CEYLON BH AN'OH- -ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 63 



THE SIXTH CHAPTER 

 OF THE 



TIRUVATHAVUR PVR AN A 



ENTITLED 



" THE VANQUISHING OF THE BUDDHISTS IN DISPUTATION " 

 TRANSLATED WITH NOTES 



By Simon Casie Chitty, Esq. C. M.R.A.S,HM.CM.R A. 8. 



A certain ascetic, who never forsook the feet of the God 

 wearing long and pendant plaits of tangled hair («), being 

 possessed of a mind desirous of examining the beauties 

 of the sea girt earth, visited the kingdom of Chola (b), ati 

 worshipped at Tillei (c), and then purposing to see the spot- 

 less kingdom of lid (d), departed thither. 



(a) Siva, the supreme divinity of the Hindu mythology. 



(b) In the original Chola nadu ((*«■* y> on®), the same with 

 Choladesa or Cholamandala, the part of the coast extending from 

 Point Calymere to the mouth of the Kristna river : so called from 

 a dynasty of Tamil kings, who reigned over it in ancient times, 

 and all of whom were distinguished by the common appellation 

 of Cholas. It was the Paralia Soraetanum of Ptolemy, and is 

 now designated by the Europeans the Coast of Coramandeh 



(e) Tillei the same with Chitambaram (#>u»u(ru>) vulgo 



Chillambaram, a celebrated place of Hindu worship, situated 

 near the Coleroon river, a little to the south of Porto Novo : so 

 called from its having been founded in, or near a wood of Tillei 

 trees (Excoecaria agallocha). The temples of Chillambaram 

 are manifestly of some antiquity, and are still in great repute 

 and visited by multitudes of pilgrims Malte Brun, vol. iii. 

 p. 184, thus describes them : " They are encircled by a high 

 wall of blue stone. The chief of the four pagodas is on the 

 same plan with that of Juggernaut, though on a smaller scale, 

 and it is esteemed a master-piece of architecture. . Each of the 

 three gates is surmounted with a pyramid 120 feet high, built 

 with large stones about 40 feet long, and more than 5 broad, all 

 covered with plates of copper adorned with figures The whole 

 structure extends 1332 feet in one direction and 936 in another. 

 In the area of the temple, there is a large tank, skirted on three 

 sides with a beautiful gallery supported by columns. On the 

 fourth is a magnificent hall ornamented with 999 columns of 

 blue granite covered with sculptures " It is said that formerly 

 three thousand Brahmans were dedicated to the service of the 

 temples at Chillambaram, but that at present there are not more 

 than three hundred- They are distinguished from the other 

 Brahmans by their wearing the lock of hair (@®<j2) in front of 

 the head instead of the hinder part. 



'eT* Ila or Tiara the Tamil name of Cevlon. Tt is syno- 



