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The history of the
Tamils presents an exciting pageant of a powerful
civilization whose origins dates back to ancient
times. It is clear that the Tamils, who belong to
the Dravidian race, were the first major occupants
of the country and settled in the north western part
of India long before the coming of the Indo Aryans.
Excavations have revealed that the features of the
people of the Indus valley Civilization bore a
strong resemblance of this race.
The Pallava's ruled betwen the 6th and 8th century
AD over a large portion of Tamil Nadu with
Kanchipuram as their base. Among the famous temples
built by the Pallavas are the temples of Kanchipuram,
the Kapaliswarar and Parthasarathy at Madras the
magnificent poetry in rock and stone at Mamallapuram
(Mahabalipuram). Kanchi has been described
extensively by the Chinese traveller Hieun Tsang who
visited this city in the middle of the 6th century
AD, as a major centre of learning.
Tamil Nadu is bounded by Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh in the north and Kerala on the west. The
coastal eastern and southern boundaries are lapped
by the waters of the Bay of Bengal and the Indian
Ocean respectively. The eastern and western tips of
the state are defined by the Point Calimere and
Mudumalai wildlife sanctuaries while the
southernmost tip of Cape Comorin or Kanyakumari, the
Land's End of India.
There are more than 30,000 temples in this sate;
which has given Tamil Nadu the title, "Land of
Temples". The resemblance of the temples in
Tamil Nadu constructed over the years by the
different rulers is the gopuram or the imposing
tower over the entrance. The Tamils have always been
a God fearing lot and are ardent worshippers of
Shiva, Vishnu, Parvati and Lakshmi Subramanya. Each
of thee gods take on different names at different
temples depending on the legend behind the temple
Vinayaka or Pillayar is perhpas the most worshipped
of the gods and is also called Ganapati or Ganesh.
He is the elephant headed elder son of Lord Shiva
and Parvati and is extremely benign in apearance.
During any festival or celebration, worship of this
God is given precedence over the other. The largest
Pillaayar temple is at Pillayarapatti near
Karaikkudi.
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