or devotion to god and the possibility of anyone’s attaining
the god’s grace regardless of one’s station; (4) the sense of
community among the god’s devotees and the merit in serv-
ing and being in such company; (5) the celebration of the
experience of the god as the highest attainment of religion.
Tamil bhakti reflected many strands of religion at once.
While it incorporated, on the one hand, certain aspects of
Jain and Buddhist values (e.g., a sense of community among
devotees; hospitality to fellow devotees; and the possibility
of spiritual attainment irrespective of social or economic
backgrounds); on the other hand, it directly confronted these
heterodoxies with a vigorous theism; an affirmation of the
phenomenal world as God’s creation; and the importance of
the devotional experience and of pilgrimage to the deity’s
special places. This bhakti movement reaffirmed elements of
early Tamil religious perspectives: the emphasis on celebra-
tion, ecstasy, even possession by the god; the importance of
the individual in religious experience; and the affirmation of
the land and its special places. At the same time, Tamil bhak-
ti illustrated the importance of a number of elements of post-
Vedic orthodox, Sanskritic Hindu religion: the full-blown
theism and mythology of the epics and Pura ̄n:as, the spawn-
ing of temple-oriented ritual centered by devapu ̄ja ̄ (worship
through the icon), increased emphasis on liberation as the
ultimate aim in religion, and others.
The centerpiece of Tamil bhakti, nonetheless, remained
the personality of the god and his relationship with individu-
al human beings. The god’s exploits were recited selectively;
his awesome and terror-inspiring character (as with S ́iva) or
his miracle-working one (as with Vis:n:u), was invoked. Yet
at the same time, his grace (arul), love (an
̄
pu), and wooing
of devotees was variously portrayed. The devotee, for his
part, learned to attain the god’s grace. The relationship was
variously described as that of lover to a beloved; friend to
friend; parent to child. The relationship generally differed in
S ́aiva and Vais:n:ava bhaktas: For the former, a certain indi-
viduality of the devotee was thought to be retained in the de-
votional relationship with the god—a relationship said to be
that between sun and light or flower and fragrance. In
Vais:n:ava bhakti, on the other hand, the loss of the devotee’s
selfhood in relation to the divine was stressed and the surren-
der of the one to the other celebrated.
RELIGION IN THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD. From the eighth
through the fifteenth century much of Hindu civilization
was centered in Tamil India, where a prolific religious litera-
ture emerged in both Tamil and Sanskrit. In addition to the
devotional literature, a number of ritual treatises were pre-
pared in this region, including many of the S ́aiva ̄gamas,
those texts used by S ́aiva sects, as well as those of the
Vais:n:ava sects, the Pa ̄ñcara ̄tra ̄gamas and Vaikha ̄nasa ̄gamas.
Portions of several Pura ̄n:as were authored by anonymous
Tamil scholars and regional recensions of others prepared.
Not least important of the literary corpus emerging after the
twelfth century were the Ta ̄lapura ̄n:as, or mythological stories
of temple sites throughout Tamil country.
In addition to the literature, Tamil India became the
scene for an explosion of temple construction, incorporating
an architecture that became characteristically Dravidian.
There was also prolific sculpting in stone, and, during the
years of the Co ̄
̄la reign, in bronze. These architectural and
sculpturing styles, together with the texts in which they were
canonized, became the model for much of the architecture
in city and temple building to be found in Southeast Asia
from Burma to Cambodia. Another important achievement
of the “medieval” centuries was the development of Hindu
thought and of several philosophical schools. The religious
history of this era is perhaps most easily divided into three
periods: The Pallava (575–900); Co ̄
̄la (900–1300); and Vi-
jayanagar (1300–1700) periods.
The Pallava period. The Pallava period takes its name
from the dynasty founded by Sim:havis:n:u and is best under-
stood as a transitional or foundation era. In addition to the
founding of bhakti sects devoted to S ́iva and Vis:n:u, the peri-
od is characterized by the start of the South Indian tradition
of temple-building in permanent stone. Canons for the
building of these structures were developed and included the
classical Dravidian forms of the vima ̄na or central tower and
the man:t:apa or main hallway. The temple assumed the sym-
bolic character both of a microcosm and of the human form,
and became the major focus for ritual events. Temple icons
and the deities they represented were ascribed the attributes
of kingship, while rituals addressed to the icon increasingly
assumed the character of the giving of gifts to a king.
Another important development of this period was the
growth of Brahmanic settlements in South India. These rural
settlements, which came to be known as brahmadeyas, were
granted by Tamil landowners as emblems of the alliances
that had developed between the two communities. The brah-
madeyas became major loci of Sanskrit learning and culture
and radiated Sanskritic influence into virtually all of Tamil
life even while its brahman residents were being tamilized.
It is this period also that marks the life and work of
S ́an ̇ kara (788–820) and Bha ̄skaran, his contemporary. The
former was especially instrumental in making Advaita (mo-
nism) attractive to intellectuals, and in substantially ground-
ing the speculative tradition in the Upanis:ads, thereby
strengthening the Brahmanic option in its dispute with Bud-
dhist thought.
The Co ̄
̄la period. The Co ̄
̄la period (900–1300) was
characterized by the formalization and systematic Sanskrit-
ization of religion. S ́aivism received special favor under the
aegis of the Co ̄
̄las; hence, there was construction and en-
largement of S ́aiva temples. These temples were symbols of
the official state cult that overwhelmed or incorporated into
themselves many of the lesser village cults. (One of the few
major “folk” deities to survive and increase in strength in this
period was the Goddess, whose cultus and symbols were per-
mitted to flourish and increase in popularity.) The temples
were at first characterized by the tall vima ̄na or central tower,
but eventually by the building of several ornate gopuras orTAMIL RELIGIONS 8975