1838.] 



On the site of Kurkki. 



379 



— Observations regarding the Site of Karkhi, the Residence of th§ 

 Pandyan Kings of Madura. 



In the 16th No. of the Madras Journa], a difference in opinion was 

 shewn between Dr. Wilson, the Boden Professor of Sanscrit at 

 Oxford, and ihe Reverend William Taylor of Madras, regarding the 

 locality of ** Knrkhi" the ancient residence of the Pandyan kings 

 of Madura. Dr. Wilson sn[)[)oses it to have been the seaport 

 town now known by the name of Killakarai in Ramnad. Mi'. Taylor 

 asserts that it was the original name of Madura. The derivation 

 of the word Killakarai, which is given by Mr. Taylor in hi.^ " Observa- 

 tions on Profesi^or W^ilson's Historical Sketch of the kingdom of Pan- 

 dya," sufficiently controverts the notion of its being a corruption of Kur- 

 khi, or, as it is, mure correc;ly written by Mr. Taylor, Gorrkai : but that 

 gentleman has not stated the authority upon which he founds his 

 opinion, that ihis was the native name of Madura in early times ; and, 

 if any dependance is to be placed upon the authorities followed by 

 Dr. Wilson, it is against such a conclusion that the town of Madura 

 is represented to have been built not till after tlie Pandyan kings 

 had removed from Gorrkai and fixed their abode at a place called 

 Kalyanapur. 



There is a small town in the district of Tinnevelly which bears the 

 name of Gorrkai, and the natives of these parts assert thnt it was once 

 the residence of the Pandyan kings : in attestation of which a legend 

 is related, important only as it seems to prove that the belief is tra- 

 ditional and generally admitted. One of the kings of this dynasty, 

 it is said, having inadvertently caused a man to become jealous of his 

 wife, by way of expiation cut off his ov/n hand— when, in consequence 

 of his integrity, a new limb immediately grew up. Som.e versions 

 state that the new hand was of gold, v. hence the place received the 

 name of Oljp" pSSiS (Ponkai) " golden hand," which afterwards 



(kei) hand, written and pronounced, for the sake of euphony, Gorrkai, 

 meaning " the king's hand ;" a more rational proof, however, is offered 

 in the fact that at the grt at Saiva pagoda at Tinnevelly, the earth used in 

 the ceremonies at the annual festival is brought from this place, Gorrkai, 



