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Rh was immediately followed by the rise of Buddhism and Jainism, which greatly influenced or modified the succeeding period of Puranic Hinduism, when the elemental gods of the Vedic period had come to occupy an inferior position, the foremost rank having been taken up by Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, which were believed to be the triple forms of the Supreme Being. And to popularize this triad three classes of Puranas amounting to eighteen in all were written by the Brahman sages. They narrate all sorts of legends connected with each of the above three deities. Each Purana is devoted to the praise of one or another of these gods who is spoken of in that work as supreme, whilst other deities described in other Puranas are slighted and their worship even forbidden. They also prescribe rules for the worship of gods by means of prayers, offerings, festivals, and pilgrimages. The date of the oldest of these Puranas, probably Vayu-Purana, is believed to be from about 320 A. D. and the latest to be of the eleventh century. It was during this period that idol-worship and the building of temples for images were substituted for the Vedic sacrifices, which latter, however continue to this day in a feeble form among the Brahmanical rites. This change is ordinarily attributed to the overwhelming influence of Buddhism and Jainism, which at this period were in a state of decline and their humane but heretical doctrines had ultimately degenerated into mere idol-worship.

In ancient times the Dravidian Tamils were a