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Hinduism and Tribal Religions pp 1–3Cite as

Maṇipravāḷa

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Indian Religions ((EIR))

Definition

Maṇipravāḷa, or “gems and coral,” is, broadly speaking, a technical term that can be used to describe a language or dialect that combines Sanskrit with a vernacular language. More specifically, it is used as a designation for languages or dialects that are explicitly identified by its speakers or in its literary corpus as falling under this general rubric in South India, e.g., Śrīvaiṣṇava Tamil Maṇipravāḷa, (Malayalam) Maṇipravāḷa, Kannada-Maṇipravāḷa, and Telugu-Maṇipravāḷa.

The Origins and Different Types of Maṇipravāḷa

The Sanskrit commentary, Jayadhavala, composed by Jinasena on Jain scripture Ṣaḍkhaṇḍāgama (ca. ninth c.), first mentions the compound maṇipravāḷa (MP) in reference to the text’s use of both Sanskrit and Prakrit. It is in Abhinavagupta’s (eleventh c.) commentary on Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstrathat the expression is first used to refer explicitly to an admixture of two languages. The author refers to MP as being a tradition from the “South,” in which Sanskrit is...

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References

  1. Venkatachari KKA (1978) The Maṇipravāḷa literature of the Śrīvaiṣṇava ācāryas, 12th to 15th century A.D. Ananthacharya Research Institute, Bombay

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  2. Monius A (2009) Imagining a place for Buddhism. Literary culture and religious Community in Tamil-speaking South India. Navayana, New Delhi

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  3. Raman S (2007) Self-surrender (Prapatti) to god in Śrīvaiṣṇavism: Tamil cats or Sanskrit monkeys? Routledge, New York

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  4. Freeman R (2006) Literature and the development of regional consciousness in medieval Kerala. In: Vora R, An F (eds) Religion, culture, and politics in India. Manohar, Delhi

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. NETamil / École française d’Extrême-Orient, Pondicherry, India

    Suganya Anandakichenin

Authors
  1. Suganya Anandakichenin
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Correspondence to Suganya Anandakichenin .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Anthropology, The University of North Texas Dept of Anthropology, Denton, Texas, USA

    Pankaj Jain

  2. The Graduate Theological Union , Berkeley, California, USA

    Rita Sherma

  3. Jamia Millia Islamia, Centre for the Study of Comparative Reli Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India

    Madhu Khanna

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Anandakichenin, S. (2018). Maṇipravāḷa. In: Jain, P., Sherma, R., Khanna, M. (eds) Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_163-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_163-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-024-1036-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Maṇipravāḷa
    Published:
    17 July 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_163-2

  2. Original

    Maṇipravāḷa
    Published:
    23 March 2018

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_163-1

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