Tamil folk music is very different from the carnatic music. The folk music shows a lot of excitement. The songs may convey folklore and other popular tales.
Bharatanatyam is the main dance of the Tamil people. Generally one dancer performs this dance. The dance tells a story through movements of parts of body, particularly hands. Until 1930s, girls known as devadasis performed this dance in temples. Now, it has become common, and there are many famous dancers who perform this dance. Tamil people also have many types of folk dances performed in villages. Sometimes they perform such a dance before the village goddess called Mariamma.
Tamil people also have a long tradition of theatrical performance. In villages, performers perform in the open. They dance and sing, and some times tell stories. These stories may be religious stories or on any other topic.
Tamil Nadu has a well-developed tradition of stage theatre tradition. Presently, both classical and folk performing arts survive in modern Tamil society.
Tamil people like to watch movies. Tamil movies are famous for technical details, artistic presentation, and entertainment. Most of the Tamil movies will have some songs and dances. Kollywood is the popular term for the Tamil film industry
Most of the Tamil people are Hindus. However, many are Muslims and Christians. At one time, Jainism was one of the major religions of Tamil people. However, presently there are only few thousand Tamil Jains.
In Tamil Hinduism, the most popular deity is god named Murugan. He is a form of Karthikeya, the son of Shiva. The Tamil people also worship mother goddess Amman or Mariamman. Many Tamil people also worship Kannagi, a folk heroine. Throughout Tamil lands, there are many temples of Shiva, Vishnu, and Ganesha (Ganpathi). In rural areas of Tamil Nadu, people worship many local gods and goddesses. They call them aiyyanar.
There were many saints known as Alvars and Nayanars. In the 10th century, Ramanuja propagated his philosophy about worship and also accepted lower caste-Hindus as his disciples. There were many other notable Tamil saints. The Ramayana has many parts based in Tamil regions and according to legends, many of Rama's soldiers were Tamil people.
The most important Tamil festivals are Pongal and the Tamil New Year. Pongal is a harvest festival and people celebrate this in mid-January. Tamil people also celebrate Diwali. Two other important Hindu festivals of Tamil people are Thaipusam, and Adipperukku.
The most important Tamil Muslims festivals are Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.
A Tamil legend states that the Cholas, Chera and Pandyan kings fought many wars in the 1st century. The war lasted for about one hundred years. During this period, the Tamil people perfected many martial arts. All these styles of martial arts still exist. They also developed many weapons.
There are many types of martial arts. For example, in a special type of martial art called Silambam, a person would use a stick of about 1.6 meters long. By moving the stick he would try to defend against attack by several persons. In another type of martial art, persons get training to defend themselves without using any weapons, by using their hands and legs.
Varma Kalai (Tamil: வர்மக்கலை) is a martial art and esoteric healing art originating from ancient Tamil Nadu in South India. The name literally translate as "The Art of Vital Points". It is an element of the Tamil martial art Kuttu varisai.[1]
In some parts of Tamil Nadu, notably Alanganallur (near Madurai), some Tamil people hold annual event around Pongal festival: called " Manju virattu " in Tamil (bullfighting}).
Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, a social leader of Tamil people started a movement named Self-respect Movement. It was to promote self-respect and remove social evils like casteism. Many people call this movement as the Dravidian movement. All political parties of Tamil Nadu draw their principles from this movement.
Scholars of India and Sri Lanka have developed a vocabulary in Tamil language for words of science and technology.
In the 1960s, the government of Tamil Nadu held a World Tamil Conference. The Conference has been meeting regularly.
In 1999, many Tamil people organized a World Tamil Confederation. Its purpose is to protect and promote Tamil culture and bring a sense of togetherness amongst Tamils in different countries. The Confederation has since adopted a Tamil flag and Tamil song to act as symbols for the Tamil people living in different countries. The words on the flag quote the opening line of a poem by the classical poet Kaniyan Pungundranar. These words mean: “All lands are our home; all people are our kin.”
In Sri Lanka, the Federal Party (later the Tamil United Liberation Front) took the lead in Tamil politics. However, by 1980s, political movements took a back seat in Tamil politics of Sri Lanka. Many military groups had started conflicts, and a civil war broke out. The Tamil Tigers emerged as the most important force amongst these military groups. The Tamil Tigers are fighting to establish its own government in areas where Tamil people are in majority. Presently they control many areas, and are negotiating for peace.
Down syndrome
Down syndrome (or trisomy 21; old name mongoloid idiocy) is a genetic disorder. People with Down syndrome have an extra copy of chromosome 21, or part of it.
Down syndrome causes a mental handicap. It may be mild or severe. The average IQ of a young adult with Down syndrome is 50, equivalent to the mental age of an 8- or 9-year-old child, but it truly depends on the person. This can vary widely, but most individuals need supervision if they are to live their lives in a satisfactory way. Children who have this condition take more time to learn new things.
The condition is named after John Langdon Down, the British doctor who first described it in 1866. He called it "mongoloid idiocy" because he thought that children with Down syndrome had faces like that of Blumenbach's Mongolian race. Idiocy meant intellectual disability. People do not use the term "mongoloid idiocy" today. It is a rude term.
There is sometimes discrimination against people with Down syndrome, both in the education system and in society in general. Some people with the condition have average intelligence, but may have other problems with development instead. People with Down syndrome often have a different shape of eyes than most people. A few people with the condition have severe learning difficulties.
Of every 800 to 1000 babies that are born, one is diagnosed with Down syndrome. Older women have a higher chance of having a baby with Down syndrome. If they have a procedure known as amniocentesis, pregnant mothers can be told whether their foetus has Down syndrome. Sound scans may also diagnose the presence of Down Syndrome. Mothers whose foetus is diagnosed as having Downs syndrome may choose to have an abortion. In the United Kingdom and Europe 92% of such cases are aborted.
They also grow differently from other children. Babies with down syndrome can be identified at birth because they may have a specific set of physical features. These features include narrow eyes, a flat nose-bridge, smaller mouths and shorter fingers. Smaller mouths can result in tongue protrusion or what looks like a large tongue. Sometimes the little fingers curve inwards as well, and there is also often a space between the big toe and the others. People with Down syndrome often have heart defects or Alzheimer's disease when they are older. About 90% of people with Down syndrome live through their teens. The lifespan of a person with Down syndrome averages between 50 and 55 years old.
So far there have been no treatments for Down syndrome.