This gourd is called ‘bottle gourd,’ (commercial English?), ‘lauki’ (Hindi?), ‘opu’ (Spanish?) ‘curaikkāy/suraikkaay’ in Tamil. In Tamilnadu, young boys, learning to swim, use the dried-up gourd of this type as a ‘life-guard.’ They tie it around their waist while jumping into a well or a river while swimming. In pre-modern S.India, the dried up gourd was used to make the base of a musical string instrument, I believe. This gourd is not bitter, and very good for diabetic patients, I believe.

On May 17, 2022, at 1:45 PM, Martin Gansten via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:

In a fanciful expression of humility, a 13th-century Sanskrit author compares his work to a kadatumbī (according to the MS) in which to cross the ocean. I haven't found that exact word anywhere, but Monier-Williams gives 'a kind of bitter gourd' for kaṭutumbī, which might be meant. Do we know what kind that might be (that is, what it should be called in English), or does anyone have a qualified guess? I confess to a complete ignorance of gourds, though I would assume it to be some fairly large and rounded variety, perhaps used to make bowls or the like. MW gives Suśruta as his reference.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,

Martin Gansten

_______________________________________________
INDOLOGY mailing list
INDOLOGY@list.indology.info
https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology