Portal:Tamils

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The Tamils portal

The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar (Tamil: தமிழர், romanized: Tamiḻar, pronounced [t̪amiɻaɾ] in the singular or தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, [t̪amiɻaɾɡaɭ] in the plural), Tamilians, or simply Tamils (/ˈtæmɪlz, ˈtɑː-/ TAM-ilz, TAHM-), are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to India's southern state of Tamil Nadu, to the union territory of Puducherry, and to Sri Lanka. The Tamil language is one of the world's longest-surviving classical languages, with over 2000 years of Tamil literature, including the Sangam poems, which were composed between 300 BCE and 300 CE. People who speak Tamil as their mother tongue and are born in are considered Tamils.

Tamils constitute 5.9% of the population in India (concentrated mainly in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), 15% in Sri Lanka (excluding Eelam Moors), 7% in Malaysia, and 5% in Singapore.

From the 4th century BCE, urbanisation and mercantile activity along the western and eastern coasts of Tamilakam -- what is today Kerala and Tamil Nadu -- led to the development of four large Tamil empires, the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, and velirs and a number of smaller states, all of whom were warring amongst themselves for dominance. The Jaffna Kingdom, and vanni chieftaincies inhabited by Eelam Tamils, was once one of the strongest kingdoms of Sri Lanka and controlled much of the north of the island. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Jallikattu (or Sallikkattu), also known as Eru Taḻuvuṭal and Manju-virattu, is a traditional event in which a zebu bull (Bos indicus), such as the Pulikulam or Kangayam breeds, is released into a crowd of people, and many human participants attempt to grab the large hump on the bull's back with both arms and hang on to it while the bull attempts to escape. Participants hold the hump for as long as possible, attempting to bring the bull to a stop. In some cases, participants must ride long enough to remove flags on the bull's horns.

Jallikattu is typically practised in some regions of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu (peculiarly in Southern and Western Tamil Nadu) as a part of Pongal celebrations on Mattu Pongal day, which occurs annually in January. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images

Image 1Tamil people in Medan, Indonesia (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 2Batu Caves temple built by Tamil Malaysians in c. 1880s. (from Tamils)
Image 3The Tamil Chola Empire at its height, 1030 CE (from Tamils)
Image 4Two Tamil girls who follow Vaishnavaite Hinduism (from Tamils)
Image 5Tamil woman in traditional attire, c. 1880, Sri Lanka. (from Tamils)
Image 6 Virampatnam jewelry from funerary burial, 2nd century BCE, Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 7Katar, Tamil dagger which was popular throughout South Asia (from Tamils)
Image 8Grey pottery with engravings, Arikamedu, 1st century CE (from Tamils)
Image 9Tamil girls in Malaysia (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 10A 400 years old hero stone in Salem depicting bull-taming sport Jallikattu. (from Tamils)
Image 11Sage Agathiyar, one of the contributors of Old Tamil literature. (from Tamils)
Image 12Celebrations of Murugan by the Sri Lankan Tamil community in Paris, France (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 13A Megalithic burial jar from north-western Sri Lanka, 5th-2nd century BCE, similar to South Indian and Deccan jars of the time. (from Tamils)
Image 14The Mahishasuramardhini cave bas relief at Mahabalipuram from 7th century CE (from Tamils)
Image 15The New York City Metropolitan Area, including Central New Jersey, as well as Long Island and Staten Island in New York, is home to the largest Tamil American population. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 16The hall in front of Ranganayaki's shrine, Srirangam, where Kambar is said to have recited his works on Kamba Ramayanam (from Tamils)
Image 17 Map of ancient oceanic trade, and ports of Tamilakam (from Tamils)
Image 18Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health in Velankanni, Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 19Sri Kandaswamy Temple, Brickfields, Malaysia. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 20Aiyanar, guardian folk deity of Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 21Murugan Temple, Sydney (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 22The golden Vimana over the sanctum at Srirangam midst its gopurams, its gable with Paravasudeva image. (from Tamils)
Image 23Sri Kamakshi Ambaal temple in Hamm, Germany (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 24A Malbar temple in Réunion. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 25 Souttoukeny jewelry, 2nd century BCE, Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 26Bharatanatyam dancers (from Tamils)
Image 27Meenakshi Amman temple, dedicated to Goddess Meenakshi, tutelary deity of Madurai city (from Tamils)
Image 28The Brihadeshswar Temple at Thanjavur, also known as the Great Temple, built by Rajaraja Chola I (from Tamils)
Image 29One of the most popular overseas branches of Chennai-based Saravanaa Bhavan, the world's largest Indian vegetarian restaurant chain, is located in Edison, New Jersey, U.S. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 30The Om symbol in Tamil script (from Tamils)
Image 31Expatriate Sri Lankan Tamil children in traditional clothes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 32Erwadi durgah in Ramanathapuram district is a major pilgrimage shrine of the Tamil Muslims. (from Tamils)
Image 33Distribution of Tamil speakers in South India and Sri Lanka (1981). (from Tamils)
Image 34Tamil girls dressed in traditional attire, ca. 1870, Tamil Nadu, India. (from Tamils)
Image 35Tamiḻakam during Sangam Period (from Tamils)
Image 36Krishna with his consorts Rukmini and Satyabhama and his mount Garuda, Tamil Nadu, India, late 12th-13th century (from Tamils)
Image 37Megalithic sarcophagus burial from Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)

Selected biography - show another

Velupillai Prabhakaran (listen (US English); Tamil: வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; [ˈʋeːlɯpːiɭːaɪ pɾaˈbaːhaɾan]; 26 November 1954 – 18 May 2009) was an Eelam Tamil revolutionary. Prabhakaran was a major figure of Tamil nationalism, and the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE was a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka in reaction to the oppression of the country's Tamil population by the Sri Lankan government. Under his direction, the LTTE undertook a military campaign against the Sri Lankan government for more than 25 years.

Prabhakaran was the youngest of four children, born in Valvettithurai, on Sri Lanka's Jaffna peninsula's northern coast. Considered the heart of Tamil culture and literature in Sri Lanka, Jaffna was concentrated with growing Tamil nationalism, which called for autonomy for Tamils to protest the discrimination against them by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lanka government and Sinhalese civilians since the country's independence from the United Kingdom in 1948. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

Topics

Tamil People

Tamil People Countrywide: India • Sri Lanka • Canada • Malaysia • Singapore • South Africa • England

Related Ethnic Groups: Brahui • Gond • Kannadiga • Khonds • Kodava • Oraon • Malayali • Telugus • Tuluvas

Related indigenous Groups: Badagas • Toda • Kuruba

Tamil Nadu

Related portals

WikiProjects

Things to do

Add {{portal|Tamil People}} to the See also section of Tamil People-related articles.
Tag the talk pages of Tamil People-related articles with {{WikiProject Tamil civilization/Welcome}}
Join WikiProject Tamil civilization and list yourself as a Participant in the project.