The Colas c26.35

c26.35

The *sabhā*, *mahāsabhā*, and the corresponding Tamil words, *kuṟi* and *perun-guṟi*, refer to the same institution, which is sometimes even called *perunguṟi-mahāsabhai*. Its members are collectively referred to as *perumakkaḷ*, and the honorific term ‘*tiruvaḍiyār*’ is also employed in some inscriptions. The *sabhā* usually held its meetings in the temples and *maṇḍapas* of the village, and the term Brahma-sthāna⁶¹ appears to indicate the fixed meeting place of the *sabhā* wherever there was one. Sometimes it met outside the village on the banks of a tank or under a tree; this was certainly not due to the lack of a more sheltered place for the meeting. Some examples of such meetings are best accounted for by assuming that the inauspicious nature of the business transacted required that it should be done beyond the living quarters of the village.⁶² The *sabhā* was usually summoned by the beating of a drum (*śāṟṟi*); the meeting was also proclaimed by sound of bugle (*kāḷam*) or a double bugle (*iraṭṭaikkāḷam*).⁶³ Meetings were also held at nights when required.