Editing Indian religions (section)

==== Dravidian culture ====
{{See also|South India|Dravidian peoples|Dravidian folk religion|Dravidian languages}}

The early Dravidian religion constituted of non-[[Historical Vedic religion|Vedic]] form of [[Hinduism]] in that they were either historically or are at present [[Āgama (Hinduism)|Āgamic]]. The Agamas are non-[[vedic]] in origin<ref>{{cite book |editor=Mudumby Narasimhachary |year=1976 |title=Āgamaprāmāṇya of Yāmunācārya |series=Issue 160 of Gaekwad's Oriental Series |publisher=Oriental Institute, Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda}}</ref> and have been dated either as post-vedic texts.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tripath |first=S.M. |year=2001 |title=Psycho-Religious Studies Of Man, Mind And Nature |publisher=Global Vision Publishing House |isbn=978-81-87746-04-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zWFM_SaX24AC&pg=PA54 |access-date=15 November 2015 |archive-date=7 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007192931/https://books.google.com/books?id=zWFM_SaX24AC&pg=PA54 |url-status=live }}{{page needed|date=March 2021}}</ref> or as pre-vedic oral compositions.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nagalingam |first=Pathmarajah |year=2009 |title=Chapter 3 |work=The Religion of the Agamas |publisher=Siddhanta Publications |url=http://www.siddha.com.my/forum/religionoftheagamas/chapter3.html |access-date=27 July 2015 |archive-date=19 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191019035505/http://www.siddha.com.my/forum/religionoftheagamas/chapter3.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The ''Agamas'' are a collection of [[Tamil language|Tamil]] and later [[Sanskrit]] [[scriptures]] chiefly constituting the methods of temple construction and creation of ''[[murti]]'', worship means of deities, philosophical doctrines, meditative practices, attainment of sixfold desires and four kinds of yoga.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grimes |first=John A. |year=1996 |title=A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-3068-2 |lccn=96012383 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eP5p0ev3nJEC}}{{page needed|date=March 2021}}</ref> The worship of [[tutelary deity]], sacred flora and fauna in Hinduism is also recognized as a survival of the pre-Vedic Dravidian religion.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Modern review: Volume 28|year=1920 |publisher=Prabasi Press}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2021}}</ref>

[[File:WLA lacma 12th century Maharishi Agastya.jpg|upright|thumb|Saga Agastya, father of Tamil literature]]

Ancient Tamil grammatical works [[Tolkappiyam]], the ten anthologies [[Pattuppāṭṭu]], the eight anthologies [[Eṭṭuttokai]] also sheds light on early religion of ancient Dravidians. ''[[Murugan|Seyon]]'' was glorified as ''the red god seated on the blue peacock, who is ever young and resplendent,'' as ''the favored god of the Tamils.''<ref name="Kanchan Sinha 1979">Kanchan Sinha, Kartikeya in Indian art and literature, Delhi: Sundeep Prakashan (1979).</ref> [[Shiva|Sivan]] was also seen as the supreme God.<ref name="Kanchan Sinha 1979" /> Early iconography of [[Murugan|Seyyon]]<ref>{{cite web |last=Mahadevan |first=Iravatham |title=A Note on the Muruku Sign of the Indus Script in light of the Mayiladuthurai Stone Axe Discovery |date=6 May 2006 |url=http://www.harappa.com/arrow/stone_celt_indus_signs.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060904034700/http://www.harappa.com/arrow/stone_celt_indus_signs.html |archive-date=4 September 2006 |website=harappa.com}}</ref> and Sivan<ref name="Ranbir Vohra 2000 15">{{cite book |title=The Making of India: A Historical Survey |author=Ranbir Vohra |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2000 |page=15}}</ref><ref name="Grigorii Maksimovich Bongard-Levin 1985 45">{{cite book |title=Ancient Indian Civilization |author=Grigorii Maksimovich Bongard-Levin |publisher=Arnold-Heinemann |year=1985 |page=45}}</ref><ref name="Steven Rosen, Graham M. Schweig 2006 45">{{cite book |title=Essential Hinduism |author1=Steven Rosen |author2=Graham M. Schweig |year=2006 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |page=45}}</ref>{{sfn|Singh|1989}}<ref>Kenoyer, Jonathan Mark. ''Ancient Cities of the Indus Valley Civilization''. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 1998.</ref> and their association with native flora and fauna goes back to Indus Valley Civilization.<ref name="Ranbir Vohra 2000 15" /><ref name="Steven Rosen, Graham M. Schweig 2006 45" />{{sfn|Basham|1967|pp=11–14}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Plants of life, plants of death |author=Frederick J. Simoons |year=1998 |page=363}}</ref>{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=29, Figure 1: Drawing of the seal}}<ref name="Grigorii Maksimovich Bongard-Levin 1985 45" /><ref>{{cite book |title=India: A History |publisher=Grove Press |author=John Keay|page=14}}{{full citation needed|date=March 2021}}</ref> The [[Sangam landscape]] was classified into five categories, ''thinais'', based on the mood, the season and the land. Tolkappiyam, mentions that each of these ''thinai'' had an associated deity such Seyyon in ''Kurinji''-the hills, [[Vishnu|Thirumaal]] in ''Mullai''-the forests, and [[Durga|Kotravai]] in ''Marutham''-the plains, and [[Indra|Wanji-ko]] in the ''Neithal''-the coasts and the seas. Other gods mentioned were [[Krishna|Mayyon]] and [[Balaram|Vaali]] who were all assimilated into Hinduism over time. Dravidian linguistic influence<ref name="Q. Adams, 1997 p.308">J.P. Mallory and D. Q. Adams, ''Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture'' (1997), p.308.</ref> on early Vedic religion is evident, many of these features are already present in the oldest known [[Indo-Aryan language]], the language of the ''[[Rigveda]]'' (c. 1500 BCE),<ref name="Q. Adams, 1997 p.308" /> which also includes over a dozen words borrowed from Dravidian.<ref>K. Zvelebil, ''Dravidian Linguistics: an Introduction'', (Pondicherry: Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture 1990), p. 81.</ref>{{Sfn|Krishnamurti|2003|p=6}} This represents an early religious and cultural fusion{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=50}}{{refn|group=note|name=Lockard|Lockard: "The encounters that resulted from Aryan migration brought together several very different peoples and cultures, reconfiguring Indian society. Over many centuries a fusion of [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Aryan]] and [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] occurred, a complex process that historians have labeled the Indo-Aryan synthesis."{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=50}} Lockard: "Hinduism can be seen historically as a synthesis of Aryan beliefs with Harappan and other Dravidian traditions that developed over many centuries."{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=52}}}} or synthesis{{sfn|Hiltebeitel|2007|p=12}} between ancient Dravidians and Indo-Aryans, which became more evident over time with sacred iconography, traditions, philosophy, flora, and fauna that went on to influence Hinduism, Buddhism, Charvaka, Sramana, and Jainism.{{sfn|Tiwari|2002|p=v}}{{sfn|Lockard|2007|p=52}}{{sfn|Zimmer|1951|p=218-219}}{{sfn|Larson|1995|p=81}}

