Krauñca Bird of the Rāmāyaṇa: Its Identification from Sanskrit and Tamil sources
N. Ganesan
Krauñca Bird of the Rāmāyaṇa: Its Identification from Sanskrit and Tamil sources
Dr. Nagamanickam Ganesan (naa.g...@gmail.com)
Houston, Texas, USA
Abstract: There have been many efforts to identify the Krauñca bird mentioned in Sanskrit texts. In the paper, 'A Bird Bereaved: Identity and Significance of Vālmīki’s krauñca' (JIP, 1998), Dr. Julia Leslie focusses on ornithological data, and on an important verse in the Rāmāyaṇa’s Southern Recension and concludes that Krauñca is Indian Sarus crane. First suggested by K. N. Dave in his book on birds in Sanskrit literature, this sarus crane idea as Krauñca is developed by J. Leslie and then by Niels Hammer. However, my paper brings in new data for the Krauñca bird identification through the comparison between Sanskrit and Dravidian classical texts and the writings of the ornithologists. The Krauñca bird has a Dravidian name, aṉṟil in Sangam Tamil texts such as Akanāṉūṟu, Naṟṟiṇai and Kuṟuntokai. In the Tamil version of the Skandapurāṇa mythology, Skanda-Murukan splits open the asura who stood in the form of Krauñca mountain which is called “aṉṟil kuṉṟu" in the Bhakti period literature. In the Vedic period, krauñca as a musical tone and religious wish-chant are incorporated from Dravidian bardic traditions. Birders like Dr. M. Krishnan and S. T. Baskaran have recorded that the ibises are still called aṉṟil in the villages of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Julia Leslie did a detailed analysis of seven common bird species: snipes, curlews, egrets, herons, storks, flamingos, and cranes. However, she misses taking into account another important family of waterbirds, called as “curlews” by 19th century colonialists. Among the wading birds of India, three species of Ibis are extant. The epithet tāmraśīrṣa referred to in the description of Krauñca bird refers to the Indian Black ibis (Pseudibis papillosa) with a bright red head while the head of the sarus crane is not red on top, and its range does not extend to South India. Indian epics describe Krauñca birds in Hampi, Karnataka. Ibises are a major class of waders, and the red-headed Ibis is identified as the Krauñca bird from 2000 years of Tamil literature. Also, in Dakshina Karnataka district, there is a place called Kariñja and also one near Bombay. In addition to Aryan etymologies for Krauñca, a Dravidian etymology with the meaning, 'black bird' is suggested by using these toponyms and old Tamil texts. The relationship of Krauñca bird with Palmyrah palm trees and the name of the island in Hindu cosmology and nineteenth lunar mansion in Indian archaeo-astronomy is discussed.