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As a Tamil, I am surprised by so many such things that I come across about our ancestors. No wonder we take a lot of pride in our culture, sometimes to the extr

As a Tamil, I am surprised by so many such things that I come across about our ancestors. No wonder we take a lot of pride in our culture, sometimes to the extreme.

RajuVarghese 10y ago
You may be interested to know that the word 'Coromandel' is a anglicized corruption of the 'Chola mandalam'. The Cholas had a sea empire that stretched all the way up to Vietnam. You probably know that there are Hindu temples in Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. Wherever the Cholas landed they set up a temple with a local caretaker who later grew in power.
- vram22 10y ago
  >You may be interested to know that the word 'Coromandel' is a anglicized corruption of the 'Chola mandalam'. Interesting. I've heard a different version when I studied in South India, that Coromandel [1] is the anglicized version of karu manal (mannal?) meaning black sand - because there are beaches in the Coromandel Coast that have black (and also red and other color) sand. E.g. At Kanyakumari a.k.a Cape Comorin, the southernmost tip of India, you could buy small plastic bags with multi-colored sand as a souvenir. I remember at least black, normal light brown, red and purple colors. [[1] Update: The Wikipedia article says what you say about the name Coromandel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coromandel_Coast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coromandel_Coast ] Similarly, catamaran, I've heard, is from kattu maram - tied tree (trunks). Very stable boats, and that principle is now adopted in modern high-tech catamarans too. [2] Once when on a school picnic on that coast, I asked for and got a ride on a catamaran of the local fishermen. We went out quite a way to sea, for maybe half an hour or more. I was sitting on one of the logs in the front, with my legs nearly up to the waist, in the sea. Could feel the water rushing past my legs. Good fun. [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran
adrianratnapala 10y ago
Indeed when I started reading the article I assumed this would be something from the big days of the Chola empire. But the bell seems to be more recent than that.

As a Tamil, I am surprised by so many such things that I come across about our ancestors. No wonder we take a lot of pride in our culture, sometimes to the extreme.

RajuVarghese 10y ago

You may be interested to know that the word 'Coromandel' is a anglicized corruption of the 'Chola mandalam'. The Cholas had a sea empire that stretched all the way up to Vietnam. You probably know that there are Hindu temples in Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia. Wherever the Cholas landed they set up a temple with a local caretaker who later grew in power.

vram22 10y ago
>You may be interested to know that the word 'Coromandel' is a anglicized corruption of the 'Chola mandalam'. Interesting. I've heard a different version when I studied in South India, that Coromandel [1] is the anglicized version of karu manal (mannal?) meaning black sand - because there are beaches in the Coromandel Coast that have black (and also red and other color) sand. E.g. At Kanyakumari a.k.a Cape Comorin, the southernmost tip of India, you could buy small plastic bags with multi-colored sand as a souvenir. I remember at least black, normal light brown, red and purple colors. [[1] Update: The Wikipedia article says what you say about the name Coromandel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coromandel_Coast https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coromandel_Coast ] Similarly, catamaran, I've heard, is from kattu maram - tied tree (trunks). Very stable boats, and that principle is now adopted in modern high-tech catamarans too. [2] Once when on a school picnic on that coast, I asked for and got a ride on a catamaran of the local fishermen. We went out quite a way to sea, for maybe half an hour or more. I was sitting on one of the logs in the front, with my legs nearly up to the waist, in the sea. Could feel the water rushing past my legs. Good fun. [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran#History https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catamaran

adrianratnapala 10y ago

Indeed when I started reading the article I assumed this would be something from the big days of the Chola empire. But the bell seems to be more recent than that.