier Tamil inscriptions were written in Kadamba script, Pallava grantha and Vetteluthu Inscriptions after the eighth century A.D. Contain characteristrics similar to the one now in vogue The Tamil script(see also Tamil Brahmi) infact flipflopped between Pallava Granta and Vetteluthu.

Vedic Gods and Vedic culture in Tamil Literature
Tolkappiyam (date) is modelled on the Sanskrit grammar of the Aindra school. Tolkappiyam adopts the entire Rasa theory as worked out in the Natya Sastra of Bharata. It also refers to rituals and customs coming from the Aryans,a word which in Sangam literature simply means North Indians of Vedic culture. Tolkappiyam states that marriage as a sacrament attended with ritual was established in the Tamil country by the Aryas and it uses the same eight forms of marriage found in the Dharmashastras. It mentions the caste system or fourfold jathis in the form of Brahmins, Kings, Vaishyas and Vellalas, and calls Vedic mantras the exalted expression of great sages. Tolkappiyam formulates division of the Tamil land into five regions (tinai), each associated with one particular aspect of love, one poetical expression, and also one deity: thus the hills (kurinji) with union and with Cheyon (Karthikeya); the desert (palai) with separation and Korravai (Durga); the forests (mullai) with awaiting and Mayon (Vishnu-Krishna); the seashore (neytal) with wailing and Varuna; and the cultivated lands (marutam) with quarrel and Ventan (Indra). Vedic gods are considered one with the tamil land. The emperor of Tamil poetry, Kambar, describes Sanskrit as the "devabhasa"

Ettuttokai abound in references to many gods Shiva, Uma, Murugan, Vishnu, Lakshmi and several other Saktis. The Paripadal consists almost entirely of devotional poetry to Vishnu. One poem begins with a homage to him and Lakshmi, and goes on to praise Garuda, Shiva on his majestic bull, the four-faced Brahma, the twelve Adityas, the Ashwins, the Rudras, the Saptarishis, Indra with his dreaded thunderbolt,the devas and asuras, etc., and makes glowing references to the Vedasand Vedic scholars. The Purananuru in addition sees Lord Shiva as the source of the four Vedas and describes Lord Vishnu as blue-hued and Garuda-bannered. A poem in Akananuru, declares that Shiva and Vishnu are the greatest of gods. Not only deities or scriptures, landmarks sacred in the North, such as the Himalayas or Ganga, also become objects of great veneration in Tamil poetry. North Indian cities are referred to such as Ujjain or Mathura after which Madurai was named. Court poets proudly claim that the Chera kings conquered North Indian kingdoms and carved their emblem onto the Himalayas. They clearly saw thesubcontinent as one entity.

Kural is often described as an Atheistic text a misconception. Valluvar's 1,330 mostly deal with ethics (aram), polity (porul) and love (inbam), following the traditional Sanskritic pattern of the four objects of human life: dharma, artha, kama, and moksha, the last implied rather than explicit. Still, the very first decade is an invocation to Bhagavan. The ocean of births can be crossed by those who clasp God's feet, and none else. The same idea recurs later, for instance in this profound thought, Cling to the One who clings to nothing and so clinging, cease to cling. The Kural also refers to Indra, to Vishnu's avatar of Vamana , and to Lakshmi, asserting that she will shower her grace only on those who follow the path of dharma. There is nothing very atheistic in all this, and in reality the values of the Kural are perfectly in tune with those found in several shastras or in the Gita

Shilappadikaram(Date) which relates story of Kannagi and Kovalan, it opens with invocations to Chandra, Surya, and Indra, all of them Vedic Gods, and frequently praises Agni, Varuna, Shiva, Subrahmanya, Vishnu-Krishna, Uma, Kali, Yama and so forth. There are mentions of the four Vedas and of Vedic sacrifices being faultlessly performed.In more than one place, writes V. Ramachandra Dikshitar, the first translator of the epic into English, there are references to Vedic Brahmans, their fire rites, and their chanting of the Vedic hymns. The Brahman received much respect from the king and was often given gifts of wealth and cattle. When Kovalan and Kannagi are married, they walk around the holy fire, a typically Vedic rite still at the centre of the Hindu wedding. Welcomed by a tribe of fierce hunters on their way to Madurai, they witness a striking apparition of Durga, who is addressed equally as Lakshmi and Sarasvati, the three Shaktis of the Hindu trinity. There are numerous references to legends from the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas.

