70 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. II., FAET I. 



of having stolen a Chilampu, or foot-ring, belonging to the 

 king. It is written in a very high style in illustration of the 

 rules of Tamil prosody, but the author and the date are 

 both unknown. 



9. Periya Purdnam, 

 A poem in 56 cantos, comprising 4,000 stanzas. Recounts 

 the devotion and marvellous actions of the sixty-three 

 Tondars, or special votaries of Siva, including the king 

 Manu Niti Cholan, who is said to have put his only son to 

 death for driving over and killing a calf accidentally in the 

 street of Tiruvaluntur. By ChekkUdr. 



10. Tiruvilaiyddal Purdnam, 

 A poem in 72 cantos, comprising 3,362 stanzas. Gives an 

 account of the sixty-four sports of Siva in his character as 

 Chuntareswarar at Madura, as also of the Pdndiya kings in 

 whose reigns they occurred. Though replete with absurdi- 

 ties, it contains some fragments of real history, especially in 

 relation to the contest between the Chaivas and Buddhists, 

 and the extirpation of the latter by the former under the 

 government of Kuna Pdndiyan. The author, Paranchoti 

 Tampirdn, was a Chaiva ascetic, who flourished in the middle 

 of the eleventh century. 



An analysis of this poem has been published by the Rev. 

 W. Taylor, in his " Oriental Historical Manuscripts, " Vol. I. 



11. Tiruvdtavur Purdnam. 



A poem in 7 cantos, comprising 545 stanzas. Treats of the 

 history of Tiruvdtavurar, otherwise called Mdnikkavdchakar, 

 who was prime minister to the king Arimarttana Pdndiyan at 

 Maturai, and afterwards, adopting the life of an ascetic, 

 retired to Chitamparam, and there distinguished himself by 

 defeating the Buddhists of Ceylon in controversy, and con- 

 verting them to the Chaiva religion. 



The sixth canto of this poem has been translated by me 



