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Crux (the Southern Cross)
Crux · — · Crux
names 9languages 6stars 4
In the classical tradition this is त्रिशङ्कु Triśaṅku, attested in 3 texts.
The names
vernacular 4 · tribal 4 · borrowed 1
| Name | Language | Meaning | Register |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mian | Central Nicobarese (Camorta) Camorta, Nancowry group, Central Nicobars | 'a dagger used in fishing' | tribal |
| स्वस्तिक svastika | Hindi Pan-Hindi (national print) | the svastika The book's भारतीय नाम for the constellation in its complete 88-constellation concordance. Muley himself notes (p. ~16) that uniform Indian names across languages were still to be settled — the set is part report of circulating usage, part proposal. Prose: 'त्रिशंकु या स्वस्तिक के नाम से भी जाना जाता है', plus the suggestion that ancient India may have known the figure as शूल. | vernacular |
| ತ್ರಿಶಂಕು Triśaṅku | Kannada Karnataka (Mysore) | 'All these together make the Triśaṅku star-group.' | borrowed |
| ದಕ್ಷಿಣ ಸ್ವಸ್ತಿಕ dakṣiṇa svastika | Kannada Karnataka (Mysore) | the southern svastika The Cross seen as a svastika — the book's own figure caption reads 'Svastika'. | vernacular |
| Irukmara / Ipamaka | Kolami Kolam villages of Yavatmal and Chandrapur districts, Vidarbha, Maharashtra, and adjoining Adilabad, Telangana | a Mahua tree (Madhuca longifolia), whose flowers are fermented to make liquor Eight of ten villages. Two named stars stand under the tree to gather its flowers — see Murta and Kadma below. | tribal |
| Irup pokke | Kolami Kolam villages of Yavatmal and Chandrapur districts, Vidarbha, Maharashtra, and adjoining Adilabad, Telangana | 'the flowers of the Mahua' The small stars around the Mahua tree Irukmara, gathered by the old lady and the young one who stand beside it as α and β Centauri. | tribal |
| स्वस्तिक svastika | Marathi Maharashtra | the svastika One of the Sanskrit names for the Western constellations that Dikshit credits to Bal Shastri Jambhekar (d. 1846) and reports as current: 'पाश्चात्यांनीं कल्पिलेल्या बाकीच्या राशींस संस्कृत संज्ञा शास्त्री जांभेकर यांनीं दिल्या आहेत. त्याच हल्लीं मराठींत येतात.' (p. 35-36). | vernacular |
| त्रिशंकु triśaṅku | Marathi Maharashtra | Trishanku (the king suspended in mid-sky) Dikshit's own coinage, argued from his southern-Saptarshi theory (the Trishanku legend told in full on the same page) and used working-style at p. 184 ('त्रिशंकु दुसरी' = α Crucis among the double stars). | vernacular |
| Kuras | Teressa Teressa island, Nicobars | — | tribal |
Sources
- M.N. Vahia, Ganesh Halkare, S.A. Awaradi and Kishore Menon, 'In situ studies of astronomy of the Nicobarese tribe of Nicobar Islands', Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology, 6, 1014-1039 (2018), Table 3, pp. 1026-1027 link
- Gunakar Muley, Akash Darshan (New Delhi: Rajkamal Prakashan, 1993), Appendix 4, 'Tara-mandal suchi', pp. 344-347, and p. ~132 link
- N. Venkatesha Ayyangar (transl.), Jyotirvinodini (Bengaluru: Karnataka Sahitya Parishattu, 1931; Karnataka Vaijnanika Grantha Mala 1), Appendix III (alphabetical sky-index), pp. 301-306 link
- M.N. Vahia, Ganesh Halkare, Kishore Menon and Harini Calamur, 'The astronomy of two Indian tribes: the Banjaras and the Kolams', Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 17(1), 65-84 (2014), Table 2, p. 71 link
- M.N. Vahia, Ganesh Halkare, Kishore Menon and Harini Calamur, 'The astronomy of two Indian tribes: the Banjaras and the Kolams', Journal of Astronomical History and Heritage, 17(1), 65-84 (2014), Appendix 1.2.3 (Jamini), p. 81 link
- S. B. Dikshit, Jyotirvilas, 2nd ed. (Bombay, 1893; 1st ed. 1892), p. 36 link