The more one reads Sanskrit Literature,Tamil ,Puranas , Ramayana and Mahabharata, one finds a connection between the Sanatana Dharma and their Dravidian roots.
I have posted a few articles on this subject.
Of Lord Rama’s ancestor having lived in the south and migrated to Ayodhya to establish the Kingdom.
Of a Chera King having participated in the Mahabharata War,of his having performed Tharpana for those killed in the Mahabharata war.
Of Arjuna marrying a Pandya Princess.
There is more,
Of King Sibi and Manu Needhi Chola.
King Sibi cut his own flesh to for a hawk to save a dove.
Many Needhi Cholan ran his son over for rendering Justice to a Cow.
Cholas carry the name Chembian, Tamil version of Sibi.
Sibi is dated between c 100 C.E. to c. 1250 C.E.
Manu Needhi Cholan was also called Ellala’,one who ruled the Boundary’
He is reported to have expanded the Koneswaram Temple in Sr Lanka.
Developed from 205 BC, the original kovil combined key features to form its basic Dravidian temple plan, such as its thousand pillared hall – “Aayiram Kaal Mandapam” – and the Jagati expanded by King Elara Manu Needhi Cholan. Regarded as the greatest building of its age for its architecture, elaborate sculptural bas-relief ornamentation adorned a black granite megalith while its multiple gold plated gopuram towers were expanded in the medieval period.(wiki)
Ellalan got the title Manu Needhi Cholan because he has executed his own son to provide justice to a Cow. Legend has it that the king hung a giant bell in front of his courtroom for anyone needing justice to ring. One day, he came out on hearing the ringing of the bell by a Cow. On enquiry he found that the Calf of that Cow was killed under the wheels of his chariot. In order to provide justice to the cow, he killed his own son Veedhividangan under the chariot as a punishment to himself i.e. make himself suffer as much as the cow.[5] Impressed by the justice of the king, Lord Shiva blessed him and brought back the calf and his son alive. He has been mentioned in theSilappatikaram and Periya Puranam.[6]His name has since then been used as a metaphor for fairness and justice in Tamil literature. His capital was Thiruvarur.
Chronicles such as the Yalpana Vaipava Malai and stone inscriptions like Konesar Kalvettu recount that Kulakkottan, an early Chola king and descendant of Manu Needhi Cholan, was the restorer of the ruined Koneswaram temple and tank at Trincomalee in 438 A.D., theMunneswaram temple of the west coast, and as the royal who settled ancient Vanniyars in the east of the island Eelam(wiki)
Manu Needhi ruled Sri Lanka as well.
References may be found in the Mahavamsa.
Buddha Jataka tales also refer to this