After worshipping at two temples, one of Vishnu and the other of Shiva, the Chera king Shenguttuvan goes to the Himalayas in search of a stone for Kannagi's idol, and bathes it in the Ganges. Manimekhalai even though is a Buddhist work, it also mentions many Vedic and Puranic gods, and attributes the submergence of Puhar tothe neglect of a festival to Indra. Silapathikaram and Manimekhalai, which amply testify that what we call today Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism coexistedharmoniously. (See Also Divine Tamil)
As the archaeologist and epigraphist R. Nagaswamy remarks, The fact that the literature of the Sangam age refers more to Vedic sacrifices than to temples is a pointer to the popularity of the Vedic cults among the Sangam Tamils.

Agastya, the great Vedic Rishi, as the originator of the Tamil language. He is saidto have written a Tamil grammar, Agattiyam, to have presided over the first two Tamil Sangams, and is even now honoured in many temples of Tamil Nadu and worshipped inmany homes. One of his traditional names is Tamil muni. The Shilappadikaram refers to him asthe great sage of the Podiyil hill,and a hill is today named after him at the southernmost tip of the Western Ghats.

P. S. Subrahmanya Sastri says a knowledge of Sanskrit literature from the Vedic period to the Classical period is essential to understand and appreciate a large number of passages scattered among the poems of Tamil literature.In other words, Vedic and Puranic themes are inextricably woven into Sangam literature.
Ramachandra Dikshitar writes Either the people did not look upon religious distinctions seriously, or there were no fundamental differences between one sect and another

Historical Period
But here let us just take a look at the rulers. An inscription records that a Pandya king led the elephant force in the Mahabharata War on behalf of the Pandavas, and that early Pandyas translated the epic into Tamil. The first named Chera king, Udiyanjeral, is said to have sumptuously fed the armies on both sides during the War at Kurukshetra Chola and Pandya kings also voiced such claims of course they may be devoid of historical basis, but they show how those kings sought to enhance their glory by connecting their lineage to heroes of the Mahabharata. So too, Chola and Chera kings proudly claimed descent from Lord Rama or from kings of the Lunar dynasty, in other words vedic roots. Karikala, was a patron Vedic religion and while the Pandya king Nedunjelyan performed many Vedic sacrifices, and the dynasty of the Pallavas made their capital Kanchi into a great centre of Sanskrit learning and culture.

K.V. Raman summarizes says
The Pandyan kings were great champions of the Vedic religion from very early times According to the Sinnamanur plates, one of the early Pandyan kings performed a thousand velvi or yagas Vedic sacrifices. Though the majority of the Pandyan kings were Saivites, they extended equal patronage to the other faiths, and included invocatory verses to the Hindu Trinity uniformly in all their copper-plate grants. The Pandyas patronised all the six systems or schools of Hinduism. Their religion was not one of narrow sectarian nature but broad-based with Vedic roots. They were free from linguistic or regional bias and took pride in saying that they considered Tamil and Sanskritic studies as complementary and equally valuable.
Nilakanta Sastri goes a step further and opines, There does not exist a single line of Tamil literature written before the Tamils came into contact with, and let us add accepted with genuine appreciation, the culture of North Indian origin.

The Myth of Dravidian Culture
And yet, such statements do not go deep enough, as they still imply a North-South contrast and an unknown Dravidian substratum over which the layer of Aryan culture was deposited. This view is only milder than that of the proponents of a separate and secular Tamil Culture, who insist on a physical and cultural Aryan-Dravidian clash as a result of which the pure Dravidian culture got swamped. As we have seen, archaeology, literature and Tamil tradition all fail to come up with the slightest hint of such a conflict. Rather, as far as the eye can see into the past there is every sign of a deep cultural interaction between North and South, which blossomed not through any imposition but in a natural and peaceful manner, as everywhere else in the subcontinent and beyond.
M.G.S. Narayanan says
The Aryan-Dravidian or Aryan-Tamil dichotomy envisaged by some scholars may have to be given up since we are unable to come across anything which could be designated as purely Aryan or purely Dravidian in the character of South India of the Sangam Age. In view of this, the Sangam culture has to be looked upon as expressing in a local idiom all the essential features of classical Hindu culture. Swami Vivekananda says, The South had been the repository of Vedic learning.

