spot_img

HinduPost is the voice of Hindus. Support us. Protect Dharma

Will you help us hit our goal?

spot_img
Hindu Post is the voice of Hindus. Support us. Protect Dharma
22.8 C
Sringeri
Friday, March 29, 2024

Varuna Worship Of Ancient Tamils

The Dravidianists from Tamil Nadu often claim that the Dravidians, especially the Tamils (Tamil is earliest attested Dravidian language) pristinely did not worship Vedic Gods and practiced their own native Dravidian religion and culture. This argument is also picked up by leftists as well as Christian missionaries to prove the non Hindu past of ancient Tamil and how ‘Aryans invaders’ imposed the worship of Vedic Hindu Gods among Tamils by destroying their native culture.

In this post we shall highlight the popularity of the worship of Vedic God Varuna among ancient Tamils, debunking the Dravidianist claims.

From the archaeological, epigraphical and textual evidences, it is clear that the worship of Varuna was really popular among the ancient Tamils. For example a Sangam age gold ring discovered from Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu depicts the legendary beast Makara:

Sangam age gold ring depicting Makara. 

Apart from this, Sangam age Tamil Pandyan kings had issues coins with images of Makara. An example given below:

Sangam age Pandyan coin depicting Makara, taken from the book Sangam age Tamil coins by R.Krishnamurthy

This legendary aquatic chimeric beast Makara is vahana(mount) of God Varuna, the Vedic God of waters.

Lord Varuna on Makara. Source: http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O41631/varuna-god-of-the-water-painting-unknown/

Makara was also at the same time popular in the art of northern ‘Aryan’ Bharat as well. See one example here:

Makara from Bharhut. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Makara_-_Sandstone_-_Circa_2nd_Century_BCE_-_Bharhut_-_ACCN_UR177_-_Indian_Museum_-_Kolkata_2014-02-14_9258.JPG

This indicates that the ancient Tamils knew of Makara and worshiped Varuna. In fact Tolkappiyam, the earliest Tamil grammatical work available mentions  Varuna by his Sanskrit name. He is mentioned as the God of coastal regions:

வருணன் மேய பெரு மணல் உலகமும்

(Varuṇaṉ mēya peru maṇal ulakamum)

Apart from this an early Tamil Brahmi (the earliest Tamil script)  inscription from ancient site of Kodumanal mentions the name Varuni, in relation to Varuna. This inscription not only proves that ancient Tamils knew of Varuna, but also that the the earliest Tamil writing system was also used to write ‘Aryan’ languages (i.e Sanskrit, Prakrit etc) terms along with Tamil in ancient Tamil Nadu.

Inscription from Kodumanal mentioning the name Varuni, taken from the book Early writing system by K Rajan

So from all these above points, it is clear that the ancient Tamils popularly worshiped Vedic God Varuna. This means that the ancient Tamils since time immemorial followed Vedic Hindu culture and not any ‘native Dravidian’ culture. So the claims of Dravidianists, leftists, missionaries etc that the ancient Tamils did not follow Vedic religion has no legs to stand on.


Did you like this article? We’re a non-profit. Make a donation and help pay for our journalism.

Subscribe to our channels on Telegram &  YouTube. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook

Related Articles

Dauhshanti & Paanchajanyaa
Dauhshanti & Paanchajanyaa
@Dauhshanti - A proud Polytheist & Idolater, blessed to be born into the civilization of Bharata. @paanchajanyaa - Soldier of dharma... Yato dharmas tato jayah...

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest Articles

Sign up to receive HinduPost content in your inbox
Select list(s):

We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.

Thanks for Visiting Hindupost

Dear valued reader,
HinduPost.in has been your reliable source for news and perspectives vital to the Hindu community. We strive to amplify diverse voices and broaden understanding, but we can't do it alone. Keeping our platform free and high-quality requires resources. As a non-profit, we rely on reader contributions. Please consider donating to HinduPost.in. Any amount you give can make a real difference. It's simple - click on this button:
By supporting us, you invest in a platform dedicated to truth, understanding, and the voices of the Hindu community. Thank you for standing with us.