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Education was considered important in AncientTamil as they considered the mind of the uneducated to be an "abode of darkness". The sangam period of acquiring knowledge was during youth.[1][2]
The rulers and aristocrats of ancientTamilakam were always conscious of their duties to their country. They considered development of education as an important duty. So the kings and chieftains took all measures for the education of people.[3]Naladiyar one of theTamil books of Law lauds that "men gathered books in abundance and filled their house with them." They studied science, mathematics, engineering, astronomy, logic and ethics.[4][5]
Education was widespread and there was high standard of literacy. Libraries attached to Jain Pallis and Buddha Viharas promoted education among the people.[citation needed] TheSangam literature makes clear that people irrespective of sectarian or sex considerations were entitled to get the benefits of full education, making theTamil people one of the earliest civilisations to acquire high female literacy.[6][7]
The girls of the Sangam age were given a good training in literature, music and drama. The Sangam literature bears ample evidence to the fact that many women had distinguished themselves in the art of music.[8]
More than fifty women have been ranked among the Sangam poets.[9]
ThePallavas patronised bothPrakrit andSanskrit. They established an institution forSanskrit atKanji and lesser schools nearPondicherry. They attracted the best students fromTamilagam and other parts of the south. Buddhism particularly flourished in the next few centuries attracting students fromSri Lanka and as far flung asChina.Bodhidharma is a noteworthy mention. Even though theTamil language saw a decline during this period,Cilappatikaram andManimekalai, two ofThe Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature were composed during this period. These epics broke with the Sangam convention of not mentioning the names or specific details of the characters, showing signs of growing influence fromSanskrit.[10]
Unlike thecosmopolitanism of theSangam period, the new era of Vedic teaching was an exclusive privilege of the Brahmins as can be seen from Thirukkachi Nambi's refusal to teach Ramanuja vedic texts.[11] TheGuru Shishya parampara was instigated at this point and signalled the decline of education among females[12] and the general population. This is in line with theManusmrti injunction against teaching to lower castes, whereby if a Brahmin were to teach aShudra, he would fall intoAsamvrita, or hell; conversely, if aShudra were to hear or utter theVeda, the penalty was that molten lead was poured into his ears and a hot stylus be thrust in his tongue, respectively.[13]
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