origin of mAl

[Chandrasekaran, Periannan]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mani Varadarajan [mailto:mani at SHASTA.STANFORD.EDU]
> Subject: origin of mAl
>
>
> Dear Indologists,
>
> Is there any account of the birth of mAl/mAyOn
> in Tamil literature? I am looking for something
> similar to murukan's birth from koRRavai, later
> fused with Durga/Parvati.
>
If by "pArvati" you meant "the lady of the hills",
and by "koRRavai" "the goddess of the desert/arid terrain",
then the birth of murukan2's birth from pArvati is what is very well
attested by early cangkam texts.
tirumurukARRuppaTai:
"malai makaL makan2E"
meaning "Oh the son of the the lady of the hills".
tirumurukARRuppaTai may be as early as 2nd century BC
(nakkIRar's contemporary pANDiyan2 neTujcelziyan2 era
epigraphy is cited by I.Mahadevan in an interview).


Chandra