ASTRONOMY
IN KERALA
K.
Chandra Hari*
Kerala, the tiny tract
of land lying sandwiched
between the Western Ghats
and the Arabian Sea, had
kept alive a distinct
astronomical tradition
since immemorial times.
Earliest of the available
remnants of this tradition
are the Candravakyas -
"girn??asr?eyadi"
- of Vararuci belonging
to the fourth century
AD. Among Vararuci's 12
legendary sons, the eldest,
Melatto? Agnihotri is
believed to have born
on 18th February 343 AD,
corresponding to the Kali-chronogram
of 1257921. This is supportive
of the belief that Vararuci
belonged to the 4th century
AD.
Dr.
K.V. Sarma has given the
Kali chronograms, which
according to the tradition
marked the birth and death
of his son Me?attol Agnihotri
as 1257921 and 1270701 respectively.
These chronograms correspond
to Wednesday, 18th February
343 AD and 14 February 378
AD, Friday, respectively.
On the latter epoch at mean
sunrise of Ujjain, moon
was having an almost perfect
conjunction with the perigee
and can therefore be an
ancient astronomical chronogram
employed in the Vakya process
of Vararuci. But as there
is no history of the use
of perigee in the History
of Hindu astronomy, this
may be an accident.
A
number of papers on the
significance of Kerala Astronomy
by Sri Chandra Hari have
been published in the Indian
Journal of History of Science,
Indian National Science
Academy, New Delhi. We are
reproducing a number of
such works below:
1.
Date of Haridatta - 7th
Century AD Astronomer of
Kerala.
2. An Early Eclipse Record
of Sankaranarayana of 9th
Century AD.
3. Madhava of Sangama-grama
- 14th Century AD Astronomer
& Mathematician
4. Paramesvara of Alattur.
5. Vakya karana - A Study. |
