They are referred to in Tamil literature as த ெ ன ் ப ு லத ் த ா ர ் ( Kural 43 ).

* Tamil literature, refers to the literature in the Tamil language

* Tanittamil Iyakkam, a movement of linguistic purism in Tamil literature attempting to emulate the " unadulterated Tamil language " of the Sangam period, avoiding Sanskrit, Persian and English loanwords

The earliest period of Tamil literature, Sangam literature, is dated from the 300 BCE – 300 CE.

The variety and quality of classical Tamil literature has led to its being described as " one of the great classical traditions and literatures of the world ".

* Karaikkal Ammeiyar, one of the few females amongst the sixty three Nayanmars, is one of the greatest figures of early Tamil literature

Surviving texts of the golden age of Tamil literature and poetry known during the Sangam Age such as the Tolkappiyam ( த ொ ல ் கப ் ப ி யம ்), as well as the later Silappadikaram ( ச ி லப ் பத ி கரம ்), testify to a variety of dance traditions which flourished in these times.

It was hence referred to in Indian, specifically Tamil literature by the Sanskrit name " yāvaka dvīpa " ( dvīpa = island ).

It has also inspired much secondary literature in various languages, notably the Kambaramayanam by the Tamil poet Kambar of the 13th century, the Telugu-language Molla Ramayana, 14th century Kannada poet Narahari's Torave Ramayan, and 15th century Bengali poet Krittibas Ojha's Krittivasi Ramayan, as well as the 16th century Awadhi version, Ramacharitamanas, written by Tulsidas.

The epic Mahabharata, Tamil literature from the Sangam Era, and various literary works dating from the late centuries BC to the early centuries of the Common Era, including Ashokan edicts, describe puppets.

This is attested in the Sangam literature where Venkatamalai ( nediyon kundam ) is said to be the northern border of Tamizhagam: வடவ ே ங ் கடம ் த ெ ன ் க ு மர ி ஆய ி ட ை த ் தம ி ழ ் க ூ ற ு நல ் ல ு லக ு ( The great Tamil nation that stands between Venkatam in the north and Kanyanumari in the south ).

The ancient Tamil Sangam literature mentions that between 400 BC and 600 AD, soldiers from southern India received special martial arts training which revolved primarily around the use of spear ( vel ), sword ( val ) and shield ( kedaham ).

Between the 3rd century BCE and the 3rd century CE Tamil people also produced native literature that came to be called Sangam literature.

Possible evidence indicating the earliest presence of Tamil people in modern day Tamil Nadu are the megalithic urn burials, dating from around 1500 BCE and onwards, which have been discovered at various locations in Tamil Nadu, notably in Adichanallur in Tirunelveli District which conform to the descriptions of funerals in classical Tamil literature.

According to Iraiyanar Agapporul, a 10th / 11th century annotation on the Sangam literature, the Tamil country extended southwards beyond the natural boundaries of the Indian peninsula comprising 49 ancient nadus ( divisions ).

This term, it is true, has sometimes been used, and is still sometimes used, in almost as restricted a sense as that of Tamil itself, so that though on the whole it is the best term I can find, I admit it is not perfectly free from ambiguity.

Tolkāppiyam is the earliest Tamil grammar ; it has been dated variously between 1st CE and 10th CE.

In domestic cricket, Muralitharan has played for two first-class Sri Lankan sides, Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club in the Premier Trophy and Central Province in the Provincial Championship.

In South Indian snack cuisine, there is an item called HappLa in Kannada / vadam in Tamil, which is a chip made of an extruded rice / sago or multigrain base that has been around for many centuries.

Director Quentin Tarantino has admitted that the celebrated animation-action sequence in his 2003 film Kill Bill was inspired from the use of 2D animated sequences in from actor Kamal Hassan's Tamil film Aalavandhan

The first two decades in the 20th century are distinguished for the harmony that prevailed among Sinhalese and Tamil political leadership, which has not been the case ever since.

The country has four official languages consisting of Mandarin, Malay, Tamil and English.

The book has been adapted for film and television a number of times, including a 1981 serial for TV directed by Rodney Bennett ; a 1995 movie adapted by Emma Thompson and directed by Ang Lee ; a version in Tamil called Kandukondain Kandukondain, released in 2000 ; and a 2008 TV series on BBC adapted by Andrew Davies and directed by John Alexander.

Delhi has the largest concentration of Sinhalese people with 1, 100, the states of Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra have 800 and 400 respectively.

It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Puducherry.

Hyundai has two manufacturing plants in India located at Sriperumbudur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Initially, minor changes were made which is now called Tamil Brahmi which has far fewer letters than some of the other Indic scripts as it has no separate aspirated or voiced consonants.

