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DECEMBER, 1925] THE CULTURAL VALUE OF THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS IN JAVA. 227
bears a Sanskrit name also, which must naturally mean the same thing as tillai.14 So tillai means 'wisdom' and 'wisdom' is generally described to be 'bright.' Tillai means 'white'. or bright. The Telugu words telivi, teliyuta (wisdom) are derived from tirili.
Thus tirili (wisdom, brightness)+ nga means 'people of wisdom'. In the Brahmaṇḍa Purana it is said that Andhra-vishnu, along with rishis, resided on the banks of the Godavari. In India all wise and learned men were spoken of as rishis in ancient days. This conforms to the real name of Tirilinga. The place where these Tiriling&h (wise men) lived became known as Tiriliiga. Sir George Grierson, has nearly arrived at the real origin of the word Telugu when he said: "It seems probable that the base of this word is teli and that nga or gu is the common Dravidian formative element. A base teli occurs in Telugu, teli (bright); teligula (to perceive)",
Tirilinga, therefore, was a tract of land where learned and wise men lived. Telugu had its origin there. Telanga-nâdu Brahmans had their home in that country, and the Telagas were its original cultivators. It had a king called Telunga-raya. The modern Sabbavarm in the Godavari district marks the position of the country. As the country is mentioned in a document of the year A.D. 498, it must have originated about the fourth century, if not earlier. Telugu, therefore, must have had the begin. ning of its rise from about the same date.
THE CULTURAL VALUE OF THE ANCIENT MONUMENTS IN JAVA. (Translated from the Proceedings of the Java Institute.) BY MARY A. RUS; JOGJAKARTA.
[The Java Institute held a Congress at Jogjakarta on December 24th to 27th, 1924, when many interesting questions were discussed, and amongst them was the question: What value have the ancient Javanese Monuments for present and future Javanese Culture? In this important discussion the following gentlemen took part: 1. Dr. T. D. K. Bosch; 2. Mr. N. A. van Leeuwen; 3. Dr. Radjiman; 4. Mr. Maclaine Pont. In the following paper their remarks are translated. ]
I.
By Dr. T. D. K. Bosch.
The value of the ancient Javanese monuments for present day culture is small, because only a very limited number of enlightened Javanese understand the significance thereof, and <the question arises whether it will be possible by education to awaken interest and love for this ancient Javanese culture in larger circles. Can a programme of education, stretching over the elementary and secondary schools, and (may be in the near future) the colleges, again make the ancient Javanese art, at present dead to the multitude, a factor of significance in the intellectual development of the Javanese race? If ever the history of ancient Javanese art becomes a subject in the schools, the Javanese pupils will certainly memorize all facts with unequalled eagerness, and faithfully repeat all facts worth knowing. But all the acquired knowledge will only serve to increase the learning of the pupils. It will fail to awaken feelings of real love and admiration in them for the ancient arts, and it cannot be right to assume that the ancient Javanese art has the same value for the West as for the modern Javanese. Still the impression the West has received of the art will necessarily be mirrored in the education.
14 Tillai-nayagam is an epithet of Siva, as worshipped at Chidambaram. It is explained as Tillai (the, trees of that name)+nayaka (a lord). So Siva is made a lord of the Tillai trees. Siva is generally described as the 'lord of wisdom'; but nowhere is he called the lord of the Tillai trees. It is absurd to translate a kind of tree by Tillai, in face of these proofs.
15 Ling. Sur. of India, Vol. IV, Dravidian and Mundari Languages.
