silappadigaram

Updated: June 15, 2025

In southern India the introduction of Buddhism took place under the auspices of Asoka himself, though his inscriptions have as yet been found only in northern Mysore and not in the Tamil country. The Tamil poems Manimêgalei and Silappadigaram, especially the former, represent it as prevalent and still preserving much of its ancient simplicity.

Sir Charles Eliot - Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2