In Tamil Nadu, India, the National Highway 68 between Thalaivasal and Attur has many cassava-processing factories alongside it — indicating an abundance of it locally.

The Tamil country especially Tanjore, has always been the seat and centre of learning and culture.

The town also has direct bus services to various cities and towns of Tamil Nadu, namely Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Sathyamangalam, Karur, Dindigul, Chennai, Thiruchirapalli, Madurai, Thanjavur and Kanyakumari.

It has been a sister school to Women's Christian College in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India since 1920.

Batu Caves ( Tamil: பத ் த ு மல ை), is a limestone hill, which has a series of caves and cave temples, in the Gombak district, north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Since 1892, the Thaipusam festival in the Tamil month of Thai ( which falls in late January / early February ) has been celebrated there.

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which has been banned in US, UK, EU, Canada, and many other countries as a terrorist group, operated a de facto independent state called Tamil Eelam in eastern and northern Sri Lanka until 2009.

Formerly a municipality and then a city in its own right, since 1976 George Town has been part of the municipality of Penang Island, though the area formerly governed by the city council is still commonly referred to as a city, and is also known as Tanjung (" The Cape ") in Malay, 乔治市 ( Qiáozhì Shì ) in Chinese and ஜ ோ ர ் ஜ ் டவ ு ன ் ( Georgetown ) in Tamil.

A parallel literary tradition existed during the period that derived inspiration from the Tamil poetic tradition, known by the name pattu.

* 2000 – Second Battle of Elephant Pass: Tamil Tigers capture a strategic Sri Lankan Army base and hold it for 8 years.

* 1987 – The Tamil Tigers are blamed for a car bomb that explodes in the Sri Lankan city of Colombo, killing 106 people.

Its name derives from the Sanskrit word for " wheel " or " turning " ( चक ् र ं, pronounced in Hindi ; Pali: cakka चक ् क, Oriya: ଚକ ୍ ର, Malayalam: ചക ് ര ം, Thai: จ ั กระ, Telugu: చక ్ రo, Tamil: சக ் கரம ், Kannada: ಚಕ ್ ರ, Chinese: 輪 / 轮, pinyin: lún,, Wylie: khor lo ).

There is no definite philological and linguistic basis for asserting unilaterally that the name Dravida also forms the origin of the word Tamil ( Dravida -> Dramila -> Tamizha or Tamil ).

More recently, dacoit Veerappan of Tamil Nadu state evaded authorities for decades until he was shot dead in 2004.

He was active for a period of years in a broad swathe of land covering 6, 000 km² in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Even in Modern Tamil, the word for temple is ' க ோ ய ி ல ்', meaning " king's house ".

In ancient India, around 920 AD, in Tamil Nadu, Palm leaves were used for village assembly elections.

Likewise, the Tamil word for honeymoon is த ே ன ி லவ ு ( Thaen Nilavu ) meaning Thaen-honey and nilavu-moon, and the Marathi word for honeymoon is मध ु च ं द ् र ( Madhuchandra ) meaning Madhu-honey and chandra-moon, whereas in Bangla ( Bengali ) language, it is referred as মধ ু চন া দর ি ম া ( Modhuchondrima ) meaning Modhu-Honey and chondrima-moon.

He is presently doing a pivotal role in a Tamil film titled ' Aravaan ', directed by Vasanthabalan, who is critically acclaimed for his earlier films Angaadi Theru and Veyil.

After leaving school he joined Tamil Union Cricket and Athletic Club and was selected for the Sri Lanka A tour of England in 1991.

In Tamil and Malayalam, the word for crow is kaakaa.

He was also responsible for first intervening and then sending Indian troops ( Indian Peace Keeping Force or IPKF ) for peace efforts in Sri Lanka in 1987, which soon ended in open conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Some classical Tamil poetry forms, such as veṇpā, have rigid grammars for rhyme to the point that they could be expressed as a context-free grammar.

In 1937, Tamil leader G. G. Ponnambalam demanded a 50 – 50 representation ( 50 % for the Sinhalese and 50 % for other ethnic groups ) in the State Council.

Although partially reversed in 1958, the bill posed a grave concern for the Tamil community, which perceived in it a threat to their language and culture.

The policy of standardization by the Sirimavo government to rectify disparities created in university enrollment, which was in essence an affirmative action to assist geographically disadvantaged students to obtain tertiary education, resulted in reducing the proportion of Tamil students at university level and acted as the immediate catalyst for the rise of militancy.

Following the LTTE's defeat, the Tamil National Alliance, the largest political party in Sri Lanka, dropped its demand for a separate state in favour of a federal solution.