Origins of Tamils?[Where are Tamil people from?] PART :56

[Compiled by: Kandiah Thillaivinayagalingam]

Though many  pandits/scholars believe that Indus valley people migrated/moved from north to southwards,After the excavating the site off the coast of Poompuhar, near Nagapattinam, 400 km south of Chennai and examining this submerged city on the East Coast by a British marine archaeologist,Graham Hancock,It is now believed that actually Tamils moved from south to northwards as this Poompuhar civilisation thriving there may predate the Sumerian civilisation of Mesopotamia in present-day Iraq and definitely existed before the Harappan civilisation in India and Pakistan.He also said tidal waves of 400 feet or more could have swallowed this flourishing port city any time between 17,000 and 7,000 years ago,the date of the last Ice Age.Further there are no single opinion among scholars about the people who lived there or .the language they spoke.Also,unlike some other ancient civilizations,we are still unable to read the words that they wrote,acceptable to all pandits /scholars and as such this Indus Valley script still remains undeciphered down to the present day.However, subsequent archaeological and historical research has now furnished us with a more detailed picture of the Indus Valley Civilization and its inhabitants.The Indus Valley people were most likely Dravidians, who may have been pushed down into south India when the Aryans,with their more advanced military technology, commenced their migrations to India around 2,000 BC

An early and influential work in the area that set the trend for Saiva/Hindu interpretations of archaeological evidence from the

Harrapan sites was that of John Marshall,who in 1931 identified the following as prominent features of the Indus religion:a Great Male God [ Pashupati Seal, after Pashupati (lord of the beasts)] and a Mother Goddess [based upon excavation of several female figurines];symbolic representation of the phallus (linga) and vulva (yoni);These large number of prototype of the Shiva lingam—phallic-shaped rocks[conical or cylindrical polished stones in the form of Linga or Phallus stones] similar to those used today by Shiva’s devotees and the female organ  which suggests that the then people might be worshipping these sexual organs as found among other agricultural and tribal peoples,the primitive form of Shaivism,the foundation on which the modern day shaivism/ Hinduism grew up.Further ,The word `Shiva' is of Dravidian etymology, `civa' meaning `reddened' or `angry' in Tamil.Though the language used today in & around the former Indus valley area are Indo-Aryan or Indic languages & further they only came to India around 2,000 BC,during the Collapse of this great civilization,It is believed that Indus valley people were not belongs to this indo-european people.Further,Sivalinkas which are found in the Indus Valley Civilization is later on degraded in the Vedas.Also Certain trees seem to have been treated as sacred such as Peepal[Peepul,Pippal or Bo-Tree].This worship of trees was widespread during the Indus valley civilization.One of the seals shows a god standing between the branches of a Peepal tree and the god was being worshipped by a devotee on his knees.The discovery of a large number of seals with

Peepal trees engraved on them suggests that this tree was considered sacred, same as some nowadays Hindu do.Hence worship of Pipal tree & Great mother goddess was a Pre-Aryan Religious Heritage.However there were no sign for any form of temples.Hence The early Indus Valley civilisation (Harappa and Mohenjo Daro) is often identified as having been Dravidian Cultural and linguistic similarities have been cited by researchers such as Finnish Indologist Asko Parpola as being strong evidence for a proto-Dravidian origin of the ancient Indus Valley civilisation.  

Though there were few Lord siva images were found among Indus valley

excavation as an objects of worship as the Pashupati seal found ,in which the three faced male god is shown seated in a yogic posture, surrounded by a rhino and a buffalo on the right, and an elephant and a tiger on the left, Most of the scholars belief that worship of mother goddess was prominent among all.Sir John Hubert Marshall listed mother goddess as the most famous deity, followed by the above said three faced male god & prototype of the Shiva lingam or the male organ.The mother goddess was dominant shows that the society was predominantly matriarchal.

Sir John Marshall’s excavation about 92/93 years ago,in 1922 has proven that Saivism existed 3000 years ago before Christ, that is 5000 years from today.Sir John Marshall has excavated 7 layer of soil in the spot of Mohenjodaro Harappa by an estimation of 500 years per layer.Great India’s philosopher and ex-president of India; Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan who wrote History of Hinduism. (Second President of India (1962-1967).“The possibilities of the origin of Saivism is more than the agreed date and period which cannot be determined because the first layer was not identified”This shows that

before the Aryans came,Saivism has already florished in India.These facts were all verified by Non Indians,thus makes Saivism the oldest religion in the world.The date of its origin is yet to be accurately identified today.Hence though Thiruvasagam says "Salutations  to Siva  who has south of India,Salutations to him who is God of the entire world"[“தென்னாடுடைய சிவனே போற்றி எந்நாட்டவர்க்கும் இறைவா போற்றி”] and  Tirumandiram says "where ye will, there's no God like Siva,None here below to equal Him in glory” ["சிவனோடு ஒக்கும் தெய்வம் தேடினும் இல்லை அவனோடு ஒப்பார் இங்கு யாவரும் இல்லை”], We have to leave south India & go to Indus valley civilization of 3000 BC to find its origin .

PART :57 WILL FOLLOW