Indian Antiquary Vol 54

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Stephen Meredyth Edwardes, Krishnaswami Aiyangar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 41

FEBRUARY, 1925)
A NOTE ON THE WORDS. PERTALE' AND KALNADU
88
were Saivas, and apparently they would not have tolerated the Buddhistio monasteries within their dominions, especially just about the time when Sankaracharya preached a crusade against Buddhism and succeeded in pusting it from India. Indeed the unfinished state of the second Vibâra indicates precipitate action, apparently brought about by the persecution of the Buddhists, who must have been compelled to leave the place burriedly. The traditions which have grown up in regard to these places show how keen the persecution was. It could not tolerate the reminiscence of even Buddhistio names. Stories were invented, appropriating all the places as residences of R&ma and Siva or their retainers. The two monasteries are now known as Ghode ki Payagå und Ghode ki Lid or stables of Mahadeo's horses. The entrances, which have become disintegrated, are stated to have been eaten by the horses for want of sufficient fodder. The unfinished Vihara is called Ghode ki Lid, because there lies a large quantity of guano, which gives a smell compared by the people to that of horse-dung. These two monasteries are situated in a most picturesque valley surrounded by high mountains, on the fork formed by the rivers Mandu and its tributary, the Ganga. It is just the place which Buddhists would have selected for their Vihậras. Near the village is & sulphur spring containing hot water. A bath in it is supposed to cure skin diseases, but whether the pilgrims are afflicted with them or not, they bathe in it, considering it to be a necessary part of their meritorious performance. One of the peculiarities of this locality is that a strong wind blows throughout the year every day from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. A NOTE ON THE WORDS PERTALE' AND KALNADU.'1
BY THE LATE T. A. GOPINATHA RAO, M.A. 1. The word pertale like kalnadu occurs in Kannada inscriptions and is one of those whose meaning is not properly understood. It occurs, for instance, in No. 148 of the collection of inscriptions of the Srirangapattana Taluka of the Mysore Distriot, a record belonging to the fourth year of the reign of the Ganga king SatyavAkya Perum Anadiga! and is dated the pertaledivasam of the month Marggasira. Mr. Rice has translated this word as the eighth day (of the fortnight).
The word pertale, or more correctly peretale, is a compound of the words pere and tale, two words which are common to the Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil languages. The former means the crescent moon, and the latter, the head or the beginning. Hence the compound literally means the head or the beginning of the crescent or the waxing moon. That this derivation is correct, will become patent from the following quotation, wherein the word occurs in a slightly altered form : Anit-talaip-pirai pal tindina Sarya-grahanatti-dru' (on the day of the solar eclipse that touched the beginning or the first of the crescent moon in the month of Ani). This passage occurs in an inscription found in the Jalan Athéévara temple at Takkôlam and is dated the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Rajakesarivarman. From the fact that & solar eclipse is mentioned, it becomes quite clear that talaipirai (or pirai-talai) refers only to the first of the waxing moon; in other words to the new moon. The English compound 'new-moon' conveys almost the same sense as pirai-talai.
Again, in the sixth Canto, entitled the Kadaladu-kádai, of that superb Tamil classic epic poem, the Silappadigaram, the phrase uvavu-talai occurs. It is a compound of uvaou and talai : uvavu (or uvd) means the conjunction of the sun and the moon and might refer to either the new or the full-moon. But in later Tamil works it is generally employed to denote the new moon. The phrase therefore is a paraphrase of the other, pirai-talai.
From the above explanations it is certain that peratnle means the new moon, and not the eighth day', as has been supposed by Mr. Rice in the document already alluded to. 1 This note was contributed to the Journal in 1910, but was unfortunately mislaid tilla recent dato.-E.