I'lO KEV, G. U. POPE, D.D., ON 



attemjit to solve the problems of God, the soul, humanity, nature, evil, 

 suffering, and the unseen world, has never been fully expounded in 

 English. Its text-books (probably its sources) exist in Tamil only, and 

 in high Tamil, in verse, which is often made of set purpose obscure and 

 difficult. Classical Tamil is very little studied, yet this key alone can 

 unlock the hearts of probably ten millions of the most intelligent and 

 progressive of the Hindu races. 



In a period quite antecedent to all historic data, the native Dravidian 

 religion was a kind of Qaivism. It had peculiar forms of sacrifice, ecstatic 

 religious dances, rites of demon worship, and other ceremonies which 

 still exist among the villagers of the extreme South,* and more or less 

 among the rural population everywhere. In process of time northern — 

 Aryan, Vedic, Brahmanical — influences were brought to bear upon these 

 original forms of worship, and those who introduced the Vedic religion 

 into the South found a place for the superstitions of the aborigines in 

 their own system. The inhabitants of South India adopted to a great 

 extent the social institutions, the mj'ths, and forms of worship of the 

 Aryan settlers. In the Vedas Civan is not named, but the god Rudra, 

 the god of storms and tempests, seems to have been the type of a divinity 

 most in unison with the ideas of the inhabitants of the South, who pro- 

 bably came originally from Central Asia, and brought with them their 

 Scythian divinity, who was cruel, and was woishipped with rude and 

 cruel ceremonies. Iiudra-(^ivan became therefore the type of the divinity, 

 as the destroyer. In process of time Buddhism and the Jain system 

 found their way into the South, propagated by zealoas and able men, and 

 thus undoubtedly a softer and more genial character was imparted to the 

 whole of South India. Meanwhile on the eastern coast Christianity was 

 introduced by the Nestorians, and spread abroad very rajiidly, becoming 

 widely known and exerting great influence even whei-e it did not make 

 converts. It is undoubtedly the fact that these Christian influences per- 

 vaded the whole South. Muhammadanism also in various direction.^ 

 entered the Tamil land, and exerted great influence over the thinkers in 

 those regions. Thus the elements out of which the present and finished 

 Caivism of the South has been evolved are numerous and diverse. It 

 must also be noticed that since the twelfth century the Vahlinava system 

 has been a formidable rival of (^^aivisni, and the rivalry has tended to 

 develop and systematize the dogmatic parts of the system most decidedly. 

 We have now to do with the historic beginnings of South Indian (^aivism. 

 A sage from the North, whose name was KumCirila Bhatta, in the eighth 



* See NahiiU, IG. 



