THE SINHALESE LANGUAGE. 



19 



Dec. 15 

 Jan. 13 

 Feb. 11 * 



Pali. 

 phussa 

 magna 

 phagguna 



Sinhaia. 

 durutu 



Tamil 

 tai 



navam 



masi 



maedin-diua pangini 



The Dravidian names of the months are derived, like the Pali, 

 from the names of the asterisms; and though the Sinhalese adopt 

 some of them, e. g. vesak, cesala, etc., yet it is very remarkable that 

 they have for others, names which have no relation whatever to 

 the Dravidian, and which owe their origin to local and other 

 causes; e. g., Mcedin-dina denotes the month in which the sun 

 enters the Central meridian line' — madhya-re,kha,~ 11 the line, 

 which, passing above Lanka andUjjayani, and touching the region 

 of Kurukshetra, etc., goes through Meru."f Navam, from nava 

 * new/ refers to the new-ness of the vegetable kingdom, which is 

 exhibited at this period, and means * the spring,' when all nature is 

 clothed with verdure. Du-rutu, from du ins. prep, and ritu 

 ' season,' denotes the inclement season when the natives require 

 the use of fire and firewood to keep themselves warm. Undu-vap 

 appears to be the period when a kind of small grain called undu 

 was (vap) 'sown.' // denotes the month in which the moon is full, 

 nearly in the longitude of il-vala, the stars in the head of the 

 Antelope .J Vap indicates an ad-interim season for sowing. Binara 

 comes from the Sanskrit bhadra ; and nikini from nikkhamaniya, 

 Pali, with reference to a custom of religious seclusion observed at 

 this period. JEsala is from asalha, Pali. Fos-on ' flower-less ' is 

 the period when flowers go out of season. Vesak is from the Pali 

 vesakha ; and Bak indicates the month in which there is a ' break ' 

 in the computation of the year, though my Pandit intimates the 

 probability of its being expressive of (bakka i great '=) the chief, 

 or first month. 



* i. e. « from Feb. 11th to March 12th.' 



t See Surya Siddhanta, by the Rev. E. Burgess, p. 185. 



% ih., p. 466. 



