The history shows that Tamils practiced an ancient Dravidian religion thousands of years before Buddhism and long before Sinhala culture existed. Buddhism later flourished among Tamils for nearly 1000 years, but it declined as many Buddhist monasteries became corrupt and morally compromised. This decline helped the rise of Tamil Saivism through the Bhakti movement.

The history also makes clear that the Sinhala language developed much later, long after Tamil Buddhism had disappeared. This proves Sinhala-Buddhist claims over Tamil lands are historically inaccurate. Tamil identity, culture, and sovereignty are far older than Sinhala Buddhism, and the Tamil nation’s right to sovereignty is rooted in this long, continuous history.

For thousands of years, the Tamil people held a strong, independent spiritual identity long before Sinhala kingdoms existed. Early Tamil religion—rooted in Murugan, Korravai, nature worship, and ancestor veneration—reflected a sovereign Tamil civilization that shaped South Asia.

Buddhism arrived peacefully around the 3rd century BCE, and for nearly 900 years, Tamil Buddhism flourished. Tamil monks produced global scholarship, Tamil ports hosted Buddhist universities, and Tamil culture integrated Buddhism with dignity.

But by the 7th century, Buddhism began to collapse among Tamils—not because of Tamil rejection of the teachings, but because of what Buddhism had become in practice.

A critical truth history often ignores:

Many Buddhist monasteries in Tamilakam became centers of corruption.
Several monks fell into:

womanizing,
misuse of temple wealth,
political manipulation,
interference in royal affairs,
abuses of lay communities,
moral decline that contradicted the Buddha’s own teachings.

Tamil literature of the period—including Manimekalai, Silappathikaram commentaries, and Bhakti-era hymns—documents the public loss of trust in a monastic system that had strayed from moral discipline.

This moral collapse is one of the major reasons Tamils quit Buddhism.

Saivism did not replace Buddhism by force.
Tamils chose to return to their older traditions because Saivism offered moral stability, community structure, integrity, and Tamil cultural roots, while Buddhism—through corrupt monastic behavior—lost legitimacy.

The greatest historical irony

By the time Tamil society had already turned away from Buddhism and embraced Saivism:

the Sinhala language itself was only beginning to develop.

Tamil is an ancient 5,000-year-old Dravidian language.
Sinhala formed centuries later from Prakrit and became distinct only after Tamil Buddhism had already declined.

This means:

Tamil religion evolved long before Sinhala language, Sinhala kingdoms, or Sinhala-Buddhist identity even existed.

Why this matters today

The Sri Lankan state still uses Buddhism as a political weapon—
turning a peaceful religion into a tool for:

land grabs
militarization
cultural erasure
colonization
rewriting history
destroying Tamil heritage sites

But history is clear:

Tamils practiced Buddhism 1,000 years before the Sinhala state claimed ownership of it.

Tamil sovereignty existed through every religious phase—Dravidian, Buddhist, and Saivite.

And today:

Tamil sovereignty remains the rightful claim of the Tamil nation.

Tamils practiced Buddhism for nearly 1000 years.

Early Buddhist Tamil Literature (JSTOR / scholarly source)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/605389

UNESCO – Nagapattinam Buddhist Heritage

https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/2107/

2.Tamil communities left Buddhism partly due to corruption among monks.

UPenn Dissertation – Decline of Buddhism in Tamilakam
(“moral decline and misconduct of monks contributed to collapse”)
https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1179&context=sas_dissertations

Kamil Zvelebil, The Smile of Murugan (JSTOR)
(monasteries became wealthy, corrupt institutions)

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25221930

3. Saivism rose as a moral, cultural reaction to Buddhist decline.

Dr. Champakalakshmi (Cambridge University Press)
(links Saivite revival to Buddhist/Jain monastic excess)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/religion-state-and-society-in-medieval-south-india/336D8D8D64FBA2C5427A9E52D93CEB74

A.L. Basham – Oxford scholarship on the rise of Saivism

https://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198142161.001.0001

4. Tamil religion evolved thousands of years before Sinhala Buddhism existed.

Iravatham Mahadevan – Early Tamil Religion (JSTOR)
(Tamil Dravidian religion existed in 3000+ BCE period)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/42931103

Sangam literature & archaeology (UNESCO Tamil-Brahmi)

https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/2107/

5. Sinhala language is younger than Tamil Saivism.

A Grammar of Sinhala – Cambridge University Press
(Sinhala became distinct around 6th century CE)
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/sinhala/605079F608F8CDC7BB91DDE0D97A3F71

Sri Lankan Archaeology Dept. – earliest Sinhala inscriptions
(appear only after 6th century CE)
https://www.archaeology.gov.lk/web/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=163&lang=en

K.N.O. Dharmadasa, Sinhala linguist (JSTOR)
(Sinhala emerges centuries after Tamil Saivism established)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25210905