colour that the cult assumed. The fisher-folk planted the horn of a shark in the sandy beach and offered gifts of fresh and salted fish, and bathed in the sea to rid themselves of their sins. The shark was associated with Varuṇan as the elephant was associated with Murukan. The shark was the strongest denizen of the deep with which they had to contend.21 Religion in the marutam was associated with festivals by river and tank in honour of Veentan who was the king of the region of sweet water. Since cultivation was very much dependent on the rains, the people conceived him as the rain-god and the master of the clouds. The rivers of Tamil Naad were fed by the rains on the Western Ghats and Mysore, and the freshes of the Vaiyai and the Kaaveeri were celebrated with festivals marked by large crowds and unusual enthusiasm. Offerings were made to him of toddy, of garlands and goats.22 Flowers were used to such an extent in the celebration of his feast that it seems to have been known as the “feast of flowers.”23 From the above facts it is obvious that Tamil religion was intimately connected with the Tamilian concept of Nature. Nature’s great landmarks, such as the sun, the moon, the mountains, the rivers, and the sea enter into active relation with the development of religion, and the flora and fauna of each region become indispensable materials of theogony and ritual. The rising sun, an object of worship with all primitive peoples, is alluded to as the orb that many people worship. Swami Vedachalam abduces the kartikai (“Feast of Lights”) as a proof that the Tamils worshipped God under the aspect of light. Though his theory would require a more substantiated ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 21Pattinappaalai, 85 ff. 22 Akam; 156. P. T. SRINIVAS IYENGAR, O.C; p. 27: “Besides he (Indra) was worshipped by the people (Tamils) with the fireless rites detested by the Aryas. . . . So great is the prejudice in favour of the North Indian origin of everything connected with religion that to claim the Indiran of Marutam as a Tamil god independent of the Indra of the Aryas is sure to raise as violent a burst of opposition as Indra’s own burst of the thunder cloud”. See Cilappatikaaram; Canto V. 18 Patir; 30, 15 f. Anik; 62, 1. |