Conclusion
It should now be crystal clear that anyone claiming a separate,pre-Aryan or secular Dravidian or Tamil culture has no evidence to show for it, except his own ignorance of archaeology, numismatics and ancient Tamil literature. There is no meaning in the word Dravidian except either in the old geographical sense or in the modern linguistic sense, racial and cultural meanings are as unscientific as they are irrational, although some scholars in India remain obstinately rooted in a colonial mindset.

The simple reality is that every region of India has developed according to its own genius, creating in its own bent, but while remaining faithful to the central Indian spirit,So is Tamil culture.

18 comments:

  1. The problem of Aryan and Dravidian came into existence because of the western scholars view in India which is a controversial topic altogether.One important thing in India and so in Tamil Nadu is, we have no written history to support any of the statements of Tamil lovers or yourselves.Everything is fluid in nature related to periods of Tamils as per your own statement.You are taking negative side.That is all.I have worked on the Silapathikaram and found that Naga nadu mentioned in that is related to China and great wall of China was mentioned as "Naga neel naga rodu Naga nadu athanodu".as per the How is it Done? book published by Reader's digest,the great wall of China was started in BC 221.So,the literature in Tamilnot only encompasses north Indi a namely sanskrit but also countries like China,Indonesia,Sri Lanka are also depicted. So,defineely the Ilangovadigal who was a Jaina follower cannot be during the epriod of later years and only between BC 200 to AD 200

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  2. If you have read silapathikaram , then you have to realise that without knowledge of sanskrit texts , it is very difficult to understand silapathikaram, I dont know on what basis, you are saying that Naga refers to different culture other than said in Sanskrit literature. Naga neel is does not refer to the great wall of china, It is just a false hypothesis by tamil scholars to link tamils to china. By bracketing silapathikaram to 2nd century AD to 2nd Century BC, you have broken another record in your claims , even the ardent tamil fanatic scholar have not put the text before 5th century AD.

    http://controversialhistory.blogspot.com/2007/05/great-myth-of-antiquity-of-tamil.html

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  3. The Aryan - Dravidian theory was created by Max Muller who was hired by the East India company, the age old Divide and rule policy.

    Its clear as Daylight.

    Sangam is a Sanskrit word to begin with, representing the meeting of the three sacred rivers that our Civilization of Sanatan Dharma was built upon.

    North and the south are brothers, who were born from the same source. People have merely forgotten, Let Shiva crush the demon of Ignorance :)

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  4. @DruV...Well said.........
    @ Rest of !. [ including aryans & dravidians ]
    Tamil and sanskrit "too" might 've someother "root" origin which may 've destoryed or no evidence...
    Just Do analysis on HOW WHY WHEN ..everything has been United as "HINDU" and "INDIA" ?.

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  5. Sonic
    You are such a Racist !

    You cant give credit to anything other than your christian one, Right?

    All the Tamil Literature was written by people who reside in this region. It did not come from somewhere else. The thoughts of these literature are reflection of Indic religions (Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism). Tamil Literature is part of Indian Culture that is the point of view in this article.

    Why dont we apply the same theory to Europeans. All the European culture, languages and Achievements are rooted somewhere and it has nothing to do with Europeans. They are just idiots. How does your theory sound to you sonic.

