The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c19.38

c19.38

The temple was the centre of universal culture. The best architecture and sculpture and such painting as there was, were lavished on it. Fine arts like music, dancing and jewel-making flourished in the temples and primarily on their account. Several temples contained libraries and were centres of religious and secular learning. The drama, closely allied to the dance, was promoted by some temples. Above all, the temple was for the village the most powerful economic corporation which not only sustained, by means of its lavish endowments, the arts of civilized existence, but enabled the villagers to turn to it in times of need for economic support, if not also for purposes of physical defence.