[4] Some of the earliest known mentions of Perumal, and the Tamil devotional poems ascribed to him, are found in Paripāṭal – the Sangam era poetic anthology.

[8] Scholars believe that both Perumal and Tirumal ultimately trace their origin to a tribal confederacy known as the Mallas in ancient India, whose name was Dravidian for "people of the mountains".

[citation needed] The deity Perumal is identified with Mayon, sometimes translated as "the dark-complexioned one", or more literally, "He whose power is Maya" (i.e. the Saguna Brahman) who is first referenced in the texts Purananuru and Pattupattu.

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.

[14][15] 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.

[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.

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

ஆயிரம் விரித்தெழு தலையுடை அருந்திறற் பாயற் பள்ளிப் பலர்தொழு தேத்த விரிதிரைக் காவிரி வியன்பெருந் துருத்தித் திருவமர் மார்பன் கிடந்த வண்ணமும் āyiram viritteḻu talaiyuṭai aruntiṟaṟ pāyaṟ paḷḷip palartoḻu tētta viritiraik kāviri viyaṉperu turuttit tiruvamar mārpaṉ kiṭanta vaṇṇamum On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praised by many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with billowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest The 17th canto of the epic extols the beauty and greatness of Vishnu.

Vain is the tongue that will not praise Him who triumphed over the deceit of the foolish schemer Kamsa and who went as the messenger of the five Pandavas to the Hundred Kauravas, praised by the Devas in all four directions, to the accompaniment of Vedic chanting, Vain is the tongue which does not say ‘Narayana’ According to D. Dennis Hudson – a World Religions and Tamil literature scholar, the Cilappatikaram is the earliest and first complete Tamil reference to Pillai (Nila, Nappinnai, Radha), who is described in the epic as the cowherd lover of Krishna.

Such scenes where cowgirls imitate Krishna's life story are also found in Sanskrit poems of Harivamsa and Vishnu Purana, both generally dated to be older than Cilappatikaram.

[32] The Tamil epic calls portions of it as vāla caritai nāṭaṅkaḷ, which mirrors the phrase balacarita nataka – dramas about the story of the child Krishna" – in the more ancient Sanskrit kavyas.

In the introductory chapters of the Kural, Valluvar cites Indra, the king of heaven, to exemplify the virtue of conquest over one's senses.

[citation needed] According to Purnalingam Pillai, who is known for his critique of Brahminism, a rational analysis of the Valluvar's work suggests that he was a Hindu, and not a Jain.

[citation needed] Similarly, J. J. Glazov, a Tamil literature scholar and the translator of the Kural text into the Russian language, sees "Thiruvalluvar as a Hindu by faith", according to a review by Kamil Zvelebil.

Couplet Explanation: The king who never gives way to idleness will obtain entire possession of (the whole earth) passed over by Vishnu who measured (the worlds) with His foot.

(Kural Number 610) There are many more references which shows the Rama, Krishna, Parashurama, Vamana, Varaha and Narasimha in Cilappatikaram, Purananuru, Naṟṟiṇai and many other books.