The Early Kingdoms

With the Cholas in obscurity, the Tamil country was divided between the Pallavas and the Pandyas, with river Kaveri being the frontier between them.

Statement 1 is correct: The earliest Pandya to be found in epigraph is Nedunjeliyan. The record documents a gift of rock-cut beds, to a Jain ascetic.
Statement 2 is also correct: Pandyas are also mentioned in the Pillars of Ashoka (inscribed 273 - 232 BCE).

Both the statements given are perfectly correct.

Statement 1 is correct: The Pandyas of southern India are believed to have been founded at least five to six centuries before the Christian era with a very strong possibility of a more ancient date of establishment. Their recorded existence and mention are found in records dating to as early as 550 BCE.
Statement 2 is incorrect: The capital of the early Pandyan kingdom was initially Korkai, around 600 BCE, and was later moved to Koodal (now Madurai) during the reign of Nedunj Cheliyan I.

The early Pandyan Dynasty of the Sangam Literature faded into obscurity upon the invasion of the Kalabhras. They again went into decline with the rise of the Cholas in the 9th century and were in constant conflict with them.
The Pandyas allied themselves with the Sinhalese and the Cheras in harassing the Chola empire until they found an opportunity for reviving their fortunes during the late 13th century.

Pandyas were driven out of their territories and had to seek refuge on the island of Sri Lanka.
This was the start of the long exile of the Pandyas. They were replaced by a series of Chola viceroys with the title Chola Pandyas who ruled from Madurai from c. 1020.

Megasthenes reported about the pearl fisheries of the Pandyas, indicating that the Pandyas derived great wealth from the pearl trade.
Historical Madurai was a stronghold of Saivism. However, with the invasion of Kalabhras, Jainism gained a foothold in the Pandyan kingdom.

Temple building received great impetus from the conquests and the genius of Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola. The maturity and grandeur to which the Chola architecture had evolved found expression in the two temples of Thanjavur and Gangaikondacholapuram. The magnificent Siva temple of Thanjavur, completed around 1009, is a fitting memorial to the material achievements of the time of Rajaraja.
The Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, the temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram at Gangaikondacholapuram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram were declared as World Heritage Sites by the UNESCO, and are referred to as the Great living Chola temples.

The Chera kingdom owed its importance to the trade with the Romans. The geographical advantages, like the abundance of black pepper and other spices, the navigability of the rivers connecting the high mountains with the Arabian Sea and the discovery of favourable trade winds which carried sailing ships directly from the Arabian coast to Chera Kingdom in less than forty days, combined to produce a veritable boom in Cheras's foreign trade.
Muziris, the famous sea port with two Roman regiments, was in the Chera kingdom and throughout the reign of the Cheras, trade continued to bring prosperity to their kingdom, with spices, ivory, timber, pearls and gems being exported to the Middle East and to southern Europe.

Under the Cholas, the Tamil country reached new heights of excellence in art, religion and literature. In all of these spheres, the Chola period marked the culmination of movements that had begun in an earlier age under the Pallavas.
The Cholas, did not discard and in fact, continued the temple-building traditions of the Pallava dynasty and contributed significantly to the Dravidian temple design.

The Cholas left a lasting legacy. Their patronage of Tamil literature and their zeal in building temples has resulted in some great works of Tamil literature and architecture. The Chola kings were avid builders and envisioned the temples in their kingdoms not only as places of worship but also as centres of economic activity.
They pioneered a centralised form of government and established a disciplined bureaucracy.
In the age of the Cholas, the whole of South India was, for the first time, brought under a single government, when a serious attempt was made to face and solve the problems of public administration.

Statement 1 is wrong: In general, Cholas were the adherents of Hinduism. Throughout their history, they were not swayed by the rise of Buddhism and Jainism as were the kings of the Pallava and Pandya dynasties. Even the early Cholas followed a version of the classical Hindu faith.
Statement 2 is correct: The Chola kings built temples and endowed them with great wealth. The temples acted not only as places of worship but also as centres of economic activity, benefiting their entire community.

Statement 1 is wrong: The Chera population was not divided into castes and communities. The Varna system had not taken a clear shape. Social exclusiveness and un-approachability were unknown.
Statement 2 is correct: Women enjoyed a high status in the Chera realms. They educated and never covered their faces.

Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 300 BCE to 300 CE. The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam period. Sangam literature is primarily secular dealing with everyday themes in a Tamilakam context.

Child marriage was unknown to the Chera people and widow marriage was permitted during their times.
The worship of departed heroes was a common practice in the Chera kingdom along with tree worship and other kinds of ancestor worships.