Food from Tamil literature
Ganesan
Food from Tamil Literature
*****************************
The following are the major references on tamil food:
1) A. K. Chettiar, uNavu, 1967, 144 p.
A. K. Chettiar visited and wrote travelogues in 1930's & 1940's
about USA, Japan, Canada, Malaya etc., M.G.R borrowed the title
of one of his books, ulakam cuRRum tamizan - to name a movie.
His work on Coorg is good. He ran a magazine Kumari malar that
had lot of new material. He owned a small airplane, took aerial
shots of Madras etc., In 1945, He collected, put together
all the film documentaries on Gandhiji. Many Indian people saw
Gandhi for the first time, about whom they have only read & heard a lot.
AKC's Tamilnadu Payanak Kurippukal is a classic. It is a compilation
of all good material that is written as travelogues on various
Tamilnadu places including Izham.
2) mayilai cIni. vEngkaTacAmi, uNavu nUl, maNivAcakar patippakam,
1965, 96 p.
3) ca. namaccivAyam, tamizar uNavu, ulakat tamiz ArAycci
nilaiyam, 1981, 304 p.
4) K. T. Acharya, Indian food: a historical companion,
Oxford university press, 1994, 322 p.
Sangam literature:
******************
1) irungkAz ulakkai irumpumukam tEytta
avaippumAN arici amalai veNcORu
kavaittAL alavan kalavaiyoTum peRukuvir
- ciRupANARRuppaTai 193-195
crab curry with rice.
2) Ongkucinai mAvin tIngkani n^aRumpuLi
mOTTiru varAal kOTTumIn kozungkuRai
- puRan^AnURu 399
mango juice used for tamarind-like sour taste
while cooking varAal fish.
3) cEtA naRumOr veNNeyin mAtuLat
turuppuRu pacungkAyp pOzoTu kaRikalantu
kanjcaka n^aRumuRi aLaii
- perumpAN. 306-308
pomegranate seeds fried in butter.
4) irungkiLai jneNTin ciRupArppu anna
pacun^tinai mUral pAloTum peRukuvir
- perumpAN. 167-168
'tinai' millet like baby crabs.
5) n^eTungkural pULaip pUvin anna
kuRun^tAL varakin kuRaLavizc conRip
- perumpAN. 192-194
'varaku' millet
6) veNNel valci
manaivAz aLakin vATToTum peRukuvir
- perumpAN. 255-256
chicken fry with white rice
7) cempuRRu Iyalin inaLaip puLittu
- puRam. 119
cooking Iyal(Ical, fire moths?) in buttermilk which is a few days old.
(like mOrk kuzampu or pAR kuzampu).
Ical have a very short life span. They are all over the place
when it has rained in the night, there is little moisture in the air,
and the soil is damp. Early in the morning they are found in good
quantity in anthills. The place I come from is very fertile and
has rain forests - Topslip, Anaimalai, Pollachi, Udumalai, Muunar, etc.,
In the Western Ghats, there lives a mountain-folk called malasar who catch
Ical and eat them. About malasar I have read only in one place
(pilO. irutayan^At, kongku malaivAcikaL, 1968). They don't know
what money is, not brought into monetary economy & are fast
disappearing in numbers. Another tribe little larger in numbers
also inhabit Coimbatore district mountains. They are called iruLar.
iruLa language was extensively studied by K. Zvelebil, came out as a
book from Syracuse university. iruLar, malasar languages are pre-tamil.
A town tamil would not understand many words spoken by them.
In Sangam era, no poet speaks bad of meat-eating & liquor drinking.
Only the growth of Brahmanical Hinduism, Jainism & Buddhism(Buddhists are not
against meat eating even today) made Tamils value vegetarianism
and non-drinking as good qualities worthy to follow.
1) inkaTum kaLLin AmUr
- puRam 80
2) inkaTum kaLLin izaiyaNi n^eTumtErk
koRRac cOzar
- naRRiNai 10
3) tELkaTuppu anna n^ATpaTu tERal
- puRam 372
4) aravu vekuNTanna tERal
- puRam 376
Tamils drank kaL(toddy) from coconut, palm and Iccam maram (a kind of
date tree). They fermented it so that it has a bite like snake
or sting like scorpion!
They aged their drinks using bamboo trunks and storing them underground.
n^ilamputaip pazun^iya maTTin tEral
pulvEy kurampaik kuTitoRum pakarn^tatu
-akam.
Tamils also made a drink out of rice, something akin to Japanese sake.
