[INDOLOGY] Brahmin Priestesses

[Suresh Kolichala]

A more plausible derivation for *t**ēvanti*/*tāvantikai *would be from  the
flower name *c**ēmantī*/*s**ē**mantī*/*s**ēmantika *ʻthe Indian white rose
Rosa glanduliferaʼ*.*

The alternation of  the radical vowel between ē- and ā- would point to a
possible presence of palatal.  In Telugu, this flower is known as cāmantī, c
ēmantī or cēvanti. Irregular word-initial *c*- > *t*- is not uncommon in
Tamil and other Dravidian languages[1][2], as evident in the
transformations of the following borrowings from Indo-Aryan:

*sattva *ʻstrengthʼ > *cattuvam, tattuvam*
*snānam *ʻbathʼ > *tānam*
*samtati *ʻlineageʼ >* tantati*
*āsanam *ʻpostureʼ > *ācanam *> *ātanam*

Intervocalic /m/ > /v/ is well-known in South Dravidian.

Therefore, I propose:

**c**ā-/**c**ē**ma-**nt-i**> c**ē**mantī > t**ēvanti *ʻthe Indian white
rose Rosa glanduliferaʼ*.*

It goes well with the other flower names used for characters in the
*Cilappatikāram *such as *m**ātavi *(related to *m**ādhavi*).

Regards,
Suresh.

[1] Emeneau, Murray, Proto-Dravidian *c-:Toda t-" BSOAS 1953
[2] Emeneau, Murray, Proto-Dravidian *c- and Its Developments JAOS1988.

On Thu, Nov 14, 2013 at 6:43 AM, Tieken, H.J.H. <
H.J.H.Tieken at hum.leidenuniv.nl> wrote:

>  Instead of devavandhyā, could tēvantikai not correspond to Skt
> devāntikā, fem. of devānta(ka), a name of a rākṣasa and of a daitya (MW)?
>
>  Herman Tieken
> University of Leiden
> The Netherlands
>  website: hermantieken.com
>    ------------------------------
> *Van:* INDOLOGY [indology-bounces at list.indology.info] namens
> palaniappa at aol.com [palaniappa at aol.com]
> *Verzonden:* donderdag 14 november 2013 12:11
> *To:* indology at list.indology.info
> *Onderwerp:* [INDOLOGY] Brahmin Priestesses
>
>  Dear Indologists,
>
>  The Cilappatikāram, the Tamil epic, has a character named
> Tēvanti/Tāvantikai.  She was a brahmin and was a friend of the heroine,
> Kaṇṇaki. She married Cāttaṉ, a god in human form. Eight years after
> marriage, he revealed to her his real nature and left her asking her to
> come to his temple. Accordingly, she worshipped at the temple of Cāttaṉ. At
> the end of the epic, when  the temple to Kaṇṇaki is inaugurated,
> Tēvantikai, under possession by Cāttaṉ, Tēvantikai entered a trance and
> danced and Cāttaṉ spoke through her. Later, the Cēra king Ceṅkuṭṭuvaṉ
> established a grant for worship and daily celebration at the Kaṇṇaki temple
> and appointed her to offer flowers, incense, and fragrances at the temple.
> After worshipping Kaṇṇaki, the king and others including a brahmin named
> Māṭalaṉ entered a separate sacrificial hall where Tēvantikai again spoke as
> an oracle.
>
>
>


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