சீபழமி (ciipazami) - a reading of the Edakkal-5 inscription

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N. Ganesan

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Jun 16, 2012, 11:20:58 AM6/16/12
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சீபழமி (ciipazami) - a reading of the Edakkal-5 inscription
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I went thru' carefully Iravatham's and Kasinathan's
reading of Edakkal-5 inscription. Here are some
thoughts after consulting with Iravatham's book
on Early Tamil Epigraphy (2003, HOS v. 62).
Early VaTTezuttu Inscriptions (101-121) 
(ca. 5th and 6th centuries A.D.), pp. 449-481.
{The book copy was kindly sent to me by Prof. Witzel
when it was printed. A real use today!}

(a) I agree with Dr. N. Kasinathan's reading
of the word, Pazami. Fram MaNaRkENi editor, Ravikumar's blog:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8RGohmXHdfA/T9rAbTArpfI/AAAAAAAAA1I/FHpDVYSxspU/s1600/1.jpg

"Pazami" (= ancient lady) seems to indicate the female ancient spirit/being, called Kolli/KoRRi
said to reside in inaccessible mountains in classical Tamil texts.
For NK's reading of the last letter as "mi" (மி), please refer to
Iravatham's book examples where the large arch indicating i/ii
over a consonant exists. The vowel sign i over the consonant, ma 
(ma looks like a square) is the large arch explained by Dr. Kasinathan.

Edakal-B-1 and Edakal-B-2 themselves provide evidence that
the large arch over ma in Edakkal-5 is indeed readable as mi.
palpuli taatta kaari (Edakal-B-1, pg. 476). Large arch on top
over -la- and -ri- letters. 
Edakkal-B-2 veGkOmalai kaccavanu catti, (pg. 476)
note the large arch over the last letter, ta to produce ti.

--------------

(b) Edakkal-5 inscription - reading the first letter as cii (< 'zrii (Sanskrit))
Take a look at the Edakkal-5 inscription:
http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01106/e_pazhama2_jpg_1106779g.jpg
The first letter is "cii" (< 'srii) as evidenced from
Sittannavaasal-B-6 of the same period, i.e., 5th century.
The first letter, cii in Edakkal-5 (newly found) and 
the first letter of Sittannavasal-B-6 (pg. 456, ETE, HOS) are *identical*.
It reads as "ciRuceNNan". The ci/cii is like the digit 3.
Also, see the 6th century Jaina teacher, VaccaNanti inscription
pg. 470. The last line is ciitikai, look at the cii- letter.
See again the 6th century Tirunaatarkun2Ru inscription:
the last line is "cirikaru niciithikai" (pg. 472). Both ci  & cii in this
last line are notable. In this inscription we can see the
beginnings of i & ii vowel sign (maatra) differentiation's
beginnings.

Many inscriptions start with the auspicious sign, Srii
in Tamil country and all over India, but the problem is
we do not have Tamil inscriptions starting with Om praNava sign in
the first ten centuries at all. Varier is on the right tract
to read zrI as first syllable. But as shown by comparison
with Tamil VaTTezuttu inscriptions here, zrI is wriiten
in Tamil as "cii".
http://www.thehindu.com/arts/history-and-culture/article2872568.ece

ciiraama viNNakaram (Azvars), ciiraGkam, ciivilliputtuur,
ciitaran, ciitaLi "garbha-grha", ciipali, ciitaaLi (sacred s. Indian
talipot palm, which flowers once in 70 or 80 years and then dies.
shown in Indus seals many times, ciitaaLi palm leaves were
used for writing). In Kerala, the processional images are
called ciivEli (சீவெளி), etc., 

I suggest the Edakkal-5 be read as "ciipazami" & its
old Tamil cultural meaning was given. In the Gandavyuhasutra
(translated from Prakrit/Sankrit mahayana scriputure into Chinese
in 1st century), Kollippaavai is a teacher (Kalyanamitra) for the
rich merchant boy, Sudhana - the theme in Borobudur.
Also, this ciipazami "mother goddess" is the icon of veneration
in Tirupppavai ritual by Jains, Vaishnavaites & Saivaites.