This drink was called tOppi. maRavar women of Tamil dry lands (pAlai)
carried it in mud pots. It is interesting this custom is still alive
in Ramnad district. Making tOppi drink by maRavar women and celebrating
its drinking in festivals is happening even today and complete details
are given in Sangam poetry. I read an interesting article in
"AvaNam", a journal of archaeology from Thanjavur.
Liquor chalices and celebrating meat-eating were common in Heroic age
of Greece & Rome too. See K. Kailasapathy, Tamil heroic poetry,
Oxford university press, 1968.
Medieval Literature:
--------------------
1) Appar also refers to eating tortoise. The "Amai" is put in a big
vessel of water. It feels a bit cold. When people start to cook it,
ironically the tortoise feels happy because the water gets to be
warm and cozy. It does not realize the oncoming disaster!
vaLaittu n^inRu aivar kaLvar
manattiTait tuyaram ceytu
taLaittu vaittu, ulaiyil ERRi
tazal eri maTutta n^Iril
tiLaittu n^inRu ATukinRa
AmaipOl teLivilAtEn
- appar
2) veytAy n^aRuvitAy vENTiyaLavum tinpatAy
n^eytAn aLAvi n^iRaiyiTTu - poyyE
aTakenRu colli amutattai iTTAL
kaTakam ceRin^ta kaiyAL.
- avvai
Oh! It is truly a dish from heavens, and not the spinach that she claims.
3) varakaricic cORum vazutuNangkAy vATTum
muramurenavE puLitta mOrum - tiRamuTanE
pulvELUrp pUtan pukazn^tuparin^tu iTTacORu
ellA ulakum peRum.
- avvai
brinjal curry with "varaku" rice is worth the World.
4) caRRE tuvaiyalarai tampiyoru paccaTivai
vaRRal EtEnum vaRuttuvai - kuRRamilai
kAyamiTTuk kIraikaTai kammenavE miLakuk
kAyaraittu vaippAy kaRi.
- mAtavac cijnAna yOkikaL (mid 18th century)
5) aranciram kANAppuLLum
attuTan iRakkumpUmi
varanmuRai yAkavan^ta
vaTacolil cuvaiyAmonRum
karamtanil aLLiyuNNak
kaLitaru pAyATOTu
uramalar man^tankUTTum
uNNa varukuvIrE
haran ciram kANAp puL = annam
iRakkum pUmi = cAkum pAr = cAm + pAr = cAmpAr
vaTacol for cuvai = rasam
pAy + ATu = pAy + acam (Writing Sanskrit ajam in Tamil letters) = pAyacam
malar + man^tan = pU + cani = pUcani
6) paccaTiyum tINTEn paruppinilum kaivaiyEn
kiccaTiyum tINTEn kizangkumeTEn - meccupukaz
Araip patiyil avittuk kaTain^tuvaitta
kIraik kaRikiTaikku mEl.
- kavimaNi
7) I liked what Badri posted before. an akaval from his teacher?
(I changed it a bit.)
cUloTu talaicAy cen^n^el arici
mAlin vaNNamAm maiyAr uzun^tu
pAlin n^iRampOl paTiya araittu
Orn^AL n^anku puLittu
vArkka varumE vaLamiku tOcai.
Yours,
n. ganesan
nas...@lms461.jsc.nasa.gov
Your Real Name
Ganesan wrote:
>
> Food from Tamil Literature
> *****************************
> In Sangam era, no poet speaks bad of meat-eating & liquor drinking.
> Only the growth of Brahmanical Hinduism, Jainism & Buddhism(Buddhists are not
> against meat eating even today) made Tamils value vegetarianism
> and non-drinking as good qualities worthy to follow.
What about THirumanhtiram? I don't know whether it falls under sangam
literature or not? I think generally there was a intellectual movement
against meat eating and drinking even before sangam era. Starting from
Thiruvalluvar there were many tamizh siddarhal who took this position.
vegetarianism amongst tamils was not a product of hinduism or buddism.
Infact tamil siva yogis were the first one to advocate vegetarianism and
they were the first saivites.
MUTHU.
Badrinarayanan Seshadri
Kumar Kumarappan wrote:
> Ganesan (nas...@lms420.jsc.nasa.gov) wrote:
> : In Sangam era, no poet speaks bad of meat-eating & liquor drinking.
> Isn't vaLLuvan considered a Sangam era poet ?
> Perhaps he was an exception !!
> --kumAr
can of worms.
