THE CHAPTER II LONGITUDE-CORRECTION Names of certain places lying on the Hindu prime meridian: 1-2. From Lanka (towards the north, we have the follow- ing places on the prime meridian): Kharanagara, Sitorugeha, Pāṇāṭa, Misitapuri, Taparni, the lofty mountain called Sitavara, the wealthy town called Vatsyagulma, the well known Vanana- gari, Avanti, Sthanesa, and then Meru, which is inhabited by happy people. For those who reside in these places, the correction for the longitude (of the local place) does not exist. Lankā in Hindu astronomy denotes the place where the Hindu prime meridian passing through Ujjain¹ intersects the equator (i.e., the place in 0 latitude and 0 longitude). It is one of the four hypothetical cities on the equator, called Lanka, Romaka, Siddhapura, and Yamakoți. Lankā is described in the Surya-siddhanta² as a great city (mahāpuri) situated on an island (dvipa) to the south of Bhärata-varṣa (India). The island of Ceylon which bears then ame Lanka, however, is not the astronomical Lankā, as the former is about six degrees to the north of the equator. Kharanagara ("the town of Khara") is Nasik where Khara, cousin of Rāvaṇa, lived. identified. probably the place near Sitorugeha has not been Pāṇāṭa seems to have been an important place, as it has been mentioned by other astronomers also, such as Lalla, Vateśvara, and Śripati. Lalla has called it by the name Pārṇāṭā, and Sripati by the name Pānāța. We have not been able to identify this place also. ¹ Situated in latitude 23° 11' N. and longitude 75° 52' east of Greenwich.
- xii. 37, 39.
