There are few worship forms and practices in Hinduism that are specific to Tamil Nadu due to the Bhakti movement spreading them across India.

In modern times, most of the temples are maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

[10] Karikala Cholan is mentioned in the poem 224 of Purananuru that he performed Vedic Rituals in the court of Righteousness where justice is well practiced after those conversant with proper custom.

Swaminathan Aiyar, a scholar of Tamil literature, published the ancient work of the Sangam period known as the Paripatal, which contains seven poems in praise of Vishnu, including references to Krishna and Balarama.

Aiyangar references an invasion of the south by the Mauryas in some of the older poems of the Sangam, and indicated that the opposition that was set up and maintained persistently against northern conquest had possibly in it an element of religion, the south standing up for orthodox Brahmanism against the encroachment of Buddhism by the persuasive eloquence and persistent effort of the Buddhist emperor Ashoka.

This revival was short-lived as the Pandya capital of Madurai itself was sacked by Alauddin Khalji's troops under General Malik Kafur in 1316 CE.

In the late 18th century, the western parts of Tamil Nadu, came under the dominions of Hyder Ali and later Tipu Sultan, particularly with their victory in the Second Anglo-Mysore War.

The Alvars, the 12 Vaishnava saint poets of 7th-9th century composed the Divya Prabandha, a literary work praising god Vishnu in 4000 verses.

The development of Hinduism grew up in the temples and mathas of medieval Tamil Nadu with self-conscious rejection of Jain practises.

[61] Hinduism is a diverse system of thought with beliefs spanning monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, monism, atheism, agnosticism, gnosticism among others;[62][63][64][65] and its concept of God is complex and depends upon each individual and the tradition and philosophy followed.

He is also venerated by the epithets of Narayana, Varadharaja, Rangaraja, Ranganatha, Kallalagar, Govindaraja, and several others in his temples scattered throughout the Tamil country.

Originally venerated as the god of the forests, Perumal was assimilated with Vaishnavism, having earlier conceived been as either a pantheistic or a monotheistic divinity.

[68] The deity, and his consort Lakshmi, as well as her aspects of Sridevi, Bhudevi, and Niladevi, are primarily venerated, and are also represented as the Dashavatara in Perumal temples in Tamil Nadu.

[27] However the text Harivamsa which is complex, containing layers that go back to the 1st or 2nd centuries BCE, Consists the parts of Krishna Playing with Gopis and stealing sarees.

Tamil Sangam literature (200 BCE to 500 CE) mentions Mayon or the "dark one," as the supreme deity who creates, sustains, and destroys the universe and was worshipped in the mountains of Tamilakam.

தீயினுள் தெறல் நீ; பூவினுள் நாற்றம் நீ; கல்லினுள் மணியும் நீ; சொல்லினுள் வாய்மை நீ; அறத்தினுள் அன்பு நீ; மறத்தினுள் மைந்து நீ; வேதத்து மறை நீ; பூதத்து முதலும் நீ; வெஞ் சுடர் ஒளியும் நீ; திங்களுள் அளியும் நீ; அனைத்தும் நீ; அனைத்தின் உட்பொருளும் நீ; In fire, you are the heat; in blossoms, the fragrance; among the stones, you are the diamond; in speech, truth; among virtues, you are love; in valour—strength; in the Veda, you are the secret; among elements, the primordial; in the burning sun, the light; in moonshine, its sweetness; you are all, and you are the substance and meaning of all.

[75] He is believed to have incarnated in the form of a part-lion, part-man being to kill Hiranyakashipu, to end religious persecution and calamity on earth, thereby restoring dharma.

[78] Kamil Zvelebil states that the hymns dedicated to Vishnu and Murugan has branded the Paripatal as a Sanskrit plagiat within the so-called Sangam texts.

With burning hatred in his heart and drying up the sandal paste on his chest, Hiranyan the evil king tortured his son Prahalathan for singing your praises, inflicting on him great sorrow.

Paripāṭal, poem 4, Verses 10 - 21[80] Sri Ramachandra also simply called Rama is one of the deities best-known and most widely worshipped in Hinduism, especially Vaishnavism.

The poem places a triumphant Rama at Dhanushkodi, sitting under a Banyan tree, involved in some secret discussions, when the birds are chirping away.

[25] The Silappatikaram (translated as The Tale of an anklet) written by a prince turned Jain monk Ilango Adigal, dated to the 2nd century AD or later.

The epic narrates the tale of Kovalan, son of a wealthy merchant, his wife Kannagi, and his lover Madhavi, and has many references to the Ramayana story.

It describes the fate of Poompuhar suffering the same agony as experienced by Ayodhya when Rama leaves for exile to the forest as instructed by his father (Dikshitar, 1939, p. 193).

The Aycciyarkuravai section (canto 27), makes mention of the Lord who could measure the three worlds, going to the forest with his brother, waging a war against Lanka and destroying it with fire (Dikshitar, 1939, p. 237).

This epic also makes several references to the Ramayana, such as a setu (bridge) being built by monkeys in canto 5, line 37 (however the location is Kanyakumari rather than Dhanushkodi).

[105] The image depicts Shiva as a teacher of yoga, music, and wisdom, and giving exposition on the shastras (vedic texts) to his disciples.

[112] Somaskanda was the principal deity during Pallava period replacing lingam, including the temples at Mahabalipuram, a UNESCO world heritage site.

Worship of these deities is oftentimes seen as the modern continuation of the Dravidian folk religion followed before the Indo-Aryan migration into Indian subcontinent.

A steeply classified class structure existed in Tamil Nadu from around 2000 years because of the correlation in the form of cultivation, population and centralization of political system.