Literary Evidence

There is literary evidence to prove that the lighting festival of Deepam is one of the oldest in the Tamil area. Tholkappiam whom scholars ascribe lived three thousand years ago and has the oldest extant work in Tamil literature, mentions 'the light lit on the Karthigai day of the Karthigai month'. Another poet from Tamil antiquity Thirthakka Devar, mentions 'lighting a lamp on the hill on Karthigai day'. Two old Tamil literary works, Kar Narpathu and Kalavazhi Narpathu refer to lighting on Karthigai Day and Saints Appar and Sambandar of the 7th century, also make similar references.