| Name: | Punith R |
| Affiliation: | Indian Institute of Astrophysics |
| Conference ID : | ASI2024_127 |
| Title : | Laghu Manasa Vyakhya – A commentary in Kannada on the 9th century manuscript |
| Authors : | 1. Punith R
2. Dr. B S Shylaja |
| Authors Affiliation: | 1. Punith R
The Cosmology Education and Research Training Center (COSMOS), Mysore
2. Dr. B S Shylaja
Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, High Grounds, Bengaluru, India |
| Mode of Presentation: | Poster |
| Abstract Category : | Education, Outreach and Heritage |
| Abstract : | "COSMOS" is the upcoming state-of-the-art planetarium in the city of
Mysuru and is being constructed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics
(IIA). A key project of the education and outreach program is to
identify, collect, digitize and catalogue historical astronomy-related
materials in Kannada in and around the Old Mysore province. Several
Kannada manuscripts (written in multiple scripts including Kannada and in the Old Kannada
language, available on paper and palm leaves) on astronomy
have been identified and scrutinized from the vast collection at the
Oriental Research Institute, Mysuru. In this talk, I will focus on two
of the manuscripts titled 'Laghu Mānasa Vyākhyā'. Both are on
paper and in good condition. We have attempted to decipher the
contents and found that they are commentaries in Sanskrit
(the script is Kannada) on the 9th-centurymanuscript called
Laghumānasa by Munjalācarya. He is known for precise
estimation of the precession of equinoxes cited by several authors. His
period in the latter half of the 9th century is based on this estimate.
Not many commentaries on his texts are available in any collections.
This incomplete manuscript is dated śaka 1528 (1606CE) and gives the
method to get the mean positions of the sun, the moon and the nodes as
the first step to calculate the timings and magnitude of eclipses for
the eclipse of 26th February 1607. The second text has complete
calculations, including details provided for the procedure and in the
end, there is a calculation for the eclipse timings and magnitude. We
find that the method differs from that of Bhaskarācārya and Ganesha
Daivajnya. We present the results here.
I will end by summarizing the details of other manuscripts that we
have identified as a part of this comprehensive project on mediaeval-era
astronomy and our future plans.
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