Yaali and Manussiha; Sphinx and Sarabha. Tamil connection to the other parts of World.
Have you wondered what is Yaali sculpture seen in almost all south Indian temples? Yaali also known as Vyala or Vidala in Sanskrit) is a mythical creature often sculpted onto the pillars. It may be portrayed as part lion, part elephant with some bird-like features.Yaali is a motif in Indian art and it has been widely used in south Indian sculpture. Descriptions of and references to Yaali are very old, but they became prominent in south Indian sculpture in the 16th century. In its iconography and image the Yaali has a catlike graceful body, but the head of a lion with tusks of an elephant and tail of a serpent. Sometimes they have been shown standing on the back of a makara, another mythical creature. If you look closely at the statue of Yaali it will almost always have a Elephant at its bottom. Either Yaali will stand beside the Elephant or stand on the Elephant itself. The sculptor clearly compared the size of the elephant to give you an idea of how big Yaali is. Can we assume that our sculptors really sculptured the dinosaurs even before the science discovered their existence? It is very unlikely that they might have seen it as dinosaurs existed millions of years ago. It is possible that they might have seen fossils of these giant animals several size the elephant and imagined Yali.
A form similar to Yaali is known by different names across geographies, religion and languages: It is known in Chinese as Shishi; in Burmese asChinthe; in English as Leogryph and in Japanese as Komainu. The chinthe is almost always depicted in pairs, and serve to protect the pagoda. They typically appear as animals, but are sometimes found with human faces and are known as manussiha (Burmese). One can only wonder at the similarity of this name to their roots in Tamil words; manussa (man) and simha (lion) combining to for the word manussiha representing half-lion half-man. These are also the mythical creaturessymbolic of a guardian, usually found guarding the four corners of a pagoda. It has a human head and torso and lion hindquarters. It is comparable to the sphinx.A sphinx is a mythical creature which in Greek tradition has the head of a human, the haunches of a lion, and sometimes the wings of a bird. Unlike the Greek sphinx which was a woman, the Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man (an androsphinx). In addition, the Egyptian sphinx was viewed as benevolent, but having a ferocious strength similar to the malevolent Greek version and both were thought of as guardians often flanking the entrances to temples.
In South India, the "sphinx" is known as purushamriga (Sanskrit) or purushamirugam (Tamil), meaning "Human-Beast". It is found depicted in sculptural art in temples. It is believedto take away the sins of the devotees when they enter a temple and to ward off evil in general. It is therefore often found in a strategic position on the gopuram or temple gateway, or near the entrance of the Sanctum Sanctorum.The Indian conception of a sphinx that comes closest to the classic Greek idea is in the concept of the Sarabha. It is a mythical creature, part lion, part man and part bird, a form that god Shiva took on to counter Narasimha's violence.What are the Tamil connections to Egypt?
A broken storage jar with inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi script has been excavated at Quseir-al-Qadim, an ancient port with a Roman settlement on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. This Tamil Brahmi script has been dated to first century B.C. One expert described this as an “exciting discovery.” The same inscription is incised twice on the opposite sides of the jar. The inscription reads paanai oRi, that is, pot (Paanai, a Tamil word) in a rope net (Uri, a Tamil word).
Earlier excavations at this site about 30 years ago also have yielded pottery inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi belonging to the first century A.D. These discoveries provided material evidence to corroborate the literary accounts by classical Western authors and the Tamil Sangham poets about the flourishing trade between the Tamil country and Rome (via the Red Sea ports) in the early centuries A.D.
"DELUGE (Agasthya Secrets)" by Ramesh Babu is now available for purchase. To order paperback or ebook go to https://notionpress.com/read/
A form similar to Yaali is known by different names across geographies, religion and languages: It is known in Chinese as Shishi; in Burmese asChinthe; in English as Leogryph and in Japanese as Komainu. The chinthe is almost always depicted in pairs, and serve to protect the pagoda. They typically appear as animals, but are sometimes found with human faces and are known as manussiha (Burmese). One can only wonder at the similarity of this name to their roots in Tamil words; manussa (man) and simha (lion) combining to for the word manussiha representing half-lion half-man. These are also the mythical creaturessymbolic of a guardian, usually found guarding the four corners of a pagoda. It has a human head and torso and lion hindquarters. It is comparable to the sphinx.A sphinx is a mythical creature which in Greek tradition has the head of a human, the haunches of a lion, and sometimes the wings of a bird. Unlike the Greek sphinx which was a woman, the Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man (an androsphinx). In addition, the Egyptian sphinx was viewed as benevolent, but having a ferocious strength similar to the malevolent Greek version and both were thought of as guardians often flanking the entrances to temples.
In South India, the "sphinx" is known as purushamriga (Sanskrit) or purushamirugam (Tamil), meaning "Human-Beast". It is found depicted in sculptural art in temples. It is believedto take away the sins of the devotees when they enter a temple and to ward off evil in general. It is therefore often found in a strategic position on the gopuram or temple gateway, or near the entrance of the Sanctum Sanctorum.The Indian conception of a sphinx that comes closest to the classic Greek idea is in the concept of the Sarabha. It is a mythical creature, part lion, part man and part bird, a form that god Shiva took on to counter Narasimha's violence.What are the Tamil connections to Egypt?
A broken storage jar with inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi script has been excavated at Quseir-al-Qadim, an ancient port with a Roman settlement on the Red Sea coast of Egypt. This Tamil Brahmi script has been dated to first century B.C. One expert described this as an “exciting discovery.” The same inscription is incised twice on the opposite sides of the jar. The inscription reads paanai oRi, that is, pot (Paanai, a Tamil word) in a rope net (Uri, a Tamil word).
Earlier excavations at this site about 30 years ago also have yielded pottery inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi belonging to the first century A.D. These discoveries provided material evidence to corroborate the literary accounts by classical Western authors and the Tamil Sangham poets about the flourishing trade between the Tamil country and Rome (via the Red Sea ports) in the early centuries A.D.
"DELUGE (Agasthya Secrets)" by Ramesh Babu is now available for purchase. To order paperback or ebook go to https://notionpress.com/read/
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