the devotional (bhakti) literature com-
posed by the Alvarsand the Nayanars,
with the former expressing their devo-
tion to the god Vishnuand the latter to
the god Shiva. Their devotional poetry
was unprecedented in Hindu religious
history because it utilized everyday ver-
nacular language as a spectacular vehi-
cle for profound religious expression.
The Alvars’ poems became a founda-
tional text for the Shrivaishnavacom-
munity, and the Nayanars’ for Shaiva
Siddhanta, and thus both of these col-
lections continue to be important in
Hindu religious life. Even today Tamil is
a vibrant literary language and a source
of intense regional pride to the people
living there; some of the most violent
recent demonstrations in southern
India were the so-called language riots,
protesting the imposition of Hindias
the government language, a move that
was seen as a conscious attempt to mar-
ginalize Tamil language and culture.
Tamil Months
Although the lunar calendaris by far the
most important means for determining
the Hindu religious calendar, these
lunar monthsare also set in the frame-
work of a solar calendar. The latter is
used for the calculation of the inter-
calary month, which helps keep the
lunar and solar calendars in rough cor-
respondence. In northern India the
months of the solar calendar correlate
with the zodiac, with each month
named after the sign into which the sun
is reckoned as entering at the beginning
of that month. In southern India the
divisions of the solar calendar are exactly
the same as in the north, but the twelve
months are given different names. The
Tamil months take their names from
some of the nakshatras, or features in
the lunar zodiac, or from modifications
of the lunar months. The Tamil year
begins with the month of Chittirai,
which corresponds to the northern
Indian solar month of Mesha (the zodia-
cal sign of Aries), which by the Indian
calculations, falls within April and May.
The eleven months following Chittirai
are Vaikasi, Ani, Adi, Avani, Purattasi,
Aippasi, Kartigai, Margali, Ta i, Masi,
and Panguni. Such different calendars
are one clear sign of the continuing
importance of regional cultural
patterns. This regional culture is partic-
ularly important in the Tamil cultural
area because Tamil is one of the few
regional languages with an ancient,
well-established literary tradition.Tamil Nadu
(“land of the Tamils”) Modern Indian
state at the southern tip of the subconti-
nent, on the Bay of Bengal. Tamil Nadu
is one of the so-called linguistic states,
formed after Indian independence in
1947 to unite people with a common
language and culture under one state
government. Tamil Nadu was thus
formed from the Tamil-speaking areas
of the former state of Madras. Tamil
Nadu has a long and rich history, and
the Tamil literary tradition stretches
back to the early centuries of the com-
mon era. Successive regional dynas-
ties—the Pallavas, Cholas, and
Pandyas—built a host of temples in the
characteristic Dravida architectural
style, and even today Tamil Nadu has
hundreds of temple towns, that is,
towns in which the urban hub is an
enormous temple complex that includes
shops, markets, offices, and residential
space. Modern Tamil culture is the prod-
uct of this long and ancient tradition,
and Tamils pride themselves in having
been influenced little by outsiders—nei-
ther by the Hindu influences from
northern India, nor by the Muslim cul-
ture whose influence was so profound in
regions farther north. Tamil Nadu has so
many cultural sites and holy places that
it is impossible to name them, but the
most important are Rameshvaram,
Chidambaram, Madurai, Tiruchi-
rappalli, Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram,
Kumbhakonam, Thiruvaiyaru, Tanjore,
and Kanyakumari; there is also a net-
work of six temples to the god Murugan
scattered in different areas of the state,Tamil Nadu