The Launch of

Timeless Legacy of Tamil Language, Culture, and Identity

Nirmala Lakshman, the chairperson of India’s Hindu Group of Publications, has crafted an insightful, and captivating, portrayal of the Tamil community’s long and ongoing history. In her new book, The Tamils: A Portrait of a Community (Aleph Book Company; India, 2025), Nirmala describes "Tamilakam" as the fertile heartland of Tamil culture and as a region surrounded by rugged mountain ranges on one side and a vast sea with a long sandy coast on the other, nurturing an ancient yet vibrant civilization. Of the 89.6 million Tamils worldwide, 80 million live in Tamil Nadu, their traditional homeland. The remaining Tamils live in diaspora communities across countries like Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand, where they continue to make valuable contributions to the economic, political, social, and cultural development of their adopted countries. In Malaysia, Tamil communities, in addition to their lasting impact on the country’s growth, have made the Thaipusam festival an essential part of the nation’s diverse cultural and religious celebrations.

While Nirmala admits that her study is more personal than academic, given that available records and literature don’t provide a complete historical picture, her narrative is nonetheless fascinating. She skilfully blends research with personal experiences, conversations with historians, archaeologists, and Tamil experts, and draws on archaeological evidence and foreign accounts. She also draws on the idea of "literature as history," bringing to light the rich Tamil culture that flourished between 300 and 500 BCE and continued to thrive for centuries after. By uncovering lost literary works, rediscovered in the 19th century, Nirmala unveils the remarkable brilliance of Tamil civilization. Through these methods, she successfully captures the heart of Tamil history, language, philosophy, and culture with incredible detail. In doing so, Nirmala provides a clear and authoritative account of the Tamil community’s deeply rooted, enduring, and flourishing legacy, which recent archaeological evidence suggests dates back as far as 5,000 years.

The Thirukkural stands out as a literary work of great ethical and philosophical significance, with its applicability extending across generations, making it relevant to the past, present and future. Similarly, texts primarily from the Sangam era, are believed to have been created centuries before the advent of Christianity.

These compositions are rich in various philosophical influences, drawing from Saivism, Vaishnavism, Jainism and Buddhism. Nirmala highlights that these writings were not only created by renowned poet-scholars but also by a diverse range of people, including, women, siddhas, priests, chieftains, peasants, merchants, warriors, and even potters and blacksmiths. The literature that has been uncovered sheds light on the free and secular nature of Tamil society, emphasizing that music and dance were integral to its members religious and philosophical beliefs, expressing and strengthening their faith. These literary works explore the ideals of good and evil, bravery and cowardice, love and grief, offering a window into how people viewed their world.

In early Tamil society, caste may not have been as rigid as it became later on. Yet, the cornerstone of Tamil culture, Nirmala points out, was a peaceful coexistence among people of different faiths, founded on tolerance and accommodation of religious practices. She notes that the philosophies shaping Tamil society ranged from the devotion found in Bhakti poetry of Hinduism to Jain and Buddhist thought, embracing Islam and Christianity, and even extending to the atheism of figures like Periyar and the Dravidian ideology. This emphasis on coexistence both within their complex and diverse society and across various cultural and religious divides has been deeply embedded in Tamil life, continuing even among Tamil Christians and Muslims today.

Tamils have long taken pride in the fact that their language, Tamil, has a distinct origin separate from Sanskrit. Nirmala writes that even in the proto-historic period, Tamils were literate and had developed a script. Over time, Tamil has remained a continuous and vibrant language, evolving as it absorbed features from both ancient and modern languages, while still preserving its unique identity. Despite the many shifts that have taken place in Tamil society over the centuries, Nirmala emphasizes that the Tamils have always seen their language as a core part of their identity and existence as a people. The passionate attachment to the Tamil language and culture remains a defining feature of the community. Israeli scholar David Shulman captures this vitality in his book Tamil: A Biography, describing the language as a “living being—impetuous, sensitive, passionate, whimsical in constant movement,” and notes that to understand Tamil is “to be a civilizing being.”

The patronage of Tamil rulers, such as the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas and Pallavas, spanning from the 3rd century BCE to the late 13th century CE, left an indelible mark on the community’s language, art, architecture, literature, music, and dance. Through their support, Tamil Nadu became home to grand temples in historically significant cities like Madurai, Thanjavur, Kanchipuram, Mahabalipuram, Chidambaram, Srirangam, and Rameswaram. These massive temples are not only renowned for their beauty and imposing stature but also for their stunning logical architectural creativity and artistic expression, with sophisticated sculptures and frescoes. The Thanjavur Brihadeeswara Temple, built by the Cholas, stands as a prime example of this architectural and artistic brilliance.

The once mighty royal empires of the Tamils began to decline by the 13th century, as the region faced internal conflicts, weak leadership, and administrative dysfunction. This period of decline gave way to a transitional phase that spanned from the late 13th century until British rule, which began with trade in 1612 and continued until India gained independence in 1947. During this time, Tamilakam came under the influence of various dynasties, including the Vijayanagara Empire, which ruled from the late 13th century to the late 15th century, followed by the Nayaks from the 15th to 18th centuries. Nirmala observes that during this era of change, Tamilakam remained rooted in its own civilizational values while also opening itself to new cultural influences from various other sources. The rise of British imperialism, with its racist hierarchies, the spread of English education, the challenges to native languages, the freedom struggle, and the Dravidian movement all played a role in transforming Tamilakam. Despite these sweeping changes, Nirmala concludes that the continuity of the Tamil language is remarkable: "There is no 'old' Tamil or 'new' Tamil. If you look up a word, it may still carry meanings dating back to the Sangam era."

The Tamils: A Portrait of a Community will be launched, followed by a lecture from the author Dr Nirmala Lakshman, at the University of Malaya’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Lecture Theatre F on 9th April 2025 at 06:00 to 07:30 PM. The book will be available at a discounted rate of RM 80.00 per copy. The invitation is open to all.

Dr. Viswanathan Selvaratnam
Honorary Professor
Asia Europe Institute (AEI)
Universiti Malaya