This gourd is called ‘bottle gourd,’ (commercial English?), ‘lauki’ (Hindi?), ‘opu’ (Spanish?) ‘curaikkāy/suraikkaay’ in Tamil. In Tamilnadu, young boys, learning to swim, use the dried-up gourd of this type as a ‘life-guard.’ They tie it around their waist while jumping into a well or a river while swimming. In pre-modern S.India, the dried up gourd was used to make the base of a musical string instrument, I believe. This gourd is not bitter, and very good for diabetic patients, I believe.
Regards, rajam > On May 17, 2022, at 1:45 PM, Martin Gansten via INDOLOGY > <[email protected]> wrote: > > In a fanciful expression of humility, a 13th-century Sanskrit author compares > his work to a kadatumbī (according to the MS) in which to cross the ocean. I > haven't found that exact word anywhere, but Monier-Williams gives 'a kind of > bitter gourd' for kaṭutumbī, which might be meant. Do we know what kind that > might be (that is, what it should be called in English), or does anyone have > a qualified guess? I confess to a complete ignorance of gourds, though I > would assume it to be some fairly large and rounded variety, perhaps used > to make bowls or the like. MW gives Suśruta as his reference. > > Thanks in advance for any suggestions, > > Martin Gansten > > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
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