Describing a community this lesson presents the Tamil community as reflected in the ballads. Social divisions due to caste and religion and the life-styles, faiths and beliefs useful under the culture are explained. Folk traditions adopted in ballads are indicated along with the causes for such adoption.

The five central units deal with the social structure, the Tamil society and religion, the culture reflected in the life-style and social behaviour, the faiths and beliefs embedded in the social events and folk traditions that are generally followed in ballads.

Society and community are used synonymously although the former has social-political and economical involvements and the latter relates an individual's behaviours to that of the social group in which the individuals live. Tamil community is composed of caste and religious groups. Casteistic groups differ in their ways of living. Ballads explicitly bring to the fore the social discriminations and their ill-effects as observed in Tamil community. Kaathavarayan Kathai and Muthupaattan Kathai are used to illustrate this point.

Most ballads are more related to Mahabharatham than to Ramayanam because of public interest.

On learning this lesson you will come to know of the Tamil community through the events that are portrayed in these ballads. Tradition bound ballads provide the literary excellence inherited by successive generations.