Katapayadi system

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Ka·ṭa·pa·yā·di (Devanagari: कटपयािद) system (also known as Paralppēru, Malayalam: പര േ ര്) of numerical notation is an
ancient Indian system to depict letters to numerals for easy remembrance of numbers as words or verses. Assigning more than
one letter to one numeral and nullifying certain other letters as valueless, this system provides the flexibility in forming
meaningful words out of numbers which can be easily remembered.

Contents
1 History
2 Geographical spread of the use
3 Rules and practices
3.1 Variations
4 Usage
4.1 Mathematics and astronomy
KaTaPaYadi System - Values
4.2 Carnatic music
4.2.1 Raga Dheerasankarabharanam
4.2.2 Raga MechaKalyani
4.2.3 Exception for Simhendramadhyamam
4.3 Representation of dates
4.4 Others
5 See also
6 References
7 Further reading

History
The oldest available evidence of the use of Kaṭapayādi (Sanskrit: कटपयािद) system is from Grahacāraṇibandhana by Haridatta
in 683 CE.[1] It has been used in Laghu·bhāskarīya·vivaraṇa written by Śaṅkara·nārāyaṇa in 869 CE.[2]

Some argue that the system originated from Vararuci.[3] In some astronomical texts popular in Kerala planetary positions were
encoded in the Kaṭapayādi system. The first such work is considered to be the Chandra-vakyani of Vararuci, who is traditionally
assigned to the fourth century CE. Therefore, sometime in the early first millennium is a reasonable estimate for the origin of the
Kaṭapayādi system.[4]

Aryabhata, in his treatise Ārya·bhaṭīya, is known to have used a similar, more complex system to represent astronomical
numbers. There is no definitive evidence whether the Ka-ṭa-pa-yā-di system originated from Āryabhaṭa numeration.[5]

Geographical spread of the use

Almost all evidences of the use of Ka-ṭa-pa-yā-di system is from south India, especially Kerala. Not much is known about its use
in north India. However, on a Sanskrit astrolabe discovered in north India, the degrees of the altitude are marked in the
Kaṭapayādi system. It is preserved in the Sarasvathy Bhavan Library of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi.[1]

The Ka-ṭa-pa-yā-di system is not confined to India. Some Pali chronograms based on the Ka-ṭa-pa-yā-di system have been
discovered in Burma.[6]

Rules and practices

Following verse found in Śaṅkaravarman's Sadratnamāla explains the mechanism of the system.[7][8]

न ावच शू यािन सं या: कटपयादय:।

िम े तू पा यहल् सं या न च िच यो हल वर:॥

Transiliteration:
 nanyāvacaśca śūnyāni saṃkhyāḥ kaṭapayādayaḥ
miśre tūpāntyahal saṃkhyā na ca cintyo halasvaraḥ

Translation: na (न), nya (ञ) and a (अ)-s, i.e., vowels represent zero. The nine integers are represented by consonant group
beginning with ka, ṭa, pa, ya. In a conjunct consonant, the last of the consonants alone will count. A consonant without vowel is
to be ignored.

Explanation: The assignment of letters to the numerals are as per the following arrangement.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

gha घ ఘ jha झ ఝ nya ञ ఞ

ka क క ക kha ख ఖ ഖ ga ग గ ഗ nga ङ జ ങ ca च చ ച cha छ ఛ ഛ ja ज జ ജ
ഘ ഝ ഞ

ḍha ढ ఢ
ṭa ट ట ട ṭha ठ ఠ ഠ ḍa ड డ ഡ ṇa ण ణ ണ ta त త ത tha थ థ ഥ da द ద ദ dha ध ధ ധ na न న ന
ഢ

pa प ప പ pha फ ఫ ഫ ba ब బ ബ bha भ భ ഭ ma म మ മ - - - - -

ya य య യ ra र ర ര la ल ల ല va व వ വ śha श శ ശ sha ष ష ഷ sa स స സ ha ह హ ഹ - -

Consonants have numerals assigned as per the above table. For example, ba (ब) is always 3 whereas 5 can be represented
by either nga (ङ) or ṇa (ण) or ma (म) or śha (श).
All stand-alone vowels like a (अ) and ṛ (ऋ) are assigned to zero.
In case of a conjunct, consonants attached to a non-vowel will not be valueless. For example, kya ( या) is formed by k (क् )
+ ya (य) + a (अ). The only consonant standing with a vowel is ya (य). So the corresponding numeral for kya ( या) will be
1.
There is no way of representing Decimal separator in the system.
Indians used the Hindu-Arabic numeral system for numbering, traditionally written in increasing place values from left to
right. This is as per the rule aṅkānām vāmato gatiḥ (अ ानाम ् वामतो गितः) which means numbers go from left to right.[9]

Variations

The consonant, ḷ (Malayālam: ള, Devanāgarī: ळ), present in the Dravidian languages of south India, is employed in works
using the Kaṭapayādi system, like Mādhava's sine table.
Some practitioners do not map the stand-alone vowels to zero. But, it is sometimes considered valueless.

