ABSTRACT
The second chapter analyses Tamil classical literature which reflects the integration of northern religious and cultural elements with indigenous modes of relating to divine forces. The author shows how this process intensifies as the myths, iconography, and temple worship practices of the god Śiva become the uniting force of a newly defined community in a competitive religious milieu. As seen in the hymns of the Śaiva poets, analyzed here, the nāyaṉmār, the heroic god Śiva is localized in the Tamil landscape by performing his fierce dance on the cremation ground, assimilating the Tamil goddesses and the local pēys or demons into his own gaṇa troupe and becoming the most powerful deity by defeating Kālī in a dance contest.
