Page:Gleaning Of Tamil Literature.pdf/28

 28 ‘Atruppadais’.in Tamil.

four stages:of-man’s life—the -first..being ‘that of ‘Brahmacharya’.. During:this period’ every indi-- vidual was supposed to. be guided by--a learned

‘guru; till his fortyeighth year.. Sacrifice of animals

was common ~ during: the time of Nakkirar.

Consequently too much emphasis was being laid

on the Yagas though Saint. Thiruvalluvar was of strong opinion that a vegetarian who believes

in non-violance is better than one who performs. Yagas. “In those days feasts and festivals were in

vogue, goats being killed during the time of feasts.

After.the feast, the common people used to gather and dance to propitiate Lord Muruga. This kind

of dance came to be. known as ‘Veriyadal’ when.

the dancer drank ‘Teral’, wore flowers and

resembled God Muruga. ‘Silappathikaram’ bears.

evidence to the prevalence of such dances in that

age. Inthose days the use of camphor during: Puja celebrations both in the temples and ‘in the

houses, unlike the modern days, was not prevalent.

Instead they used benzoin. The poet further points

out that the holy place Thirupparangunram is situ-

ated by the side of the flourishing trade-centre the

city of Madurai. He describes the natural resour-

ces of the land and refers to the amalgamator of the Vedic and Tamil customs especially with refe-

rence to the puja celeberations.

The next idyllic song composed by the poet Madathamakkanniar, elaborately describes the: �