Usage
Mathematics and astr onomy

Mādhava's sine table constructed by 14th century Kerala mathematician-astronomer Mādhava of Saṅgama·grāma employs
the Kaṭapayādi system to enlist the trigonometric sines of angles.
Karaṇa·paddhati, written in the 15th century, has the following śloka for the value of pi (π)

അ ന ാനന നിൈത -
മാഹതാ കലാവിഭ ാഃ
ച ാം ച ാധമ ംഭിപാൈല -
വ ാസ ദ ം ിഭമൗ വിക സ ാത്

Transliteration

anūnanūnnānananunnanityai
ssmāhatāścakra kalāvibhaktoḥ
caṇḍāṃśucandrādhamakuṃbhipālair

vyāsastadarddhaṃ tribhamaurvika syāt

 It gives the circumference of a circle of diameter, anūnanūnnānananunnanityai (10,000,000,000) as
caṇḍāṃśucandrādhamakuṃbhipālair (31415926536).

Śaṅkara·varman's Sad·ratna·mālā uses the Kaṭapayādi system. A famous verse found in Sad·ratna·mālā is

भ ा बुि िस ज मगिणत ा म यद ् भू पगी:

Transliteration

bhadrāṃbuddhisiddhajanmagaṇitaśraddhā sma yad bhūpagīḥ

Splitting the consonants gives,

भ द् रा म् बु द् िध िस द् ध ज न् म ग िण त श् र द् धा स् म य द् भू प िग
bha d rā ṃ ba d dh sa d dha ja n ma ga ṇa ta ṣ ra d dha s ma ya d bha pa gi

4 - 2 - 3 - 9 7 - 9 8 - 5 3 5 6 - 2 - 9 - 5 1 - 4 1 3

Reversing the digits to modern day usage of descending order of decimal places, we get 314159265358979324 which is the
value of pi (π) to 17 decimal places, except the last digit might be rounded off to 4.

This verse encrypts the value of pi (π) up to 31 decimal places.

गोपीभा यमध ु ात- ुि ङशोदिधसि धग ॥

खलजीिवतखाताव गलहालारसं धर ॥

ೂೕ ೕ ಗ ಮಧು ತ -ಶು ಂ ೂೕದ ಸಂ ಗ ||

ಖಲ ೕ ತ ವ ಗಲ ರಸಂಧರ ||

This verse directly yields the decimal equivalent of pi divided by 10: pi/10 = 0.31415926535897932384626433832792

గమ త -శృం ద సం గ |
ఖల త వ గల రసంధర ||

Carnatic music

The melakarta ragas of the Carnatic music is named so that the first two
syllables of the name will give its number. This system is sometimes called the
Ka-ta-pa-ya-di sankhya. The Swaras 'Sa' and 'Pa' are fixed, and here is how to
get the other swaras from the melakarta number.

1. Melakartas 1 through 36 have Ma1 and those from 37 through 72 have Ma2.
2. The other notes are derived by noting the (integral part of the) quotient and
remainder when one less than the melakarta number is divided by 6.
3. 'Ri' and 'Ga' positions: the raga will have:
Ri1 and Ga1 if the quotient is 0
Ri1 and Ga2 if the quotient is 1
Ri1 and Ga3 if the quotient is 2
Ri2 and Ga2 if the quotient is 3 Melakarta chart as per Kaṭapayādi system
Ri2 and Ga3 if the quotient is 4
Ri3 and Ga3 if the quotient is 5
4. 'Da' and 'Ni' positions: the raga will have:
Da1 and Ni1 if remainder is 0
Da1 and Ni2 if remainder is 1
Da1 and Ni3 if remainder is 2
Da2 and Ni2 if remainder is 3
Da2 and Ni3 if remainder is 4
Da3 and Ni3 if remainder is 5

See swaras in Carnatic music for details on above notation.

Raga Dheerasankarabharanam

The katapayadi scheme associates dha 9 and ra 2, hence the raga's melakarta number is 29 (92 reversed). Now 29 36,
hence Dheerasankarabharanam has Ma1. Divide 28 (1 less than 29) by 6, the quotient is 4 and the remainder 4. Therefore, this
raga has Ri2, Ga3 (quotient is 4) and Da2, Ni3 (remainder is 4). Therefore, this raga's scale is Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma1 Pa Da2 Ni3 SA.

