"The archaeologist K. V. Raman, who excavated many sites in Tamil Nadu, summarizes the “religious inheritance of the Pandyas” in these words: The Pandyan kings were great champions of the Vedic religion from very early times…. According to the Sinnamanur plates, one of the early Pandyan kings performed a thousand *velvi* or yagas [Vedic sacrifices]…. The Pandyas patronised all the six systems or schools of Hinduism…. Their religion was not one of narrow sectarian nature but broad-based with Vedic roots. They were free from linguistic or regional bias and took pride in saying that they considered Tamil and Sanskritic studies as complementary and equally valuable."