Re Potala(ka), etc

[N. Ganesan]

Prof. G. Samuel wrote:
<<<
On the whole, if Avalokitesvara had an alternate
identity, Siva would be more likely than Visnu. All in all, the Malaya
mountains seems our best guess so far, given that there seems to be
some ambiguity about exactly where that refers to. But nothing seems
to be conclusive.
>>>

 The Buddhist epic in Tamil from 6th century (Re: P. Schalk's
volume on Manimekalai)  fixes Malaya as
Mt. Potiyil/Potikai. Malaya as Potikai/Potiyil
is used in the beginning of the B. epic. Also, many Sanskrit
texts fix Malaya mountains in South Tamilnadu of which Potiyil/Potikai
is the tallest peak (in entire Tirunelvely, Kanyakumari districts).

On 24-Feb-1999, Dr. J.-L. Chevillard gave the original text and
its translation:

[Begin quote]
 "OGku uyar *malayattu* arum tavan2 ..." - Manimekalai 1.3
 "the great sage Agastya, who dwells on Potikai" (p.1)
[End quote]

Note that U. V. CAminAtaiyar uses Potikai/Potiyil as Malaya.

Regards,
N. Ganesan


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