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Castor and Pollux

Pollux · β Geminorum · Gemini

names 8languages 6stars 2

In the classical tradition this is पुनर्वसु Punarvasu, attested in 8 texts.

The names

folk 2 · tribal 6

NameLanguageMeaningRegister
Themü-rüüAngami Naga
the Angami country, Naga Hills (now Nagaland)
'the Star-Girls'
Two girls killed by raiders while spinning in front of the house; or, in another version, two girls killed by a tiger while catching snails and fish in the rice terraces — the tiger being the big red star seen just behind them.
tribal
Chapchoré-NonjeGaro
the Garo Hills, Assam (now Meghalaya)
Two sisters who came to the funeral in very beautiful clothing; Susime was so pleased that she ordained they should remain for ever as witnesses of her mother's death and roam the heavens together.
tribal
ChaikeKorku
Melghat, Amravati district, Maharashtra, and adjoining Betul and Khandwa districts, Madhya Pradesh
'water bearer'
The second woman at the well. Magnitude 1.15.
tribal
ReikeKorku
Melghat, Amravati district, Maharashtra, and adjoining Betul and Khandwa districts, Madhya Pradesh
'water bearer'
One of the two women at the well of Auriga. Magnitude 1.90.
tribal
म्हातारा
mhātārā
Marathi
Maharashtra
the old fellow
cultivators' name for the seventh nakṣatra and its rain; paired with तरणा 'the youngster' for Puṣya
folk
थोरला कुंवर
thōralā kuṃvara
Marathi
Maharashtra
the elder son / the big boy
cultivators' name for the seventh nakṣatra
folk
Vân-pui Sai-hruaMizo (Lushai)
the Lushai Hills, Assam (now Mizoram)
sai-hrua, an elephant-rope
Lorrain names the stars: Castor and Pollux in Gemini, Procyon in Canis Minor, Sirius, and a few others. The first element vân-pui is the great vault overhead.
tribal
Letung (A); Wachi ala puzya (B); Aochi (C)Rengma Naga
the Rengma country, Naga Hills (now Nagaland), and the Mikir Hills
A girl and her lover who ran away together. The Western Rengmas say he is cutting a stick for her.
tribal

Sources

  1. J.H. Hutton, The Angami Nagas (London: Macmillan, 1921), Appendix VIII, p. 413 link
  2. Major A. Playfair, The Garos (London: David Nutt, 1909), p. 86 link
  3. M.N. Vahia, Ganesh Halkare and Purushottam Dahedar, 'Astronomy of the Korku tribe of India', Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 19(2), 216-232 (2016), Table 2, p. 221 link
  4. J. T. Molesworth, A Dictionary, Marathi and English, 2nd ed. rev. and enl. (Bombay: Bombay Education Society's Press, 1857), s.v. म्हातारा, p. 673 link
  5. J. T. Molesworth, A Dictionary, Marathi and English, 2nd ed. rev. and enl. (Bombay: Bombay Education Society's Press, 1857), s.v. थोरला कुंवर, p. 398 link
  6. J. Herbert Lorrain, Dictionary of the Lushai Language, Bibliotheca Indica Work No. 261 (Calcutta: The Asiatic Society, 1940), s.v. Vân-pui Sai-hrua, p. 544 link
  7. J.P. Mills, The Rengma Nagas (London: Macmillan, 1937), p. 245 link