[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Science, technology and education](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science) › [A History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy (in Perspective)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.sarma-1972) › c10.s2.18 # A History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy (in Perspective) c10.s2.18 A History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy (in Perspective) c10.s2.18 - **Language:** English ### [c10.s2.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.sarma-1972.c10.s2.18) Haridatta, as noted earlier, has the distinction of promulgating, In 683, at Tirunāvāy in Kerala, a new system of astronomical computation called \*Parahita\*, which presented distinct advantages over the prevailing \*Āryabhaṭan\* system.¹ One of the important corrections which he introduced was called the \*Śakābda-saṃskāra\* or \*Bhaṭa-saṃskāra\*.² His \*Grahacāranibandhana\*, of which and of whose summary critical editions are available,³ is the working manual of the system. His comprehensive treatise on astronomy entitled \*Mahāmārganibandhana\*, referred to in the \*Grahacāranibandhana\* (III. 44), is yet to be recovered. The well-known verse \*vāgbhāvonāt\* etc., enunciating his \*Śakābda-saṃskāra\*, which does not occur in the shorter manual, must be from this treatise;⁴ so also Nīlakaṇṭha Somayājī's quotation in his \*Grahaṇādi-grantha\* (ms., p. 59) which reads: \*atra Haridattaś capy āha\*—‘\*caturdaśabhāgāntaś calanty eva grahās tataḥ\*’. The \*Parahita\* system of computation, which grew highly popular, has played a leading role in the propagation and practice of astronomy in Kerala.⁵ - [Previous: c10.s2.17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.sarma-1972.c10.s2.17) - [Next: c10.s2.19](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.sarma-1972.c10.s2.19) - [Up: c10.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.sarma-1972.c10.s2) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.sarma-1972.c10.s2.18](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.sarma-1972.c10.s2.18) · Pramāṇa