Question

Which tamil text is known as tamil veda?

Answer 1

Depending on who you ask, you will find one of three books identified as the Tamil Veda, locally known as Dravida Veda or Tamil Marai:

1) Thirukkural, a secular book of 1,330 ethical sayings, by Valluvar, which is over 2,000 years old and of probable Jain origin.

2) Thevaram, a Shaiva book of nearly 800 devotional songs, by Nayanars, which is also over 1,000 years old, that are sung in Shaiva shrines of South India, and given preference over Sanskrit Vedic hymns.

3) Divya Prabandham, a Vaishnava book of 4,000 devotional songs, by Alvars, which is over 1000 years old, that are sung in Vaishanva shrines of South India, and given preference over Sanskrit Vedic hymns.

Now for some history.

Vedic hymns were composed in the Indus plains about 4,000 years ago. They were organised in the Rig Veda and attached to rituals in Yajur Veda and to melodies in the Sama Veda in the Gangetic plains about 3,000 years ago. By around 2,500 years ago, the hermit (shramana) traditions such as Buddhism and Jainism challenged the ritualism of the householder traditions, and preferred Prakrit over Sanskrit. These hermits travelled South along with Vedic Brahmins.
Over 2,000 years ago, roughly when Ramayana and Mahabharata and even Dharmasutras were being composed in North India, Tamil lands saw the composition of poems about love and longing (the inner or akam poetry) and about war (the outer or puram poetry). Many years after they were written, this body of literature came to be known as Sangam (assembly) songs. They reveal a familiarity with Vedic rituals as well as with Buddhism and Jainism, indicating that northern ideas have moved south 2,000 years ago.

About 1,500 years ago, Tamil poets were composing great epics such as Silappadikaram and Manimekalai. They reveal the popularity of Jainism and Buddhism in the region that today are Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka. These clearly overshadowed local Vedic Brahmins leading to much rivalry.

Veda carrying Brahmins had come to the South in waves. We know the earliest version of Sanskrit Mahabharata, written using Sharada script, reached Kerala via Brahmins who wore their top knots in front (purva-shikha). Later, Brahmins who wore their top knots behind (apara-shikha) carried another version of the Sanskrit Mahabharata which became the more voluminous manuscript in Grantha script. These Hindu epics came with ideas about Shiva and Vishnu that started mingling with Dravidian deities such as Murugan, the warlord who stands atop mountains, and Kotravai, the goddess of battle.

Answer 2

Hi mate

Dravida Veda or Tamil Marai is a tamil text which is known as tamil veda.

There are four "Vedic" Samhitas: the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda and Atharva-Veda, most of which are available in several recensions . In some contexts, the term Veda is used to refer only to these Samhitas, the collection of mantras.

Hope it helps you...