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284 fighting race. From Purananuru, Kalittogai, Padirruppattu and other collected works of the early Sangams (academies) we further learn that great honour was done to brave men as is shown by a number of memorial stones or Virakkals still to be seen in some Tamil villages erected to commemorate their heroic deaths. The expressions like காஞ்சி சான்ற வயவர், காஞ்சி சான்றசெரு, etc. bear testimony to the martial spirit of the early Tamils. When a king died of sickness without losing his life in battle his body used to be laid on a bed of kusa grass and split up with a sword believing that men who died as warriors could go to heaven. Heroes who died in battle were buried on the road-side and tomb stones were set up with suitable inscriptions describing the names and the military achievements of these persons. Offerings of flower, cooked rice and liquor were also made by their relations and friends. Perhaps small temples were also erected over the sepulchres and worshipped. Irulan, Katteri, Nondi, Karuppan and other deities which now form the objects of worship by low caste Sudras and Paraiyas belong probably to this category. Thus, the religion of the ancient Tamils consisted mainly in spirit worship and in the drinking and offering of liquor. They ate all kinds of meat, including even beef, and indulged in alcoholic drinks.

According to Tolkapyar, the earliest Tamil grammarian, even gods were classified according to the nature of the soil. Thus, Indra was the god of fertile