EAP810/22/58

Titles in original script:

நூல் 1: சுர நூல்நூல் 2: ருது நூல்நூல் 3: மனை அலங்காரம்நூல் 4: பஞ்ச பக்ஷி சாத்திரம்நூல் 5: தலைப்பு இல்லை (மருத்துவ தகவல்கள்);

The manuscript is formed of five incomplete texts. They are written in prose. The manuscript is in good condition; the palm leaves have been slightly affected by mould caused by sandal water sprinkled during rituals (pūja).

Text 1: The text, entitled Cura Nūl, is written on 5 palm leaves without a number. The text explains the influence of stars on the patient’s recovery affected by fever (curam): a patient affected by fever when Mars (cittirai) predominates will recover in 6 days, when it is Venus (paraṇi) which predominates, he/she will recover in 7 days, and when it is under the influence of a particular stellar configuration, he/she will die.

Text 2: The text, entitled Rutu Nūl, contains palm leaves numbered from 1 to 8 and a leaf without numbering. The text describes the astrological prediction of a woman according to information collected at the time of her puberty: day and time, star, colour of her dress and colour of the bleeding.

Text 3: The text, entitled Maṉai Alaṅkāram, comprises a leaf without a number. The text concerns predictions for householders calculated at the moment to construct the house based on the dimension of the land and colour of the soil, age of the land owner and dominance of the star at his birth.

Text 4: The text, entitled Pañca Pakṣi Cāttiram, is made of 7 leaves without numbering. It concerns a system of prediction (āruṭam) using five birds (pañca pakṣi): owl (āntai), hawk (vallūṟu), peacock (mayil), crow (kākkā) and hen (kōḻi) to make the diagnosis and predict evolution of the disease. Traditionally, these birds are used to define the appropriate time to start an action and to accomplish a good deed.

Text 5: The text contains 7 leaves without numbering. It informs on the medicinal formulas for treating urinary tract infections (mēkam), enlargement of lymph node in groin (araiyāppu), diarrhea (pēti), headache (maṇṭaiyiṭi) and pimples (mukapparu).

Size of the manuscript: 17.5cm x 3.3cm. The palm leaves of the texts 1, 3, 4 and 5 are not numbered while those of the text 2 are numbered from 1 to 8. Text 1 has 4 leaves, text 3, 1 leaf and the texts 4 and 5, 7 leaves. A blank leaf is placed at the beginning of the text and three at the end. The manuscript is in good condition although the leaves are stained by fungus and mould caused by sandal water sprinkled during the rituals (pūja).