A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c8.20

c8.20

The evidence from Ādichanallur also appears to suggest that the worship of Murugan or Velan, a popular deity with the Tamils from very early times, was known at the time. The god's favourite weapon was the *vēl* (trident) and his banner carried a wild fowl as his emblem. Besides iron tridents, there have been found at Ādichanallur iron banner-bases and representations of fowls in bronze. The practice of wearing mouth pieces, still maintained by devotees carrying *Kāvadi* to the shrine of Murugan in the Palni Hills, may well be a survival from prehistoric times.