--badri
--
--------------------------------------------------
Badri Seshadri
Graduate Student
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Cornell University
--------------------------------------------------
Badrinarayanan Seshadri
Muthu wrote:
>
> Ganesan wrote:
> >
> > Food from Tamil Literature
> > *****************************
>
> > Only the growth of Brahmanical Hinduism, Jainism &
> > Buddhism(Buddhists are not
> > against meat eating even today) made Tamils value vegetarianism
> > and non-drinking as good qualities worthy to follow.
>
> literature or not?
It does not.
> I think generally there was a intellectual movement
> against meat eating and drinking even before sangam era.
Kindly elucidate. It would make a lot of sense if you can
identify what according to you is the 'sangam era'.
> Starting from
> Thiruvalluvar there were many tamizh siddarhal who took this position.
valluvar is not usually counted as one of the main (18 or so?)
siththarkaL. Anyway your account seems severely affected by
anachronism.
> vegetarianism amongst tamils was not a product of hinduism or buddism.
> Infact tamil siva yogis were the first one to advocate vegetarianism and
> they were the first saivites.
Interesting observations. Would be a lot better if even
an iota of supporting information is given.
--badri
> MUTHU.
Kumar Kumarappan
C.R. Selvakumar
In article <50mn8b$u...@cisu2.jsc.nasa.gov>,
Ganesan <nas...@lms420.jsc.nasa.gov> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Food from Tamil Literature
> *****************************
>
>
>The following are the major references on tamil food:
>
>1) A. K. Chettiar, uNavu, 1967, 144 p.
>A. K. Chettiar visited and wrote travelogues in 1930's & 1940's
>about USA, Japan, Canada, Malaya etc., M.G.R borrowed the title
>of one of his books, ulakam cuRRum tamizan - to name a movie.
>His work on Coorg is good. He ran a magazine Kumari malar that
>had lot of new material. He owned a small airplane, took aerial
>shots of Madras etc., In 1945, He collected, put together
>all the film documentaries on Gandhiji. Many Indian people saw
>Gandhi for the first time, about whom they have only read & heard a lot.
>AKC's Tamilnadu Payanak Kurippukal is a classic. It is a compilation
>of all good material that is written as travelogues on various
>Tamilnadu places including Izham.
Interesting !
>
>
>Medieval Literature:
>--------------------
>
>1) Appar also refers to eating tortoise. The "Amai" is put in a big
>vessel of water. It feels a bit cold. When people start to cook it,
>ironically the tortoise feels happy because the water gets to be
>warm and cozy. It does not realize the oncoming disaster!
>
> vaLaittu n^inRu aivar kaLvar
> manattiTait tuyaram ceytu
> taLaittu vaittu, ulaiyil ERRi
> tazal eri maTutta n^Iril
> tiLaittu n^inRu ATukinRa
> AmaipOl teLivilAtEn
>
> - appar
>
A nice poem about the 'pulan paduththum paadu' ( powerfully
misleading five senses) !
>
>7) I liked what Badri posted before. an akaval from his teacher?
> (I changed it a bit.)
>
> cUloTu talaicAy cen^n^el arici
> mAlin vaNNamAm maiyAr uzun^tu
> pAlin n^iRampOl paTiya araittu
> Orn^AL n^anku puLittu
> vArkka varumE vaLamiku tOcai.
Nice variation of Badri's fun poem !
>
>Yours,
>n. ganesan
>nas...@lms461.jsc.nasa.gov
How nice to see your postings again !
What a relief to read your postings !
Thanks Ganesan !
selvaa
Sukumar Alagappan
I would like to differ from Mr.Ganesan, in his quote "Brahminical Hinduism, Jainism and
Buddhism" promoted vegeterianism. If Brahmins are Aryans, then when did they become
veg eaters, while the rest of the world's Aryans were consuming Alcohol, Meat etc. So
the point is, that it is the evolution of Tamilian culture, which has brought in the
Vegetarianism. It is not Hinduism, Jainism or Buddhism. There are still meat eaters, in
every religion and in Brahmins also.
The Jains who had links with the Chola Kingdom, during the Kannaki periods, were
meat eaters originally. I personally view the birth of "Saivism", as a gradual learning
process among the tamils, after weighing the pros and cons of meat eating vs veg eating.
The Brahmins, nor the Jains, nor the Buddhist monks need to teach the tamils, on
the benefits of plants, as the "Siddhars", knew about the herbs much more than anyone
did.
