(JG CEYLON BRANCH — ROYAL ASIATIC SOCIETY. 



bells, his face adorned with a circlet of sandel, and be- 

 traying a smile, the plaits of tangled hair from his head 

 continually waving, the ascetic entered the presence of the- 

 king so as to startle him, and took his seat at his side, 

 saying " Ponnambalam" 



Gazing on the ascetic, who thus sat, the king asked him, 

 " what is the meaning of thy repeating here Ponnamba- 

 lam ? " he replied, " O ruler of the world, hearken ! In the 

 holy country, of which the Chola king (a), refulgent with 

 increasing fame, takes care with the fixed looks of his two 

 compassionate eyes, there is a sanctuary, called Puliyoor(b). 



" That sanctuary was originally a wood of TVto-trees, 

 and as it shone forth anterior to all worlds (c), it may be 

 called the principal seat of God. In the Sitsabha (d), which 

 glitters there even as in the centre of this earth, the God 

 danced the sacred Tandava {e), before Parvati (/) whose 

 breasts are besmeared with (pulverized) sandel. 



" There is a holy pond, which healed the son of the potent 

 monarch Menu (#), of the leprosy on his body, and gave 



(a) The original word here used to designate the Chola-king 

 is Valava (aywra/sror), which signifies "the Lord of the fertile 

 country." 



(6) Puliyoor (<_/e%ir), the same with Chillambaram, signi- 

 fying "the tiger's town": so called from its having been the 

 abode and place of devotion of a sage whose feet resembled those 

 of a tiger, and was hence surnamed in Sanscrit Vyaghrapada, 

 or "the tiger-footed." 



(c) All worlds "The Hindus believe not only in a plurality of 

 worlds, but in a plurality of systems, called Andas (^ewrco,), of 

 which the entire collection constitutes the Brahmanda(^Vu>ff<OTu-Lc), 

 the universe." (Ellis's Cural p. 2 ) According to some of their 

 philosophers there are besides our own "other systems of worlds 

 collected in companies beyond the reach of thought ;" the more 

 moderate amongst them, however, reduce the number of systems 

 to a thousand and eight, including our own, which they say 

 consists of fourteen worlds, seven upper, and seven lower ones. 



(d) Sithab'ha (s^an-/), the Sanctum Sanctorum in the tem- 

 ple of Chillambaram. It has no idol, and is intended to typify 

 the visible heaven s. 



(e) Tandava (^rrgcwuayus), a peculiar kind of dancing said to 

 have been invented by Siva : so called from Tandu, one of his 

 attandants whom he instructed in it. Wilson's Select Specimens 

 of the Theatre of the Hindus, vol. \. Intro: p. xix. 



(/*) In the original Uma (»«dix>), the same with Parvati. 

 Ten Menu («>#»); This personage must not be confounded with 



