I would like to thank the colleagues who replied, on and off-list, to my question about the character of the kaṭṭuvicci, in particular S.A.S. Sarma, Toke Knudsen and V.S. Rajam.

Herman


Herman Tieken
Stationsweg 58
2515 BP Den Haag
The Netherlands
00 31 (0)70 2208127
Van: rajam <rajam@earthlink.net>
Verzonden: woensdag 15 september 2021 05:25:31
Aan: Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman)
CC: indology
Onderwerp: Re: [INDOLOGY] Tamil kaṭṭuvicci
 
Dear Professor Tieken,

I see at least two sides to your query:

1. The ‘word' ‘kaṭṭuvicci’  for soothsayer in Tamil literature.

2. The (soothsaying) 'character’ in caṅkam (Sangam) poetry.

++++++++++

Regarding #1 above … 

You are correct. The word ‘kaṭṭuvicci’ for a soothsayer in Tamil literature does not appear until in the Vaishnava texts. 
However the concept of soothsaying is expressed in earlier texts such as the Tolkappiyam, where the soothsaying is referred to as ‘kaṭṭu.’
I think it is also mentioned in the Cilappathikaram or Manimekalai, I forget. 


Regarding #2 above … 

///Apparently, the character is absent in Caṅkam poetry./// 

The soothsaying character is very much present in caṅkam poetry. She is referred to as ‘akavaṉ makaḷ.’  Please see kuruntokai 23. 

++++++++++ 

For a very good Index in Tamil, if you haven’t already, you can browse and rely on Dr. Pandiyaraja’s Sangam Concordance: http://tamilconcordance.in/concordance_list-B.html 


Best regards,
rajam   



On Sep 14, 2021, at 11:44 AM, Tieken, H.J.H. (Herman) via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:

Dear List members,
I am looking for text passages of the soothsayer kaṭṭuvicci in Tamil literature.
Apparently, the character is absent in Caṅkam poetry. The word does not occur in the standard indexes.
Unfortunately, I am unable to open the Digital Tēvāram disk, but I do not expect the character in Śaiva Bhakti poetry, but I maybe wrong here. 
So far, I have found two references in Vaiṣṇava Bhakti poetry, namely in Tiruvāymoḻi 4.6.3 and Ciṟiya Tirumaṭal 20. My question is: is there an index on this particular corpus? If not, is there someone who happens to know other, more occurrences of the word in Vaiṣṇava poetry or knows of a publication about the kaṭṭuvicci?
With kind regards, Herman 


Herman Tieken
Stationsweg 58
2515 BP Den Haag
The Netherlands
00 31 (0)70 2208127

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