Sukumar
Your Real Name
>
> Muthu wrote:
> >
> > Ganesan wrote:
> > >
> > > Food from Tamil Literature
> > > *****************************
> >
> > > Only the growth of Brahmanical Hinduism, Jainism &
> > > Buddhism(Buddhists are not
> > > against meat eating even today) made Tamils value vegetarianism
> > > and non-drinking as good qualities worthy to follow.
> >
Thirumular is considered as one of the chittharhal. He strongly
advocates against meat-eating and drinking.Mudhal thanthiram
section-7. It was so with thirukural too. what do you mean by can of
worms? Are you averse to thirukural or what?
MUTHU.
Badrinarayanan Seshadri
Muthu wrote:
> Thirumular is considered as one of the chittharhal. He strongly
> advocates against meat-eating and drinking.Mudhal thanthiram
> section-7. It was so with thirukural too.
What does this prove? thirumoolar is one of the siththarkaL. Agreed.
He advocates vegetarianism. Agreed. vaLLuvar says the same thing.
Agreed. But there is something called chronology, wouldn't you say
so?
> what do you mean by can of worms? Are you averse to thirukural or
> what?
> MUTHU.
*sigh*
If that is what you comprehended from my reply, I have nothing more to
say.
[snipped]
> What mr. Badri? How come you are so sure that sivayogis did not advocate
> Vegetarianism?
*sigh* again. Did I say that? It would be better if you examine your own
posting. You used words such as "first". Here is what you said:
"Infact tamil siva yogis were the first one to advocate vegetarianism
and they were the first saivites."
And I requested evidence to support your claims that the sivayogis were
the 'first' ones to advocate vegetarianism, and that they were the 'first'
saivites.
I apologise for my tardy writing style. I promise to correct myself and
write in a more comprehensible manner.
--badri
Kumar Kumarappan
Badrinarayanan Seshadri (ba...@sofia.mae.cornell.edu) wrote:
: Kumar Kumarappan wrote:
: > Ganesan (nas...@lms420.jsc.nasa.gov) wrote:
: > : In Sangam era, no poet speaks bad of meat-eating & liquor drinking.
: > Isn't vaLLuvan considered a Sangam era poet ?
: > Perhaps he was an exception !!
: > --kumAr
: can of worms.
: --badri
OK, I will bite, since I am interested in hearing what you have to say.
Which is it (the can of worms) ? The claim that vaLLuvan is a poet
from the Sangam era or the subject of vegetarianism/non-alcoholism in
Sangam literature.
--kumAr
Badrinarayanan Seshadri
Ah! so, you are curious:-) This will take a long posting which
I will hopefully be able to make sometime.
If you do examine kuRaL, it stands out from the early thamizh
works on three points as it decries
1. eating meat
2. drinking alcohol (and)
3. males visiting prostitutes/courtesans
kuRaL starts the tradition of this kind of sermonizing. Then,
a whole host of religious literature (Jain, Buddhist and Hindu)
pick up on these topics.
Careful examination of the data we have will uphold what
Mr.Ganesan said in his original posting, and will shatter some
myths which we have carefully nurtured, namely
(a) vaLLuvar was pre-sangam (or sangam) - in fact
the intellectually bankrupt, successive Tamil Nadu
governments even go to the extent of pinpointing his
year of birth (what thiruvaLLuvar year is this?).
(b) that vaLLuvar belonged to some sort of 'thamizhar madham'
(Selva would love this one:-) and he is not a Jain or
Buddhist. (for those who regularly read kaNaiyaazhi, you
would be amazed at what two writers - marudhamuththu and
kodumudi raamakirushNan - come up with while "interpreting"
kuRaL month after month:-)
(c) that thamizharkaL did not have to learn a damn thing
from others - be the Aryan Brahmins or the Jains or the
Buddhists, but the local, home-grown siththarKaL came
up with everything there is to it. (the issue is made
murkier, as one of the siththar has the name vaLLuvar
and even has a verse that goes on to say that he wrote
kuRaL in two lines for the benefit of the human kind,
and is now providing the world his wisdom in 'n seerk
kazhi nedil adi aasiriya viruththam'. Dan Kannan, if he
is reading this, can offer some information on this!)
And there is more to it. The thamizh nationalism and some sort
of religio-social identity is built around vaLLuvar and any
questioning on this topic is not viewed in kind light by some
people. Hence my comment to your question ('can of worms'). I
am sure you have read some of the discussions on this topic that
took place in this forum.
