This theory was also cursorily discussed by other colonial officials like Edgar Thurston and Herbert Hope Risley, including in the census reports of 1891 and 1901. Although the Kumari Kandam theory became popular among anti-Brahmin anti-Sanskrit Tamil nationalists, the Kanda Puranam actually describes Kumari Kandam as the land where the Brahmins reside, where Shiva is worshipped and where the Vedas are recited. The lost land was depicted as a peninsula, similar to the present-day Indian peninsula. He also listed several rare musical instruments such as the thousand-stringed lute, which had been lost to the sea. He also suggested that the progenitors of the other races must have migrated from Lemuria to other places via South India. According to cultural historian Sumathi Ramaswamy, the emphasis of the Tamil writers on the word "Kumari" (meaning virgin or maiden) symbolizes the purity of Tamil language and culture, before their contacts with the other ethnic groups such as the Indo-Aryans. The earliest explicit discussion of a katalkol ("seizure by ocean", possibly tsunami) of Pandyan land is found in a commentary on Iraiyanar Akapporul. [57] One of the earliest criticisms came from M Seshagiri Sastri (1897), who described the claims of ante-diluvial sangams as "a mere fiction originated by the prolific imagination of Tamil poets. How to use paradoxical in a sentence. Kandiah Pillai, in a 1945 work for children, wrote that Kumarikandam was ruled by a strong and just emperor called Sengon, who organized the sangams. The concept was introduced to the Indian readers in an 1873 physical geography textbook by Henry Francis Blanford. This commentary, attributed to Nakkeerar, is dated to the later centuries of the 1st millennium CE. These include the prominent temples of Kanyakumari, Kanchipuram, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Sirkazhi and Tiruvottiyur. [60], In 1956, K. A. Nilakanta Sastri described the Kumari Kandam theory as "all bosh", stating that geological theories about events happening millions of years ago should not be connected to the human history of a few thousand years back. Usage Frequency: 1 [30] As late as 1981, the Tamil Nadu government's history textbooks mentioned the Kumari Kandam theory.[31]. [63], Kandam (2016) is a Tamil Canadian/Sri Lankan film directed by Pras Lingam. The film is based on the premise of the existence of the continent of Kumari Kandam and the prevalence of Tamil civilization in antediluvian times. See the full definition for proximate in the English Language Learners Dictionary, Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for proximate, Britannica English: Translation of proximate for Arabic Speakers. 4. 5: 109–13. [1], The words "Kumari Kandam" first appear in Kanda Puranam, a 15th-century Tamil version of the Skanda Purana, written by Kachiappa Sivacharyara (1350-1420). Accessed 19 Oct. 2020. They claimed Kumari Kandam as the cradle of civilization to prove the antiquity of Tamil language and culture. Contextual translation of "lemna minor" into Tamil. Kandiah Pillai, in a book for children, fashioned a new history for the goddess, stating that the land was named after her. [21][22], In the 1920s, the Lemuria concept was popularized by the Tamil revivalists to counter the dominance of Indo-Aryans and Sanskrit. According to the most versions, the original culture of Kumari Kandam survived in Tamil Nadu. Suryanarayana Sastri first used the term "Kumarinatu" (or "Kumari Nadu", meaning "Kumari territory") in his work Tamil Mozhiyin Varalaru (History of the Tamil language). It combined the continental drift theory with the submerged continent theory to present Lemuria as a scientifically valid concept. Madras: Manram Patippakam. According to geologists, the dismemberment of the Lemurian or Gondvana continent into several units must have taken place towards the close of the Mesozoic era. How to use a word that (literally) drives some pe... Name that government! Nallasami Pillai, J. Some writers used "Navalan Tivu" (or Navalam Island), the Tamil name of Jambudvipa, to describe the submerged land. He writes, ... to accept this is not to accept the view that the entire Lemuria or Gondvana continent existed in the age of the Tamil Sangam, as is sometimes believed. 5. [19] Later, Maclean's manual came to be cited as an authoritative work by the Tamil writers, who often wrongly referred to him as a "scientist" and a "Doctor". Abraham Pandither 1984, 55; Aiyan Aarithan 1904–5, 274; Devaneyan 1940, 50; Raghava Aiyangar 1938, 91. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/coverage/tsunami-uncovers-ancient-sculptures-in-mahabalipuram-in-tamil-nadu-8006, "Kandam | UK premiere of Tamil independent film by Pras Lingam - Thamarai", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kumari_Kandam&oldid=984136297, All Wikipedia articles written in Indian English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Elu munpalai natu ("Seven front sandy lands"), Elu pinpalai natu ("Seven back sandy lands"), Elu kunakarai natu ("Seven coastal lands"), Elu kurumpanai natu ("Seven dwarf-palm lands"), This page was last edited on 18 October 2020, at 11:59. 3. Before the Lemuria hypothesis was rendered obsolete by the continental drift theory, a number of scholars supported and expanded it. This theory was based on the methodology recommended by his teacher Devaneya Pavanar. Forests provide valuable timber for dome tic and commercial use. Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). It mentions that the Pandyan kings, an early Tamil dynasty, established three literary academies (Sangams): the first Sangam flourished for 4,400 years in a city called Tenmadurai (South Madurai) attended by 549 poets (including Agastya) and presided over by gods like Shiva, Kubera and Murugan. [24] During the British era, the loss of small patches of lands to cyclones was cataloged in several district reports, gazetteers, and other documents. But it is important to observe that the Lemurian continent must have existed, if at all, long long ago. [38], Some Tamil writers also claimed that the Indo-Aryans were also descendants of proto-Dravidians of Kumari Kandam. "Prope" is also an ancestor of the English verb "approach," as well as "proximity," "propinquity," and "reproach.". [3] The Andakosappadalam section of Kanda Puranam describes the following cosmological model of the universe: There are many worlds, each having several continents, which in turn, have several kingdoms. Reference: MatteoT. : Progressive Printers. In 1981, the Government of Tamil Nadu funded a documentary film on Kumari Kandam. [16][17] In late 1870s, the Lemuria theory found its first proponents in the present-day Tamil Nadu, when the leaders of the Adyar-headquartered Theosophical Society wrote about it (see the root race theory). Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Debates 24 (1972): 76. Suggest a better translation [6], Kumari Kandam is a mythical continent,[56] and therefore, the attempts to mix this myth with Tamil history have attracted criticism since the late 19th century. [39], M. S. Purnalingam Pillai, writing in 1927, stated that Indus Valley Civilization was established by the Tamil survivors from the flood-hit Kumari Nadu. Quality: The Sanskrit-language Bhagavata Purana (dated 500 BCE-1000 CE) describes its protagonist Manu (aka Satyavrata) as the Lord of Dravida (South India). In the 1940s, N. S. Kandiah Pillai published maps showing migration of the Kumari Kandam residents to other parts of the world. By continuing to visit this site you agree to our use of cookies. A few Tamil writers also depicted Gondwanaland as Kumari Kandam. [39], The Tamil revivalists insisted that the first two Tamil sangams (literary academies) were not mythical, and happened in the Kumari Kandam era. We hope this will help you in learning languages. What does 'poke' refer to in the expression 'pig in a poke'. The later dominance of Sanskrit was offered as another explanation for the deliberate destruction of ancient Tamil works.