A History of the Kerala School of Hindu Astronomy (in Perspective) c10.s8.161

c10.s8.161

3. The South Indian village accountant is called Maṇiyakkāran ; this term, which can be rendered, literally, as ‘clock-man’ could give rise to the Sanskritisation ‘Ghaṭigopa’. To hazard another specific suggestion : Prince Goda Varma Koyittampurān (1810-60) a member of the scholarly family of Kilimanoor and a resident of Trivandrum, had the distinction of constructing, all by himself, a clock, and, thereby, getting as present a golden bracelet from the reigning ruler of Travancore (Ul. IV. 57 : RNP V. 21). Following this achievement, he gained the popular appellation ‘Maṇikkāran Thampurān’ (‘Prince of the clock’). This prince was also a good astronomer. Can it be that he composed the commentaries on the Āryabhaṭīya under the Sanskritised version of his name ‘Ghaṭigopa’? In that case, the date arrived at on the basis of internal evidence (see below) and the author’s being a devotee of God Padmanābha, would fit in well.