Sudev Krishna

Drawing on both ethnographic and literary sources, this paper indicates that initiations into the mantra of Bālā are essential rites of passage for various Tantric communities. We focus on two previously unstudied texts: Bālāviṃśati stotra (“Twenty Verses on the Bālā Goddess”), a popular eulogy sung on festive occasions in Keralan temples, and Bālādīkṣāpaddhati (“A Treatise on Initiation into the Bālā Mantra”), a short treatise explaining the rules of initiation into the Bālā cult of Kerala. The article contextualizes the texts by providing commentaries of practitioners and interpretations of Keralan gurus who initiate their adepts into Śrīvidyā.

The main aim of this paper is to discuss a recently discovered manuscript of Vāsudēvappāṭṭu and to comment on the characteristic features of the text: its devotional content, language and philosophy. Vāsudēvappāṭṭu is a bhakti song written in the Tamil-Maṇipravāḷa language and attributed to Pūntānam (1547–1640), one of the prominent devotional poets of Kerala, who is often praised as a talented and prolific writer and an ardent devotee of Kṛṣṇa. The first section of the paper investigates the linguistic features of the work, the writing style, and the characteristics of the manuscript itself. The second part focuses on the content of the poem: its style, tone, and religious motives. Furthermore, the article suggests that Vāsudēvappāṭṭu belongs to the South-Indian pāṭṭu genre and discusses the work in the context of the pāṭṭu literature of Kerala. Moreover, to highlight the performative aspects of pāṭṭu , the authors have recorded a traditional recitation of Vāsudēvappāṭṭu , which ca...

Gems have attracted the fascination of all human beings of all cultures. The lustre, colour, sharpness, brightness, quality and high value are the factors which makes them attractive. Gemmology is coined as the scientific study which includes the study of the characteristics and classification of gemstones, their valuing, grading, cutting, polishing, and also the identification of real and best gems. The study of gems also include their origin, occurrence, their crystallographic, pharmacological and their therapeutic properties etc. Apart from these the subject includes the study upon the treatments applied to them with heat, radiation, waxing, oiling , fracture filling and the making of synthetic artificial gemstones.. In the modern scientific era, Gemmology or Gem Studies is a part of the curriculam of Chemistry, Solid State Physics, Mineralogy, Crystallography and Jewellery designing etc. Of course the students of Commerce and Economics are acquainted with these disciplines due to its commodity value. For the process of eliminating the fake or substituted gems from a lot, a gemmologist needs thorough and firsthand knowledge about ores, minerals, their physical appearances, chemical reactions, properties, and characteristics etc. In India the central government and certain state governments have authorised some laboratories as gem-testing centres and the certificates issued by these laboratories, countersigned by eminent gemmologists are considered valid in this regard.For these they are employing the facts and concepts of most modern branches of sciences like chemistry, crystallography, and mineralogy. The history of gemmology has recorded so many advancements in this branch of knowledge that were happened in the medieval and post-medieval period. But the Indian traditions on it , most of them in the ancient period were not recorded so well. There were also some approaches combining both the tools of mythology and rational thinking. Some of these studies were done in a scientific manner. But some approaches were based on myths and belief-systems. Sanskrit the backborn of ancient Indian lore maintained many texts in both of these approaches. It will be quite interesting for us that if we go through the indigenous methods that developed in India centuries ago by ancient Indian gemmologists. We can see a numerous references to gemstones in many of the sanskrit texts starting from veda-s even to prove the antiquity of these gemstones in ancient India. 1 In the same manner there are so many texts or certain chapters of a particular text which exclusively deal with the subject of gemmology. Let us have a peep into the basic notions of these gemmologists and their texts.