I have not even talked about various commentators - parimElazhakar
who emphatically claims that kuRaL is merely a translation of
manu dharama saastra (!), arthasaastra, and kaamasuutra; paavaaNar,
who dismisses parimElazhakar as a poisonous person but goes onto
say that the real intent of kuRaL is that the Jains and Buddhists
should give up their "false religion" and take up the theistic
religion; and the modern day Saiava Sidhdhaanta church that
carefully eliminates some corny portions of the kaamaththup
paal until the number of chapters comes to 108 (from 133), so
they can claim it as one of the Hindu scriptures; and so on -
each with their own agenda, trying to fix up a particular time
frame, a religion, and a philosophy for vaLLuvar. Add the rationalist
thamizh lovers who want to go one up on our friends from the
Christian world, inventing their own time period for vaLLuvar just
so that vaLLuvar can be shown to be earlier than Christ and lo and
behold, we even get a datum of our own, so the saka year can be
disregarded.
I am sure you have already seen two postings (somewhat identical)
made on this topic with lots of claims but no sort of support.
Anyway, I shall write about this at my leisure.
--badri
> --kumAr
Kumar Kumarappan
Badrinarayanan Seshadri (ba...@sofia.mae.cornell.edu) wrote:
: > : > Isn't vaLLuvan considered a Sangam era poet ?
: > : > Perhaps he was an exception !!
: > : > --kumAr
: > : can of worms.
: > : --badri
I loosely considerd any work before the start of the Bakthi period
(600 CE) as still part of sangam era, although not necessarily as sangam
literature. This is because there was a marked and distinct change in
the character and content of works from the Bakthi period. But as you
point out there is a difference between Sangam literature and kuraL as
well. So excuses apart, I do stand corrected.
: Ah! so, you are curious:-) This will take a long posting which
: I will hopefully be able to make sometime.
Looking forward for it.
<stuff deleted>
As to the rest of the postings, you have generously mixed your
personal editorials with factual observations. I do take issue
with some of your personal interpretations, but I am in no state
to get into a debate now. Perhaps some other time.
--kumAr
C.R. Selvakumar
In article <3234F7...@sofia.mae.cornell.edu>,
Badrinarayanan Seshadri <ba...@sofia.mae.cornell.edu> wrote:
>Kumar Kumarappan wrote:
>> Badrinarayanan Seshadri (ba...@sofia.mae.cornell.edu) wrote:
>> : Kumar Kumarappan wrote:
>> : > Ganesan (nas...@lms420.jsc.nasa.gov) wrote:
>> : > : In Sangam era, no poet speaks bad of meat-eating & liquor drinking.
>
>Careful examination of the data we have will uphold what
>Mr.Ganesan said in his original posting, and will shatter some
>myths which we have carefully nurtured, namely
ThirukkuRaL is usually thought to be between 100BC to 500 AD.
The date of thiruvaLLUvar is genuinely debatable, though most
agree that it must have been before 500 AD..
>
> (a) vaLLuvar was pre-sangam (or sangam) - in fact
> the intellectually bankrupt, successive Tamil Nadu
> governments even go to the extent of pinpointing his
> year of birth (what thiruvaLLuvar year is this?).
Do you know who suggested the date of thiruvaLLuvar which was
*adopted* by the 'intelluctually bankrupt, successive Tamil Nadu
governments' ? Do you know the arguments that were advanced in support
of such dates ? If you want to attack, you have to attack the
arguments advanced.
>
> (b) that vaLLuvar belonged to some sort of 'thamizhar madham'
> (Selva would love this one:-) and he is not a Jain or
> Buddhist. (for those who regularly read kaNaiyaazhi, you
> would be amazed at what two writers - marudhamuththu and
> kodumudi raamakirushNan - come up with while "interpreting"
> kuRaL month after month:-)
I've offered my reasons in this net why I do not think vaLLuvar
is not a Jain or that he espouses Jain philsophy. I've not read
KaNaiyaazhi recently and I don't know the views of the authors
you refer to. VaLLuvar does not subscribe to any one of the
philosophies ( Jain, Buddhist, Saivist, Vaishnavist etc.),
but rather offers his of own views which draws from many threads and yet
clearly delineates it from others.
>
> (c) that thamizharkaL did not have to learn a damn thing
> from others - be the Aryan Brahmins or the Jains or the
> Buddhists, but the local, home-grown siththarKaL came
Like everybody else, tamils learnt from every other people with whome
they intermingled, and like most others, they absorbed from others and
influenced others as well. In fact, it is most often argued or implied
that Tamils got 'everything' from the 'north' and 'sanskrit tradition'.