N. Ganesan


Note: ciipazami in India - from two limits of Time;

(அ) கி.மு. 2900-ஆம் ஆண்டு சுமேரியாவில் இருந்து வரும்
இனனா (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inanna)  கொற்றி-சீபழமி ஆகும் நிலை. சிந்து சமவெளி
சிற்பம் இன்று இத்தாலி நகர்ந்து போய்விட்டது. இதுபற்றி விரிவாக
எழுதணும். தமிழ்நாட்டிலே தான் மூதேவி/சேட்டை சிற்பங்கள்
நூற்றுக்கணக்கில் சமணர்குகை, சைவக் கோவில்களில்
கிட்டுகின்றன. சேட்டை இனனாவின் அக்கை.
http://harappa.drupalgardens.com/content/lady-spiked-throne
inanna getting nativized as durga 4900 years ago? 
Inanna's descent into the underworld? Durga on a boat sculptures
in historic times.

(ஆ) அண்மையில் சீர்காழி குரலில்
சின்னஞ்சிறு பெண்போலே சீபழமி சிரித்திருப்பாள்
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoldjJS1OWI
தமிழ்த்தாயாக இருப்பவள் இக் கன்னி கொல்லி/கொற்றி.
பாலைத்திணையின் தேவதை. 





Date: Sat, Jun 9, 2012 at 7:25 AM
Subject: Re: [ctamil] Earliest Malayalam Inscription
To: cta...@services.cnrs.fr


On Fri, Jun 8, 2012 at 5:25 PM, Sri. Lakshmi Srinivas <lsri...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> An interesting news item in 'The HINDU' about the earliest Malayalam
> inscription. It could well be the earliest, it could well be Malayalam too
> but the inscription itself, as read, does not make any sense.
>
> http://www.thehindu.com/arts/history-and-culture/article3501408.ece
>

I think we can explain the Edakkal figure of the Iron age rock sculpture with reference to findings in
Adichanalluur (excavations by Dr. T. Sathyamurthy's team, back in 2005) and Sangam literature.  When the
rice cultivation and iron technology spread from the North into
South India and Ceylon, these kind of anthropomorphic figures are carved.
"i pazama" (= that which is ancient or old) - As Iravatham says, this
may be 4th or 5th century inscription. But the  the Edakkal figure (found in several spots at Edakkal) 
are several centuries older. For example, look at these from Edakkal caves:
look at the hairstyle - are they horns? sheaf of grains?

Let us look at the figure:
This has to do with Kolli (KoRRi, KoRRavai) - giri-durga carved
on inaccessible caves. This is described in Sangam poems as
"kolli-p-paavai". In one of the last Sangam poem, Tirumuruku,
Murukan is described as "izaiyaNi ciRappin2 pazaiyOL kuzavi"  (Tirumuruku 259).
All the iron age sites are called with names that has to do with kol-,
Kollan2 'blacksmith', Kolli hills (Salem district), Kollam (quilon in Kerala),
when the iron technology and rice cultivation [1] was brought into
south India during the Megalithic age in centuries BCE (Adichanallur,
Porunthal, KodumaNal, ... etc., and in Sri Lanka), this anthropomorphic
figure of Kolli (aks KoRRi in sangam who is called "pazaiyOL" (= the ancient female (goddess))
in sangam literature). Also, this mother goddess is kADukizaaL, aiyai in CT.
Edakkal images of Kolli are the archaeological examples of the
"kolli-p-paavai ezututal" in Sangam and later Tamil literature, & will
provide a series of Tamil literary examples through 2000 years,
Looking at the human figure, my take is it is female, as shown
by the hourglass-like torso of it. The hourglass drum (called tuDi in Tamil,
and there were drummers called tuDiyan-s in sangam era, A famous
puRam poem mentions 4 kinds of drummers including tuDiyan, Ref. G. L. Hart's
translation). The same female, Kolli, is found in Adichanalluur from
500 BCE in burial urns. And, compare the hourglass torso of her image there also
with that of Edakkal image with "i pazama" inscription with the figure.
To me, the inscription and the image seems to be of the same age,
but elsewhere there are older sculptures which provide the proto-type model
for the 5th century image and inscription describing it. The person who
made the inscription along with the "Kolli" figure is copying what image is there
for centuries & trying to explain that this is ancient. what is the "parachute"
or "funnel" like stuff tied to the Kolli's leg right next to her? I suggest it is
flower. For "funnel", the Tamil word is "kuvaLai" ( blue nelumbo flower)
& all along Tamil literature, KuvaLai flower is the symbol of
vELir clans who are supposed to have moved with god Krishna
into South from Dvaraka bringing agriculture and megalithic age 
with them into south India. The spreading of flowers at the feet of
images is an early indication of bhakti, and is called "pU-p-poli"
in Tamil epics. (Nice papers on this by John E. Cort w.r.t. Jainism,
and by P. Schalk w.r.t. Buddhism). The reason the breasts are
not shown for "Kolli" in Edakkal caves is that the flat stone surface
does not allow for the breasts as projections in line carvings,
but clearly shown in Adichanallur ceramic where it's easy to
add Kolli's breasts with applique technique. 

