Smearing the Drums

[N. Ganesan]

UVS library edition of NaRRiNai:
>
>   kan2Ru peRu valcip pANan2 kaiyatai
>   vaLLuyirt taNNumai pOla  - naRRiNai 310:9-10
>

Lakshmi Srinivas wrote:
>Here the reference seems to be to the pANar eating
>calf meat (valci - food).

What puzzles me is  several years after A. Duraisamy
Pillai wrote his reading "kaLiRu peRu valcip pANan2",
Tamil scholars in the prestigious UVS library and
Int. Inst. of Tamil studies etc., continue to use
"kan2Ru peRu valci" supported by the available mss.

The problem may be the non-availability of Mr. Pillai's
mss. for verification. I have a 5-volume publication
listing Tamil mss. worldwide, published by Tamil
university at Thanjavur. Its First volume lists all
known CT mss.: only two naRRiNai mss. so far known to
the academic world, one at Annamalai university given by
P. Narayanasami Ayyar, and the other full mss. of NaRRiNai is at UVS
library.

>The one clue, imho, this verse gives to the nature of
>the taNNumai is that it was hollow ("uL yAtum illatOr
>pOrvai amcol");  Although the simile is most apt,
>isn't it kind of strange considering all drums are
>hollow? Is this perhaps a common idiom ?

The description of the drum is so scanty, I guess
everything is not clear. Was only one side
wrapped in leather while the other side left
open??

>However according to the commentary that I have
>"mAkkaN taNNumai" - "kariya kaNNaiyuTaiya taNNumai",
>so it would seem mA is used in one of its more common
>senses viz., black/dark  instead of flour. (Kazhagam
>edition, p.241). Do you have any other commentary ...
>u ve ca perhaps?

I chose mA to mean flour instead of black soil
(the karaNai soil with high iron content)
because of what U. VE. Saminathaiyar writes
on mAk kiNai drum. mA is not the black earth
on the kiNai drums because kiNai drums shine like full
moon. If black soil is smeared  CT says: "maN kaNai
muzavam" ...

The OTL entry:

mA 06 1. flour, meal, dough, powder; 2. dust;

The "mA" paste is applied on the kiNaip paRai drum
as well as taNNumai drums.

"aGkaN mAkkiNai atira oRRa" puRam 373
"arikkUTu mAkkiNai iriya oRRi" puRam 378
"teL kaN mAk kiNai teLirppa oRRi" puRam 397
etc.

The CT editor UVS says kiNaippaRai resembles
the Full Moon. If the mA flour is black
or black earth (which is described differently
as maN kaNai muzavu), then the kiNai drums
cannot be looking like full moon!

"20. kiNaip paRaikku muzu mati uvamai;
matiyat tan2n2aven2 viciyuRu taTaari;
mAka vicumpin2 veNtiGkaL, mUvaintAn2
muRai muRRak, kaTan2aTuvaT kaNTan2n2ave
n2iyam; (puRanA. 371:17, 400:1-4)"
(p. 590, eTTut tokaiyuL eTTAvatAkiya
puRanAn2URu mUlamum uraiyum,
UVS Edition, 6th reprinting, 1963).

Regards,
N. Ganesan



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