EAP1260/1/1

This material is a Tamil palm-leaf manuscript from Northern Province, Sri Lanka. This is a Tamil verse work written during the period of 1800-1850 in Tamil script. This manuscript is a compilation of parts of various materials and books. Three such works, namely Cekarācacēkaram, Cittarārūṭam Cerikavi and Amutākaram. All three are pioneering medical treatises. Cekarācacēkaram is one of the first known works of Sri Lankan Tamil literature/texts. The original work is from the 16th century or earlier. It is a medical text. The original text is based on Sanskrit medical texts of the Ayurvedic tradition. These chapters describe how to diagnose diseases. The author is noted as Agathiyar Sidda, a common authorship name taken by various authors. Second, Cittarārūṭam Cerikavi is a medical text that describes medical practices related to venomous attacks by various species such as snakes and reptiles, effect of their bites, methods of diagnosis and remedies. The author is unknown. The original text contains 87 poems, but this particular manuscript contains 33 poems.Third, Amutākaram is a medical text written by Varatapaṇṭitar Araṅkanātaiyar (1656 - 1716) from Cuṉṉākam, Jaffna. It is a Tamil verse work written during the 18th century in Tamil script. It is an important work on toxicology. It describes medicine for venomous attacks by various species such as snakes and reptiles, the methods of diagnosis, and medicinal remedies. Amutākaram focuses more on the medicines as compared to Cittarārūṭam Cerikavi. Based on the methods and medicines recommended, this is a text of the Siddha medical tradition. It was published in print in 1892 by Cu. Tampaiyāpiḷḷai of Trincomalee.

Extent: 208.0.

Size and dimensions of original material: L 23 cm, W 3.5 cm.

Original institution reference: 1.0.