Compare Adichanallur burial urn sculpture (2005), it is "Kolli" as her breasts are
explicitly shown and look at the hourglass drum - tuDiyiDai of women
praised in Tamil literature throughout. And this Adich. image is quite
comparable to Edakkal cave images which go back to same period
as Adichanallur. In 4th or 5th century, a person has inscribed this
iron age scuptures as "ancient" (i pazama in Early Malayalam).
The 7-year old article in Frontline (The Hindu publication)
on the Adichanallur excavations:

Adichanallur burial urn image - its possible identity:
Obviously, a stack of paddy denotes the agriculture,
the anthropomorphic figure with hourglass shape torso indicating
thin waist (tuTiyiTai), and female breasts indicate her as
the ancient Mother Goddess of India, KoRRavai.

The two animals in the burial urn with the ancient goddess
further strengthens her identification with KoRRavai-Durga.
The first is the blackbuck stag near her, see Michael Rabe
(a good friend,  expert on Pallava & Indian art history
who has just passed away) article on Durga whose vehicle
is the stag (Cilampu etc., Or even in Kumari worship in Nepal):
M. Rabe (1957 - 2012) gave me this photo:
Late lamented Michael's article on Pallava Durga:
Among the two animals near the female divinity of Adichanallur,
the more important one is crocodile, and Kolli (KoRRavai)'s
relationship with viDangar/iDangar crocodile exists in
India for the last 4200+ years. worked from 2007
to show the importance of crocodile cult and
'makara viDangar - koRRavai puNarcci' in Indus art,
See for example, prof . A. Parpola's identification
of an important IVC sign as crocodile reproduced in the pdf [2]

Any learned comments welcome,
N. Ganesan

[1] For the megalithic expansion of Agriculture, Iron tech
into south India,

[2] I presented the crocodile cult & Kolli worship in Indus
and Tamil links in 2007 & also in TNF convention, May 2012 also. will present 
this Kolli & crocodile in Adichanallur and striking resemblences 
of her in Edakkal caves at Coimbatore next month.
5 examples from Tamil culture of linking physical things
to linguistic signs are given here, This is the way proto-writing
evolved in Mesopotamia, e.g., narmer "catfish-awl" (King's name) & kudurru stones.

[3] KoRRavai-Durga in Indus art:
(I differed from Sri. Iravatham's view that it's jallikaTTu, back in 2008 banning
or sustaining jallikaTTu in Tamilnadu state was popular in political circles. 
But this IVC seal  does not  show zebu cattle, but it's rather the buffalo demon's
battle with KoRRavai):

[4] Edakkal caves,
Fred Fawcett discovered Edakkal cave art in late 19th century:
"His article, written in collaboration with R.C. Temple, Colin MacKinzie, Hultzsch and Bruce Foote was first published in `Indian Antiquary' in October 1901. This has been republished by Shreyas, in a slick compact volume with photographs that enhances its appeal to readers. `The rock carvings in Edakkal cave' represents an earnest effort to disseminate authentic information about the pre-historic rock shelter in Wayanad, Dr Kurup rightly points out in his introduction." we need to get this booklet, containing reprinted IA (1901) article.

[5] Iravatham mentioned the Indus valley sign - man with a jar - found in Edakkal caves:






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