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384 Rudraism. Moreover, the words Siva and Siddhanta are not of Dravidian origin. The Saivism or the Saiva Siddhanta of the modern non-Aryan Tamilians may therefore be defined as an eclectic religion chatposed of the hydrogenous demonolatry of ancient Naga-Dravidians and the oxygenous Rudraism of the Vedic Aryans colligated together by later philosophic Brahmanism of the Pauranic period.

The sixty-three Nayanars or Saiva Saints including Appar and Trignana Sambandar seem to have flourished between the sixth and ninth centuries; and the Saint Manikka Vachakar, who is out-side that beadroll flourished about A. D. 875. It was after the twelith century A. D. that the Saiva Siddhantam of the Dravidian Tamils was given a philosophic basis in imitation of the great systems of Sankaracharya and Ramanujacharya ; and its authors were again Saiva Brahmans.

The cult of Vishnu was equally powerful and not less ancient than Sivaism. It has been in existence since the Vedic times. But this humanitarian religion did not attempt to take converts from among the demonolatrous Naga-Dravidian tribes of hunters and warriors, nor was it in their nature to embrace such a catholic religion despite the teachings of the Vaishnava alvars or saints, who with the Saiva Nayanars actively worked for the expulsion of Buddhism and Jainism from the Tamil country. Nammalvar was the last of the Vaishnava Saints, A. D. 925; then came a line of Vaishnava acharyas or religious teachers