Upvote:1
It might be worth mentioning that “Hinduism” is an invention of British writers of the 19th century. Before the colonial period people in India defined themselves by caste (Brahmans etc.) or as devotees of a particular god (Shaiva, Vaishnava etc.). There was no concept of “Hindus” as a group in contrast to Buddhists, Jain, Muslims etc.
Upvote:3
As mentioned in Rajib's, the question is not entirely correct. In addition, there are theories that say that the Aryan-Dravidian distinction is not true, and that all are of the same race. But, to answer the question, some of the best songs of Indian classical music were composed in the South Indian language Telugu (by native speakers of course), and all the songs are hymns to some god. The revivals of Hinduism, in the face of opposition from Buddhism and Jainism, was carried by mainly south Indians (Adi Shankaracharya). They also established many "peethams" - so its not like South India didn't influence Hinduism, either. There are translations of Ramayanam, Mahabharatm and Bhagvat Gita in Telugu. Then, again there are the large number of temples in Tamil Nadu. And most importantly, almost since the rule of ChandraGutpa Maurya, the vast bulk of India was under one control. So, to say that "South Indians are not Hindu" is not correct.
Upvote:5
The premise of the question is incorrect. Hinduism
is most certainly and very much prevalent in South India, along with Islam, Christianity, and many other religions. There is no such thing as Dravidianism
. If there was such a thing in ancient times, it is a highly debated and contentious issue. Genetics and many other modern tools seem to suggest that these are constructs - just like race. So if the question is with reference to religion- there is no religion called Dravidianism
. If it is a racial question- I propose that it is an incorrect premise to construct racial identities.
EDIT: (Addition)
Many of the greatest "revivalists" and thinkers of Hinduism (although the term Hinduism is very broad- i use it here in the conventional sense) have come from South India (South India- again in conventional sense). Three of the most well known scholars/thinkers were Shankaracharya, Ramanuja and Madhavacharya.
Epics such as the Ramayana have been re-interpreted and re-told in South Indian Languages such as Kamban's version of Ramayana. Also, Shaivism and other forms of Hinduism has had rich literary inputs from all languages. To see Tamil
literature check this. The other (primary) languages in south India are Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu. A search will throw up many results, but it is too vast to cover in an SE answer.