History of Indian and Eastern Architecture v1.c8.s17.12

v1.c8.s17.12

When from these purely ethnographic speculations we turn to ask how far religion and race coincide, we are left with still less information of a reliable character. As a rule, the Dravidians are Saivas, and Saiva in the exact proportion of the purity of their blood. In other words, in the extreme south of India they are immensely in the majority. In some districts of the Madras Presidency they are as 6 or 7 to 1 of the followers of Vishnu, and generally in the south, 2 to 1; but as we proceed northward they become equal, and in some of the northern districts of the Madras Presidency the proportions are reversed.