Etymology of CT word Ta. "kaliGkam" = cloth - 1

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Dear Indologists,

 

Are there references to fine cloth called "kaliGga" in Skt. and northern works

of about the early centuries CE?

 

Also is the Kalinga province or any nearby province ever associated with

kalinga cloth?

 

This article addresses the etymology of the Ta. word "kaliGkam" occurring

frequently in classical texts in the sense of "cloth(e)". In Tamil scholarship

early this century onwards its etymology has beeen associated with the name of

the kaliGga country it plausibly being the centre of production of that

"type" of cloth.

 

Classical cangkam Tamil texts frequently employ the word "kaliGkam" for cloth

or garment.

 

(Text quotes are from Cologne Digital Tamil Thesaurus)

naRRiNai:90:4:

" ... pukar koNTa pun2 pU kaligkamoTu "

"[wearing ...] alongwith the cloth with fine dots and small flowers"

 

kalittokai: 69:3

" ... vatuvai nAL kaligkattu uL oTugkiya.."t

"on the day of marriage hiding inside the cloth..."

 

kuRuntokai:167:2

" ... kaligkam kazAatu uTIi "

"surrounding herself with unwashed cloth"

 

There is really no indication in Tamil texts that kaliGkam was ever indeed a

*type* of cloth that was of unique fineness of the kind obtainable only from

KlaiGga deza.

 

The Madras Tamil Lexicon does derive the Tamil word kaliGkam from Skt.

"Kalinga" while not claiming that it was any special type of cloth.

 

page 782 of MTL in Vol II states:

kaligkam < Kalinga and the Cologne On-line (Madras) Tamil Lexicon says:

otl kaligkam

01 1. country comprising modern orissa and ganjam, one of the 56 tecam , q.v.;

2. llanguage of kalinga, one of 18 languages known to the ancient tamil;

3. cloth, garment; 4. lark; 5. sparrow; 6. conessi bark; 7. country cucumber

 

 

 

The Monier-Williams dictionary does not mention any such association

either under kaliGga or under kAliGga:

The Cologne M-W Sanskrit Dictionary says:

kaliGga

 

Entry

kaliGga

Meaning

%{As} m. pl.N. of a people and their country (the N. is applied in

the Pura1n2as to several places , but especially signifies a district on the

Coromandel coast , extending from below Cuttack [Kat2aka] to the vicinity of

Madras) MBh. Hariv. VP. &c. ; m. an inhabitant of Kalin3ga Sa1h. ; N. of a

king of Kalin3ga (from whom the Kalin3ga people are said to have originated ;

he is sometimes mentioned as a son of Di1rghatamas and Sudeshn2a1 , sometimes

identified with Bali) MBh. Hariv. &c. ; N. of a being attending on Skanda MBh.

(ed. Bomb.) ix , 45 , 64 (v. l. %{kalinda} ed. Calc.) ; N. of several authors

; the fork-tailed shrike L. ; Caesalpina Bonducella L. ; Wrightia

antidysenteria L. ; Acacia Sirissa L. ; Ficus infectoria L. ; (%{A}) f. a

beautiful woman L. ; Opomea Turpethum ; (%{am}) n. the seed of Wrightia

antidysenteria Sus3r. ; (mfn.) clever , cunning L.

 

kAliGga

 

Entry

kAliGga

Meaning

m. `" produced in or belonging to the Kalin3ga country "' , a

Kalin3ga man VP. ; (Pa1n2. 4-1 , 170) a prince of the Kalin3gas Hariv. Ragh.

iv , 40 &c.; (pl.) the Kalin3gas MBh. VP. ; an elephant L. ; a snake L. ; a

species of cucumber (Cucumis usitatissimus) L. ; Beninkasa cerifera ; a

poisonous plant L. ; a sort of iron ; (%{as} , %{am}) m. n. the plant Wrightia

antidysenterica Bhpr. ; (%{I}) f. a princess of the Kalin3gas MBh. i , 3775

ff. ; a kind of gourd L. ; (%{am}) n. the water-melon.

 

 

Even though the Tamil Lexicon and M-W agree on such things as the name of a

province and on general references to plants such as cucumbers/melons and

birds, we do not find any reference to cloth or garment in the Skt. entries.

 

I propose an etymology for the Tamil word "kaliGkam" in the sense of

cloth/garment. This is based on the semantics of "to make/create". In this

regard we will consider two words "kalai" and "paNi".

 

(Will continue)

 

Regards

P.Chandrasekaran

 

 

 

 

 

 

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