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  6. hi Modasattva..,
    I'm not racist . i'm against racism . i'm a Human. [ i hate to mention thAT i'm a Dravdian and INDIAN too . i don t like those borders . ]. i din t mean the roots are from European .did i mention ? Europeans are shit. Their inventions and technology ruined the world. And christians ?..lolz Newbies..Roots are rom INDIA onli . Aryans developed their own culture in north and Dravidian developed their culture in south later it has been unified as HINDU. which is good thing atleast they united as that..Culture is what it 'll take changes often according to people. when aryans and dravidians live together they unified their beliefs as HINDu.
    just think .
    from the date of recorded history the state TAMIL Nadu and KERALA were not occupied by any other Giant kingdoms of north .including nandha or ashok or whoever. that means there should be no people over there or there should be mighty kingdom than those in north ?.. isn t ?.. they too civilized and later they joined with north. a Good thing.
    since i mentioned about HINDU i need to mention this also. There no SHIVA mentioned in VEDAS. Its rudra whose characters are just correlated with shiva . but in that also rudra has bow and arrow and shiva doesn t. Also "mahabaratha" "ramayana" is particularly about Vishnu onli. why isn t there such thing SHiva if he s also GOD of GOD.
    i'm analysing brother if i got concluded i 'll make a post here if admin allowed. my guess is aryan religion is vaishism and dravidian religion is saivism and later unified .[ my guess not fact with proof ] if i get i 'll post .
    P.S:
    I'm a tamilan and I hate LTTE and i support this post particularly and LOLZ you telling me racist . ?
    this site is racist . in support of aryans evrywhere.and one of my comment isn t approved.

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  7. Also to mention . Siddha Medicine is In tamil whereas Aryans Medicinal thing is Ayurveda. Siddhars are 12 people who discovered Siddha medicine . they are saivism and followers of shiva.

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  8. Siddha Medicine is Tamil ? Big Lie there

    Can you tell me the difference between Siddha and Ayurvedic Medicine.

    "Siddhars are 12 people, who discovered Siddha medicine" What about the rest of the Siddha people all over India. You will consider only Tamil and ignore the rest, then it becomes a tamil product. See everyone who has something to do with siddha and come back. Essentially look at the origin of siddhas. Dont go by propaganda of Christian scholars.

    Siddha has roots in Ayurveda only.

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  9. You hate to be called Dravidian, you talk all about Dravidian - Aryan Divide.

    Tamil nadu was not ruled by others. C'mon Tamil nadu except for a brief period of 100 years during Adhitya Karikala- Parantaka and Raja Raja chola - Rajanarendra , was always ruled by non Tamil kings. Speciafically Kannada kings. Ptolemy in 75AD talks about Nagas rulig tamil Nadu.

    Rig veda times, all worshipped natural gods only Indra, Varuna, Agni etc. Date of Rig veda is before 7200BC. Ramayana happened only 5500BC and Mahabharata 3200BC. refer to my Indian Chronology page.
    http://controversialhistory.blogspot.com/p/indian-chronology.html

    Since you are so confused about Hinduism, Let me give little bit about Hinduism. There is only one supreme soul as per Hinduism. You can see Brahma , vishnu and shiva meditating to the supreme soul. Just like there are department heads and departments in a government, there are gods for each function. Brahma for creation, Vishnu for life and Shiva for destruction. In short there are 330Million gods in Hinduism. But there is only one Supreme soul.

    So the questions about our soul. That is where Philosophies come. Advaita Shankara holds the view there is no Paramatma(Supreme soul) and Jeevathma, there is only one soul. Dvaita of Madhva says Paramatma and Jeevatma are separate and can never become one. VisishtAdvaita of Ramanuja says Paramatma and Jeevathma are separate, but jeevatma can reach heights of paramatma, if they qualify.

    In Rig veda times there was no form to god, only in later days god got the form. refer to Image of Buddha article. Rig veda is not about gods. It is about rules of living. http://controversialhistory.blogspot.com/2009/03/origin-of-buddha-image.html

    You don't have to tell who you are, you can just discuss the topics. Indians(including tamils) are not capable of culture, religion and language that is found here and everything came from Europeans is the typical European view. That is why I thought you are European

    Shivism and Vaishnavism are recent origin compared to Rig Veda

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  10. @Sonic
    Aryan Invasion theory and Dravidian Homeland theory were created by Max Muller and co to divide Indians. I am here to demolish both and I will do that. Your name calling does not stop me.

