Information revolution enabled me to get decent amount of info. on Thuravoor Narayana Shastri, my great-grandfather

By

Copied from ravisiyer.blogspot.com on 14 Apr. 2023, first published there on March 04, 2023

My first post about Thuravoor Narayana Shastri (TNS), eminent Sanskrit scholar, grammarian and teacher of late 1800s and early 1900s from Kerala, seems to have been in July 2016: My family history and how we moved from traditional South Indian Brahmin occupations to others over generations, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/2016/07/some-info-and-speculation-about-my.html , published 11th July 2016.

In that post, I first wrote, "Don't know much about my mother's side. My mother's father was a magistrate (in Trivandrum, IIRC) and I have heard stories about how he was held in pretty high esteem. He and his father, IIRC, were Sanskrit scholars and perhaps his father had been felicitated or had a position in one of the Kerala Hindu king's (Travancore?) court/administration."

Then I spoke to my aunt (mother's sister) over phone. After that conversation, I wrote in the post: "Mother's father (Pata [grandfather in Tamil]) was a magistrate who used to get transferred to various places in Kerala. Eventually the family settled in Trivandrum. Pata knew Sanskrit (I am not sure whether he was a Sanskrit scholar - I would not be surprised if he was an M.A. (Sanskrit) or something similar).

Pata's father (Mother's grandfather and my great-grandfather) was a Sanskrit scholar known as Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal."

Then I wrote, [Mar. 2023 update: Following links are broken:] 'http://www.simplymalayalees.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=278 [Ravi: This link also seems to give the same/similar info. http://collegeof.net/t-govt-sanskrit-college-palayam-thiruvananthapuram] [Mar. 2023 Update: This link is current and gives almost the same info., http://gsctvpm.ac.in/?page_id=412 ], gives information about Government Sanskrit College, Thiruvananthapuram. "Government Sanskrit College, the oldest of its kind in Kerala, was founded in 1889 by H.H. The Maharaja Sri Mulam Tirunal of Travancore, on the model of the Benares Sanskrit College with title courses in Sanskrit." Very interestingly the web page lists the principals of the college and a "Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal (1909-1911)" is listed as its third principal. Given what I recall about Pata being talked about as well versed in Sanskrit, I would not be surprised if Pata's father was this same principal of Government Sanskrit College, Trivandrum!

Thuravoor was under Travancore Maharaja. Pata's father had sung a poem/stanzas of a poem in front of Sri Moolam Maharaja (of Travancore) probably in praise of the Maharaja, due to which he was presented with a veera shankalam/shankaram? of 10 tolas Gold.'

...

"Chitthi recalled seeing that gold gift. She said that later on during family financial hardship (times) the gold gift was utilized to make make ornaments for wedding of girl-children (and/or part of it may have got sold, I guess)."

--- end extracts from July 2016 My family history ... blog post ---

From this bare level knowledge of TNS, with sporadic bursts of effort by me and great amount of help from some Malayalam literate persons as well as an elder who visited Govt. Sanskrit College in Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), today in March 2023 we have a far more knowledgeable idea of TNS work and accomplishments. That is quite amazing to me. I think it is the information revolution powered by the Internet that has enabled these results. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sanskrit drama author Bhattasri Narayana Sastri (1860-1911/1918) IS NOT my ancestor Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal (TNS)

By
Image
Last updated on 19 Apr. 2023 Copied with link update from ravisiyer.blogspot.com on 14 Apr. 2023 , first published there on May 27, 2020 Previously as explained in the section, "Is Bhatta Sri Narayana Sastri same as Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal?" in my blog post:  https://tnarayanasasthri.blogspot.com/2023/04/other-names-of-my-ancestor-thuravoor.html  , due to close match in name and in period, I had thought that the Sanskrit drama author Bhattasri (or Bhatta Sri) Narayana Sastri (1860-1911/1918) was perhaps another name/reference to my great-grandfather Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal. I had noted that Bhattasri (or Bhatta Sri) Narayana Sastri was mentioned in the following books: a) 1959 Sahitya Akademi Contemporary Indian Literature Symposium 2nd Ed., in Sanskrit literature chapter by V. Raghavan b) Encyclopaedia of the Hindu World, Volume 1 By Gaṅgā Rām Garg, first published 1992 Both the references mentioned that he had composed 90 odd Sanskrit dramas and reference b) dated
Read more

Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal related passages in A.R. Rajaraja Varma biography by Bhagirathy Amma Thampuran and Raghava Varma

By
Image
Last updated on 9th May 2023 This post refers to, and covers/describes, the Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal related passages in A.R. Rajaraja Varma biography of three volumes titled, “Ē. Ār. Rājarājavarmma” Volume 1, 2 and 3, by M. Bhagirathy Amma Thampuran and M. Raghava Varma Raja (daughter and son of A.R. Rajaraja Varma), first published in February 1963 by M. Bhagirathy Amma Thampuran. This seems to be the Google Books link for the book: https://books.google.co.in/books?id=X4ARAQAAIAAJ . An elder has very kindly done the laborious task of going through all three volumes of the book, and providing Malayalam text and English translation of all passages related to Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal (TNS). As the great-grandson of TNS, I (Ravi S. Iyer) am deeply grateful to the elder for this great service he has done. These passages are a very valuable source of some information about the life and work of TNS. TNS’s contribution and support for some of ARRV’s literary works have been acknowle
Read more

Century old picture of Sanskrit scholar Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal (my ancestor) with A. R. Rajaraja Varma and others, most probably taken in early 1900s

By
Image
Last updated on 18th April 2023 ; Copied with minor link update from ravisiyer.blogspot.com on 14 Apr. 2023, first published there on March 07, 2023 After a great deal of searching, finally I got the picture of my great-grandfather, Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal (TNS), an eminent Sanskrit scholar and grammarian of Kerala in late 19th and early 20th century, with A. R. Rajaraja Varma (ARRV) and others, from a biography on ARRV. The book is titled, "Ē. Ār. Rājarājavarmma - Volume 3" (A.R. Rajaraja Varma-III) by M. Bhagirathy Amma Thampuran and M. Raghava Varma Raja, first published in February 1963 by M. Bhagirathy Amma Thampuran. This seems to be the Google Books link for the book:  https://books.google.co.in/books?id=X4ARAQAAIAAJ  . The original pic (without my slight editing) was shared with me today (7th March 2023) by Shri D.K.M. Kartha who now lives in USA but is originally from Thuravoor, Kerala which is the same town that Thuravoor Narayana Sastrigal (or Thuravoor Naraya
Read more