their beaks, and thus helped those who were besieged to tide over the scarcity of food that the siege had caused.⁵⁸

A love for the ideal in Nature was fostered by art and handicraft. Oori’s hill, Kollimalai had on its western slope the sculpture of a goddess which was so lovely to behold that persons who viewed it were entranced by its beauty. The beauty of a heroine was compared by poets to the beauty of the statue on Oori’s hill.⁵⁹

There are many indications in Cankam literature of the developed state of the Fine Arts among the ancient Tamils, and these include several references to the influence which a love of Nature exerted on architecture, painting and music. It is on these references that P. T. Srinivas Iyengar based his conclusion: “This same love of Nature was the cause why they beautified their tools, their houses, their furniture, and their vessels with carvings imitative of creepers, leaves, flowers and animals”.⁶⁰

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   ⁵⁸Akam; 78, 303.

   ⁵⁹Kur; 89, 100; Akam; 62, 3-16, 209, 15-17; Nar; 185; 6-11.

   ⁶⁰ H.T. p. 69.