The Anklet of Kaṇṇaki and the Dance of Mātavi
An analysis of the technical and rare terms in the Cilappatikāram and its two medieval commentaries
Dr. Neela Bhaskar
Neela Manasa Bhaskar is working on the Cilappatikāram, the oldest of the five Tamil 'epic' texts. Currently, she is looking at palm-leaf manuscripts to try and find new evidence. She will then begin to collate the root-text ('mūlam') and produce a critical edition of it. Neela is looking into the semantic development of both technical and non-technical terms in the Cilappatikāram, so that more accurate dictionary entries can be made for Tamilex. For this, she must look into the two commentaries (anonymous, and by Aṭiyārkkunallār) of the Cilappatikāram for explanations, as well as into contemporaneous or similar texts (such as the Maṇimēkalai). The end result of Neela's project would contain a critical edition and annotated translation of the Cilappatikāram and a detailed glossary of the words in it to be integrated into the Tamilex project. Neela is also working on some 19th century prose manuscripts from the Mackenzie Collection as a continuation of her doctoral dissertation (defended in February 2024). These manuscripts represent the emergence of a standard format for historical prose in Tamil, a novel concept that was birthed by a unique collaboration between the British and the Tamil in colonial South India.