"The author of the Tanjore Gazeteer (1906) described the position of the Brahmans there in these terms: “Brahmans versed in the sacred law are numerous in Tanjore; Vedic sacrifices are performed on the banks of its streams; Vedic chanting is performed in a manner rarely rivalled; philosophical treatises are published in Sanskrit verse; and religious associations exist, the privilege of initiation into which is eagerly sought for and the rules of which are earnesdy followed even to the extent of relinquishing the world.”"