Portal:Tamils

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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...)

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The anti-Hindi-imposition agitations in Tamil Nadu have been ongoing intermittently in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu (formerly Madras State and part of Madras Presidency) since the early 20th century. The agitations involve several mass protests, riots, student and political movements in Tamil Nadu concerning the official status of Hindi in the state.

The first agitation was launched in 1937, to protest the introduction of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of Madras Presidency by the first Indian National Congress (INC) government led by C. Rajagopalachari. This faced immediate opposition by "Periyar" E. V. Ramasamy and the opposition Justice Party. The three-year-long agitation was multifaceted and involved fasts, conferences, marches, picketing and protests. Government crackdown resulted in the deaths of two protesters and the arrests of 1,198 persons (including women and children). After the government resigned in 1939, Governor Lord Erskine withdrew the mandatory Hindi education in February 1940. (Full article...)

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General images

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

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Ramakrishnan in 2015

Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (born 1952) is a British-American structural biologist. He shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Thomas A. Steitz and Ada Yonath for research on the structure and function of ribosomes.

Since 1999, he has worked as a group leader at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus, UK and is a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He served as President of the Royal Society from 2015 to 2020. (Full article...)

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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

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