Indus culture, Durga and Cilappatikaaram

[Mark F. Tritsch]

> From:          GANESANS at cl.uh.edu  6/26/97
>    --------------------------------------------
> In the Western ghats, in between Palghat and Coimbatore,
> there is a deer called as "kELai aaDu". It is small - may be 3 feet high.
> I always wondered why it is called a "goat"!. Is it the same as 
> markhor goat, referred to in Parpola's book??!

Dear Ganesan,

according to S.H.Prater, "Indian Animals", the animal you are talking 
about is the Nilgiri Tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius), and he gives the 
tamil and kannada name as varai adoo. I don't know what kelai means, 
but maybe it's just a local variation of the name. Although the 
Nilgiri Tahr is a goat, it is not the same as the Markhor (Capra 
falconeri) - it lives, like its relative the Himalayan Tahr 
(Hemitragus jemlahicus) in even higher and more inaccessible places 
than the Markhor, and above all it has short, slightly curved horns, not 
long and twisted ones like the Markhor.

Greetings,

Mark Tritsch
***************************************************

Dr. Mark F. Tritsch
Breslauer Strasse 14 B
65203 Wiesbaden
GERMANY

Tel/Fax: +49 611 691497

***************************************************