Topic started by vaidyanathan (@ 61.3.249.1) on Tue Sep 2 09:16:41 .
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Let me start this topic by declaring that every region in this tamil land is a great land.But if you should choose between amritam and honey what can you do.each place in tamilnadu has a greatness unique to it.the tirunel veli halwa ,tirunelveli veera pandiya kattabomman, and the freedom fighters from tirunelveli are unique in their contribution to tamil culture.each place in this tamil land is very very great.
At the time of sangam period the land of tamils was undergoing great renaissance.When the people read the sangam era one is reminded of Greek materialism.But there was an inherent spirituality unique to indians.But can spirituality and materialism coexist together?
we saw the dissappearance of tamil culture largely because of the influence of jainism and buddhism.there were large number of samvaedic saakhas in tamil nadu.all of them started dissappearing.the impure acts of the people caused severe periods of famines and more so in pandya nadu were adharma had come to rule.
around the 500 ad the ascending arc of kaliyuga of the first yuga cycle of kali yuga took place.a revival of spirituality started taking place.alwars and nayanmars were revealed for their greatness.a spiritual explosion was taking place in north tamil nadu especially,while in south tamil nadu you could see only the impact of the spiritual explosions taking place in north tamilnadu.north tamil nadu had got rid of atheistic buddhism.people were beginning to see great saints and teachers.but can lost traditions revive?only new traditions can emerge.In this confusion the spiritual centre tanjaoor witnessed a clash between saivaites and vaishnavas.the saivaites had largely preserved their powerfull traditions but the vaishnavas had lost a lot of their culture because of buddhism.this resulted in the acceptance of saivism as the ultimate religion in tanjaoor.
in south tamilnadu we merely see a copy of the cultural effects taking place in the north tamil nadu with a time delay.the leading scholars of tamilnadu went to settle in north tamil nadu among the great teachers.madurai however continued to participate in this spiritual explosion.but little happened further south.a kind of reshuffling of tamil population was taking place with north pandyan regions and south tanjaoor,tiruchi being the hub of spiritual activity.tanjaoor produced the great kannagi and innumerable perfect humans,so is it surprising that god did not let tanjaoor down as the rest of india was deteriorating.the paddy fields were lush green in tanjaoor.rain was regular.definately the role of god was unmistakable in helping the land of satvic people.
but as i earlier mentioned the vedic culture had greatly been shaken and could never be restored.the cholas decided it was time to crush altogether the sickness of the tamil land.at that time maharashtra and gujarat was occupied by the most reputed vedic scholars.the other centre being kasi.there were also a dearth of good artisans and temple aerchitects.that was the time when these people who crossed narmada from brahmadesa were brought to tamil nadu by 8-10 centuries when islamic invasions were bedginning to take place.these people were called vadama iyers.they settled in north tanjaoor.these people were followers of adi shankaracharya ,just like all the other iyers(that was why adi shankara had got the title jagat guru for being universally accepted by all brahmins in his very lifetime).'iyengars had not yet formed.'the vaishnavite iyers earlier inhabitants of tamil nadu were followers of alwars who included non brahmins.some alwars did not believe in th worship of shiva.like wise there were other southern iyers who did not worship vishnu.all this was producing intense confusion.the vadama iyers were also bisected into two.the vadgopans and other iyers.but any way the northern brahmins as they were they were new to this shiva vishnu bedam that the worship of shiva should mean vishnu should be condemned and vice versa.this was because unlike the alwars and nayanmars who did not have their base in vedas but their base was in the puranas.
the vadama iyers brought with them a revival of vedic culture.being strict followers of vedas unlike their southern counterparts they were good looking.their fair color was only because of living in cool climate.i dont mean that as beauty,but i mean other features.the southern brahmins were more dark but were somewhat ugly because of their neglect of vedas.with the arrival of vadama iyers a new revolution broke out in the manner of temple customs ,in the manner of rituals,in literature ,in grammar,in science.the craftsmen from north mostly who took the role of chief architects or engineers built magnificient temples.the temple rituals were also established under the rigid eyes of the vadama iyers. south tamil nadu was taken care of by other brahmins.
meanwhile the chola empire found new prosperity under raja raja chola.great wealth was brought.maritime trade was booming.the rituals ensured better and better rain.a brilliant engineering marvel was built in tanjaoor on the river kaveri to harvest the water.foreigners frequented tamilnadu in greter numbers and newer and newer ideas were pouring in.while the majority of tamil population was gaining with great nayanmar and alwar teachings and advaitic and siddhic teachings and also vedic applications,a new event took place.ramanuja was born.he shook the orthodox world with his modern outlook.great was the reformer.as a result the whole tanjaoor faught verbally.every home discussed on the interpretations of puranas the scriptures and so on.thus the people of tanjaoor were engaged in the most intellectual activities.the vibrations were felt in the rest of south .the north under islamic pertubations was static in intellectual growth.ramanujar believed that shiva ought not to be worshipped.as a result the southern iyers who worshipped alwars came along his path.leading samskrit texts were translated to tamil.thus tamil was kept alive by the vision of ramanuja.these iyers were called as tenkalai vaishnavas.ramanuja also won converts from the vadama iyers.many of them especially from the vadagopans who were great scholars in samskrit and still had contacts in the north.these vaishnavas were called as vadakalais.these people helped to spread the message of the alwars in the northern land of india.as a result of the presense of ramanuja followers ,the other iyers also had to write a lot of works to bring the ramanuja philosophy to disrepute.this resulted in greater spiritual activity in tanjaoor.no wonder the realtionship between the vaishnavas and saivaites in tanjaoor was much worse than anywhere else.this bhakti activity vibrated the whole india and bhakti movement became popular in the north.thus tanjoor at that time became the cultural and spiritual capital of the whole country.the people born in this holy land,were pulled into the spiritual whirlpool from their very first day on earth.thus they became intelligent,disciplined and cultured people.the greatest in the world at that.the growth of carnatic music owes all credit to this land and even today it flourishes here.sanskrit and vedas survive today largely due to the effort of the tamil folk.if not for them the so called vadama iyers would have dissappeared in the islamic whirlpool.But hey did you meet the madurai folks,the coimbature folks and the tirunelveli folks.now can you see where the best tamil is spoken.a fluent tamil.a sharp tongue.a tongue that is filled with humour and wit?where else but in tanjaoor.where do you find the tastiest food.in tanjaoor?some of the greatest intellectuals were born in tanjaoor.c.v.raman,ramanujan,chadrashekar and numerous other scientists belong to this land.thiyagaraja though a telugu considered himself to be a tanjorean.
But oh people why did god forsake you in the issue of kaveri.was it because you allowed the god hating atheists to take over this land?was it because karunanidhi and jayalalitha were allowed to rule this land?
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