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Whether the Tamils were the archetypal inhabitants of India oregon wanderers who came from the Indus Valley is not a settled question, said Nirmala Lakshman, writer of The Tamils: A Portrait of a Community and chairperson of The Hindu Group, astatine The Hindu Lit for Life 2026 connected Saturday (January 17, 2026).
A theatrical speechmaking from the publication unfolded earlier a rapt audience, opening with a resonant rendition of ‘Mannum imaya malai engal malaiye’ (’The peaks of the Himalayas are ours’), a verse by writer Subramania Bharati.
Pan-Indian sensibility
The verse expressed the beardown pan-Indian sensibility that galore Tamils place with, said Ms. Lakshman. The assemblage remained absorbed passim the speechmaking by Ms. Lakshman on with artists Anita Ratnam, Revathy Kumar, Sarvesh Sridhar, Tehzeeb Katari, Brahadeeshwar C. Chandilya, and Nandhini Subbulakshmi.
The reading, interspersed with verses from Kurunthogai of Sangam literature, Thirunavakkarasu’s Thevaram, the Naalayira Divya Prabandham, and Bharati’s patriotic songs, traced excerpts from the publication covering the Pallava, Pandya, Chola, and Chera dynasties, followed by the Marathas, Christendom, and the contributions of the Muslim assemblage to Tamil culture.
The Pallava dynasty was the archetypal large, consolidated South Indian empire and ruled for implicit 400 years, the artists noted. They added that the Bhakti movement, marked by a reinvigoration of Saivism and Vaishnavism, took steadfast basal during the reign of Mahendravarman I. The question drew radical not lone done the usage of Tamil successful its hymns and poesy but besides due to the fact that its saints came from a wide scope of societal backgrounds, including Brahmins, cobblers, farmers, merchants, princes, and adjacent robbers.
Moving connected to the Pandyas, said to beryllium the lone dynasty successful India with a continuous beingness and regularisation successful immoderate signifier for implicit 2,000 years, the speechmaking past recounted the communicative of Rous Peter, the British Collector of Madurai from 1812 to 1828, who, though a Christian, held heavy reverence for Goddess Meenakshi. Known arsenic “Peter Pandian”, helium remained devoted to the metropolis adjacent aft status and chose to beryllium buried facing the temple, reflecting the city’s enduring taste traditions.
Turning to the Cholas, the readers spoke of their architectural masterpiece, the Brihadeeswara, known locally arsenic the Periya Koil, which was a satellite unto itself. They besides noted that the creation of coating successful the cave temples astatine Sittanavasal, the Kailasanatha temple astatine Kanchipuram, and the Brihadeeswara temple astatine Thanjavur is considered connected par with that of Ajanta, portion adding that the craftsmanship is markedly superior to that of the bluish tradition.
Tamilakam enjoyed large prosperity during the aboriginal Chera regularisation done commercialized successful spices, ivory, timber, pearls, and gems, they said. The Vaishnavite poet-saint Kulasekara, a ninth-century Chera king, aboriginal came to beryllium known arsenic Kulasekhara Azhwar and authored the celebrated Perumal Tirumozhi successful Tamil and Mukundamala successful Sanskrit.
When the Maratha dynasty established its regularisation successful the past Chola superior of Thanjavur, a unsocial taste blend emerged. Over time, galore different communities became intertwined with Tamil society. Arab merchants settled successful Tamilakam and joined section women, giving emergence to a chiseled Tamil Muslim community.
Similarly, successful the realm of Christianity, figures similar Roberto de Nobili — and the scholars, missionaries, ethnographers, linguists, and historians who followed — adapted themselves to Tamil civilization and were gradually embraced into its fold, said the writer and the artists.
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