Tamils don't have any indigenous religious tradition ( Hinduism came
from the north, from vedas and sanskrit-speaking rishis sources),
they don't have any musical tradition ( everything came
from Sama Veda and Sangitha Ratnagara or Jeya Devas Ashta pathi);
they don't have any literary traditions ( everything was inspired by
sanskrit models); they don't have medical or engineering
knowledge ( everything came from Susruta and other works created
by sanskrit-speaking rishis); why even the tamil language was
'created' by the sanskrit-speaking rishi Sri Agastya...
and so on..and the list is endless. In other words, tamils are
a bunch of imbeciles, and as a 'tamil' said 'only the magic wand of
sanskrit' a meagre respectability.
The fact is , whatever came to Tamil Nadu, it got
quite significantly transformed because, there is a remarkably
live culture there for God knows how long.
Tamils have their own language, religion and culture and many significant
traditions and some of these may not be labelled distinctly as 'tamil', but
they are. As much as there is an 'aryan brahman' culture,
a jain philosophy and culture, etc. there is a distinctly
tamil culture, philosophy etc.
As much as Jains or 'aryan brahmans' absorbed and transformed some
ideas, tamils have. Saint Sambandar says
'moogam aRivaar, kalai muththamizh
meegam aRivaar, vENupuramE'
( moogam = Exalted state of 'Silence'; meegam = mEnmai, highness of state;
he effectively says those who understand the exalted
state of Silence and those who understand the greatness of
Tamil Art and the Three-fold Tamil is in vENupuram ( God-land)).
[snip; I don't agree with the identification of thiruvaLLuvar with
a siththar of the same name ]
>
>And there is more to it. The thamizh nationalism and some sort
>of religio-social identity is built around vaLLuvar and any
>questioning on this topic is not viewed in kind light by some
>people. Hence my comment to your question ('can of worms'). I
>am sure you have read some of the discussions on this topic that
>took place in this forum.
Yes, there *is* a distinctly tamil religio-social-cultural
identity and it is not 'built' nor is it around 'vaLLuvar'.
Many biased interpretations of vaLLuvar are refuted by
extending reasonable arguments.
>
>I have not even talked about various commentators - parimElazhakar
>who emphatically claims that kuRaL is merely a translation of
>manu dharama saastra (!), arthasaastra, and kaamasuutra; paavaaNar,
>who dismisses parimElazhakar as a poisonous person but goes onto
I've read paavaaNar's commentary and he says parimElazhagar
was the last of the commentators to kuRaL and his is the best
( "athu enai uraikaL elllavaRRinum siRandhathu enbathum, sila
kuRaLkatku Enai uraiyaasiriyar kaaNamudiyaatha uNmaip poruLaip
parimElazhagar n^uNmaiyaaga n^Okkik kaNduLLaar enbathum
uNmaiyE."). Having said that he criticizes with factual details.
I find paavaaNar's criticisms of perimElazhagar urai very
reasonable and valid. If you find paavaaNar's criticism not
valid, discuss with details.
>say that the real intent of kuRaL is that the Jains and Buddhists
>should give up their "false religion" and take up the theistic
>religion; and the modern day Saiava Sidhdhaanta church that
>carefully eliminates some corny portions of the kaamaththup
>paal until the number of chapters comes to 108 (from 133), so
>they can claim it as one of the Hindu scriptures; and so on -
>each with their own agenda, trying to fix up a particular time
>frame, a religion, and a philosophy for vaLLuvar. Add the rationalist
>thamizh lovers who want to go one up on our friends from the
>Christian world, inventing their own time period for vaLLuvar just
>so that vaLLuvar can be shown to be earlier than Christ and lo and
>behold, we even get a datum of our own, so the saka year can be
>disregarded.
For all practical purposes, the modern calendar is the norm.
What is wrong, if saka year be 'disregarded', by tamils and
a new thiruvaLLuvar year be adopted ? Even if vaLLuvar were
shown to be from the 12th century or even 19th century, there is
no harm in counting a new era in his name by those who cherish
his contributions ( most tamils do). Many publications do give saka,
kali etc. and sometimes in in addition they also give
thiruvaLLuvar aaNdu.
>
>I am sure you have already seen two postings (somewhat identical)
>made on this topic with lots of claims but no sort of support.
>
>Anyway, I shall write about this at my leisure.
>
>--badri
>
>> --kumAr
>
>--
>--------------------------------------------------
>Badri Seshadri
>Graduate Student
>Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
>Cornell University
>--------------------------------------------------
selvaa
