Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism yy 



the times of the worship. They are not printed, but often they 

 are written on palm-leaf books. 



The origin of these stories in their present form is probably 

 Brahmanic in nearly every instance. They are an effort to con- 

 nect the gods of the Dravidians with the Hindu pantheon, and 

 are a part of the Hindu plan for the absorption of the Dravidian 

 religion into their own. In some cases, however, there is indica- 

 tion that the Dravidians have seized upon the Hindu story, and 

 by adding some of their own legends to it, have attempted to 

 connect themselves with the higher form of religion and civiliza- 

 tion. In this chapter a representative number of these legends 

 will be given. 



The Siva Legends. The Dravidian gods are more commonly 

 connected with Siva. There is more in the nature of Siva wor- 

 ship that is Dravidian than in Vishnu worship. It is quite prob- 

 able that Siva himself is an aboriginal god.^ One of the legends 

 runs as follows.^ 



There were one hundred and one kings ruling over the country 

 of Thiparapuram. They were devotees of Siva, and because of 

 the many offerings which they made, Siva granted them the 

 boons of immortality and of invincibility in battle. Afterwards 

 these kings engaged in many wars, and in every case they were 

 victorious. Finally the people came to Siva and asked him why 

 he had granted favors which gave so much distress. Siva saw 

 his mistake, but could see no way out of the difficulty except to 

 enter the battle himself and try to defeat these kings. He took 

 human form and went to war with the kings, but with the result 

 that he too was defeated and was about to be put to death. 



Vishnu Murti, now seeing that Siva was trembhng for his life, 

 offered his advice. He said, " At yonder tank the wives of these 

 kings will be bathing at the appointed time. By virtue of their 

 chastity they will make brass pots from the sand, and in these 

 pots bring home water with which to cook the food which gives 



^ For a discussion of this point see pp. 12 sq. 

 2 This story is not found in the Puranas. 



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