[[File:01AnnamalaiyarTemple&Thiruvannamalai&TamilNadu&AerialViewfromVirupakshaCave.jpg|thumb|left|Typical layout of Dravidian architecture which evolved from ''koyil'' as king's residence.]]
Throughout [[Tamilakam]], a king was considered to be divine by nature and possessed religious significance.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harman |first=William P. |title=The sacred marriage of a Hindu goddess |year=1992 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |page=6}}</ref> The king was 'the representative of God on earth' and lived in a "koyil", which means the "residence of a god". The Modern Tamil word for temple is [[koil]]. Titual worship was also given to kings.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anand |first=Mulk Raj |title=Splendours of Tamil Nadu |year=1980 |publisher=Marg Publications |url=https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=bks&q=The+king+is+%27the+representative+of+God+on+earth%27+and+lives+in+a+palace+called+%27+Koyil%27%2C+which+means+the+residence+of+God.+The+ritual+worship+of+God |access-date=21 July 2022 |archive-date=21 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220721183333/https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=bks&q=The+king+is+%27the+representative+of+God+on+earth%27+and+lives+in+a+palace+called+%27+Koyil%27%2C+which+means+the+residence+of+God.+The+ritual+worship+of+God |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Chopra |first=Pran Nath |title=History of South India |year=1979 |publisher=S. Chand |url=}}</ref> Modern words for god like "kō" ("king"), "iṟai" ("emperor"), and "āṇḍavar" ("conqueror") now primarily refer to gods. These elements were incorporated later into Hinduism like the legendary marriage of [[Shiva]] to Queen Mīnātchi who ruled [[Madurai]] or [[Legendary early Chola kings#Sangam period Chola rulers|Wanji-ko]], a god who later merged into [[Indra]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Bate |first=Bernard |title=Tamil oratory and the Dravidian aesthetic: democratic practice in south India |year=2009 |publisher=Columbia University Press}}</ref> [[Tolkappiyar]] refers to the [[Three Crowned Kings]] as the "Three Glorified by Heaven".<ref>{{cite book |last=A. Kiruṭṭin̲an̲ |title=Tamil culture: religion, culture, and literature |year=2000 |publisher=Bharatiya Kala Prakashan |page=17}}</ref> In the Dravidian-speaking South, the concept of divine kingship led to the assumption of major roles by state and temple.<ref>{{cite book |last=Embree |first=Ainslie Thomas |author-link=Ainslie Embree |title=Encyclopedia of Asian history: Volume 1 |year=1988 |publisher=Scribner |isbn=978-0-684-18898-0 |url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofas0000embr |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The cult of the mother goddess is treated as an indication of a society which venerated femininity. This mother goddess was conceived as a virgin, one who has given birth to all and one, typically associated with [[history of Shaktism|Shaktism]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Thiruchandran |first=Selvy |title=Ideology, caste, class, and gender |year=1997 |publisher=Vikas Pub. House}}</ref> The temples of the Sangam days, mainly of Madurai, seem to have had priestesses to the deity, which also appear predominantly a goddess.<ref>{{cite book |last=Manickam |first=Valliappa Subramaniam |title=A glimpse of Tamilology |year=1968 |publisher=Academy of Tamil Scholars of Tamil Nadu |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bIQOAAAAYAAJ&q=sangam+priestess |page=75}}</ref> In the Sangam literature, there is an elaborate description of the rites performed by the Kurava priestess in the shrine Palamutircholai.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lal |first=Mohan |year=2006 |title=The Encyclopaedia Of Indian Literature, Volume 5 (Sasay To Zorgot) |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=81-260-1221-8 |page=4396}}</ref> Among the early Dravidians the practice of erecting memorial stones ''Natukal'' or ''[[Hero Stone]]'' had appeared, and it continued for quite a long time after the Sangam age, down to about 16th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Shashi |first=S. S. |title=Encyclopaedia Indica: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh: Volume 100 |year=1996 |publisher=Anmol Publications}}</ref> It was customary for people who sought victory in war to worship these hero stones to bless them with victory.<ref>{{cite book |last=Subramanium |first=N. |year=1980 |title=Śaṅgam polity: the administration and social life of the Śaṅgam Tamils |publisher=Ennes Publications}}</ref>