The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (2420 page)

BOOK: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions
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Tamid
(Heb., ‘Continuous Offering’). A tractate of the order of
Kodashim
in the Jewish
Mishnah
.
Tamid
describes the work of the
priests
in the
Temple
of Jerusalem.
Tamilnadu
or Tamil Nadu
.
A state forming the southern area of India, at one time covering the areas where the Dravidian languages are prevalent (including Andhra Pradesh, Karn
aka, and Keral
). Its sense of separate identity is so strong that there have been movements for independence from the Indian republic. Although Aryan Hinduism from the north spread over Tamil areas, there has always been active interchange, with influence flowing in both directions. Thus although Tamilnadu is associated with devotional Hinduism (see
lV
RS
) and especially devotion to
iva
, in fact the name of
iva occurs fairly late in Tamil texts, and is identified with the indigenous Mudalvan, with adaptation occurring in the transition. Again, Vi
u is known as M
l (‘great one’) and became associated with Tirum
l. One Tamil deity, Murukan/Murugan, who is worshipped in a particularly frenzied sacred
dance
, resisted assimilation altogether. This independence of Tamil religion is epitomized in
Tiruva
uvar's
Tirukkural
. Tamil religion is most usually associated with
bhakti
poetry in which caste and ritual are reduced in importance, and the path to
mok
a

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