Puthumana Somayaji was a mathematician and astronomer from a place known as Shivapuram in Kerala. The Puthumana family was well known as traditional astronomers. They all followed AsvalayanaGrihya Sutra, a typical aspect depicting some family traditions.
Karana Paddhati of Puthumana Somayaji
The most important text of Puthumana Somayaji is the Karana Paddhati. It is a comprehensive treatise on astronomy. It deals with not only mathematics but also topics like planetary motion, eclipses, periodicity time of planets, and a part of the Kerala calendar.
The language used in Karana Paddhati is Malayalam and the text has 213 verses distributed in 10 chapters.
Starting from fundamentals, it displays several formulae, tables and charts that form the basis of several other texts or manuals on this subject.
The Other Important Texts Are:
- Nyaratna
- Venavarohastaja
- Panchbodha
- Grahana Ganita – explaining the occurrence of eclipses with all calculations.
- Jataka Sesha
- Manasa Ganita
- Bhavark Prayaschitta
All results derived by Somayaji are of mathematical importance.
Majority of ancient Hindu scholars are of the view that Puthumana Somayaji lived during the 15th century AD. Some scholars believe that he lived between 1700 and 1760 AD.