    Aryan Invasion theory was created to deny Indians as whole their heritage and Dravidian Homeland theory was created to deny Tamils of their heritage. Both are siblings, both needed to be demolished to save Indian History. You are steadfastly sticking to dravidian theory. You have been arguing Shiva is dravidian ,then how come his abode is in Himalaya even as per tamil literature. Shiva, Vishnu are neither Dravidian, nor Aryan. They are all Indian. You will find them everywhere in Asia(even in Buddhism, jainism), just look around.

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  11. Stay cool. .


    coming from your first comment.

    sorry siddhars are 18 . i mentioned wrong. i forgot.ok let me go through first.
    I'm not sticking to tamil always and i'm not here to prove tamils are best.i already mentioned i'm not in support of anyone.just "analysing" what is fact. why tamil is !. tamil and sanskrit are older right ?. if i'm wrong please
    it 'll be nice if you point me some other language texts [ dravidian ] telugu or kanada or .. .And please never again mention those christian newbies.

    second :

    i dint want them to divide. but arguing about their origin . leave those damn cultures everything. just analyze ethinicity
    they are from different origin brother. will you tel " Whites" and "blacks" are from same origin. ?.ok bro.they are non tamils but not aryans. let me analyze about raja raja chola. thanks for info about hinduism. i need to clarify about myself cuz you put question mark on christian .and also mentioned i'm newbie european . if you din t then i'd 've not.

    recent origin ?. No form of GOD in RIG VEDA ?.. is it so ?. please tel me who is " RUDHRA " brother . hmmm again mentioning Why isn t there any thing for Shiva in older days when it has for Vishnu...?

    third :

    no brother i'm not supporting aryan invasion . Both are from same land but their cultures just has been unified i'm trying to find out which belongs to whom. just interested in ancient history..you telling Dravidian and Aryan are INIDANS .Nice brother but why you left other ethinicity . it 'd be better if you tel them both are HUMANS a broader border where other ethinicity also included.

    i support this only. it doean t mean i din t support racism i shouldn t know about their past history and cultures.

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  12. Raja raja chola is kannada king .? c mon brother give me proof.

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  13. Where did I say Raja Raja Chola is kananda king

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  14. First you have to prove Vedic Rudra is Shiva. What is there for Vishnu

    Shiva is father of Vishnu and Brahma

    You are bent on dividing gods between Aryan and Dravidian, I will tell you something. You can prove anything on this by selecting information. Because all gods are Indian.

    Your theory Dravidians are saivites. why are pandiyans claim, they have fought along Pandavas in Mahabharata war.

    My advice is since I understand you are Tamil (confused tamil), Study tamil literature, you will find umpteen number of instances that your beliefs are wrong. That is called education(Breaking your mad beliefs).

    If you want put dravidian theory as supreme, then you should put on the weight of your proofs pointing towards it, without support of Aryan theories. Inshort you should be able to prove dravidians supreme, without help of Aryan theories. Can You? Also search for Genetic differences between your aryan and dravidian, you will have none.

    Sanskrit and Tamil are older?
    prove your statement, then let us talk
    Also read Date of Purananooru and other tamil and sanskrit articles on the blog
    http://controversialhistory.blogspot.com/2010/06/date-of-purananooru.html

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  15. HI friend,Tamil is world oldest classic language and culture in the world even UNESCO recognized it .......if you say this then Ramayana is a fake one even ram as predicted as drunken in it will u accept it...Veda says humanity aroused by god but science say we all came from a dust its proven one k then ur veda itself lie............I cant accept your view that tamil derived from sanskrit.............

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    1. What does UNESCO says about Sanskrit ? That is the problem with Tamils, they can't listen to other opinions, they are just drunk on their own opinions(Not even Proofs).

      Where did I say Tamil Came from Sanskrit Bharani (aka Sanskrit hater) ?

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  16. Surely there is nothing like separate tamil culture. But there is something unique to this land. Even Bhagavata extols this land as the origin of Bhakthi. No language can claim to have Tirukkural - Dharma Sastras in one and a half lines and we can make a big list. The divide is of recent origin, from the British and now widened by Ramaswamy naicker and his followers and aggrandised by MK and followers.

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    1. Bhagvata claims Krishna worship as the Bhakti, even if refers to one region over the other, it refers to south not tamil culture alone.

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