Note 66 — T (continued 3)

Tulabhāram.—In his description66 of the Tulabhāram or Tulapurushadānam ceremony performed by the Mahārājas of Travancore, Mr. Shungoony Menon explains that the latter word is a compound of three Sanskrit words, tula (scales), purusha (man), and dānam (gift, particularly of a religious character). And he gives the following description of the ceremonial, for the performance of which a Tulamandapam is erected, wherein the scales are set up, and the weighing and other rites performed. On the eighth day “after worshipping and making offerings, the Mahārāja proceeds to the Tulamandapam, where, in the south-east corner, he is sprinkled with punyāham water. Then he goes to the side room, where the ‘nine grains’ are sown in silver flower pots, where the achārya anoints him with nine fresh-water kalasas. Thence the Mahārāja retires to the palace, changes clothes, wears certain jewels specially made for the occasion, and, holding the State sword in his right hand and the State shield in his left, he proceeds to the pagoda; and, having presented a bull elephant at the foot of the great golden flagstaff, and silks, gold coins, jewels and other rich offerings in the interior, he walks round by the Sevaimandapam, and re-enters the Tulamandapam. He walks thrice round the scales, prostrates himself before it, bows before the priests and elderly relatives, and obtains their sanction to perform the Tulapurushadānam. He then mounts the western scale, holding Yama’s and Surya’s pratimās in his right and left hand respectively. He sits facing to the east on a circular heavy plank cut out of fresh jack-wood (Artocarpus integrifolia), and covered with silk. He repeats mantras (prayers) in this position. The opposite or eastern scale then receives the gold, both coined and in ingots, till it not only attains equality but touches the ground, and the scale occupied by the Mahārāja rises high. The Mahārāja then comes down, and, sitting facing to the east, places the gold, the Tulupurusha pratimā and other pratimās, with flowers, sandal paste, etc., in a basin of water, and, meditating on Brahma or the Supreme Being, he offers the contents to Brāhmans generically.” Of the gold placed in the scale, one-fourth is divided among the priests who conduct the ceremony, and the remaining three-fourths are distributed among Brāhmans. For use in connection with the ceremony, gold coins, called tulabhāra kāsu, are specially struck. They bear on one side the Malayālam legend Srī Padmanābha, and on the other a chank shell.