Raga MechaKalyani

From the coding scheme Ma 5, Cha 6. Hence the raga's melakarta number is 65 (56 reversed). 65 is greater than 36. So
MechaKalyani has Ma2. Since the raga's number is greater than 36 subtract 36 from it. 65-36=29. 28 (1 less than 29) divided by
6: quotient=4, remainder=4. Ri2 Ga3 occurs. Da2 Ni3 occurs. So MechaKalyani has the notes Sa Ri2 Ga3 Ma2 Pa Da2 Ni3 SA.

Exception for Simhendramadhyamam

As per the above calculation, we should get Sa 7, Ha 8 giving the number 87 instead of 57 for Simhendramadhyamam.
This should be ideally Sa 7, Ma 5 giving the number 57. So it is believed that the name should be written as
Sihmendramadhyamam (as in the case of Brahmana in Sanskrit).

Representation of dates

Important dates were remembered by converting them using Kaṭapayādi system. These dates are generally represented as
number of days since the start of Kali Yuga. It is sometimes called kalidina sankhya.

The Malayalam calendar known as kollavarsham (Malayalam: െകാ വ ഷം) was adopted in Kerala beginning from 825
CE, revamping some calendars. This date is remembered as āchārya vāgbhadā, converted using Kaṭapayādi into 1434160
days since the start of Kali Yuga.[10]
Narayaniyam, written by Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, ends with the line, āyurārogyasaukhyam
(ആ രാേരാഗ െസൗഖ ം) which means long-life, health and happiness.[11]

In Malayalam ആ രാേരാഗ െസൗഖ ം

In Devanagari आयुरारो यसौ यम्

In IAST āyurārogyasaukhyam

Value as per Kaṭapayādi 1712210

This number is the time at which the work was completed represented as number of days since the start of Kali Yuga as per
the Malayalam calendar.

Others

Some people use the Kaṭapayādi system in naming newborns.[12][13]

The following verse compiled in Malayalam by Koduṅṅallur Kuññikkuṭṭan Taṃpurān using Kaṭapayādi is the number of
days in the months of Gregorian Calendar.

പലഹാേര പാ ന , ല ാേലാ കല ിലാം

ഇ ാ പാെല േഗാപാല - ആം മാസദിനം മാ

Transiliteration

palahāre pālu nallū, pularnnālo kalakkilāṃ

illā pālennu gopālan - āṃgḷamāsadinaṃ kramāl

Translation: Milk is best for breakfast, when it is morning, it should be stirred. But Gopālan says there is no milk - the
number of days of English months in order.
Converting pairs of letters using Kaṭapayādi yields - pala (പല) is 31, hāre (ഹാേര) is 28, pālu പാ = 31, nallū (ന ) is 30,
pular ( ല ) is 31, nnālo ( ാേലാ) is 30, kala (കല) is 31, kkilāṃ ( ിലാം) is 31, illā (ഇ ാ) is 30, pāle (പാെല) is 31, nnu
go ( േഗാ) is 30, pālan (പാല ) is 31.
See also
Abjad numerals
Aksharapalli
Aryabhata numeration
Bhutasamkhya system
Gematria
Greek numerals
Kerala school of astronomy and mathematics
Madhava's sine table
Mnemonic major system
Notarikon
Temurah_(Kabbalah)

References

1. Sreeramamula Rajeswara Sarma (1999), Kaṭapayādi Notation on a Sanskrit Astrolabe [1] (http://www.new.dli.ernet.in/raw
dataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b66_273.pdf)
2. J J O'Connor; E F Robertson (November 2000). "Sankara Narayana" (http://www-history.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/Biographies/Sa
nkara.html). School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of St Andrews, Scotland. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
3. Usenet Discussion. "Aryabhatta's numerical encoding" (https://archive.is/20110717175501/http://www-wireless.usenet-rep
layer.com/data/humanities/language/sanskrit/4154.html). Archived from the original (http://www-wireless.usenet-replayer.
com/data/humanities/language/sanskrit/4154.html) on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
4. Plofker, Kim (2008). Mathematics in India. Princeton University Press. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-691-12067-6.
5. J. F. Fleet (Apr 1912). "The Ka-ta-pa-ya-di Notation of the Second Arya-Siddhanta". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 459–462. JSTOR 25190035 (http
s://www.jstor.org/stable/25190035).
6. J.F. Fleet (Jul 1911). "The Katapayadi System of Expressing Numbers". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 788–794. JSTOR 25189917 (https://www.jstor.org/
stable/25189917).
7. Sarma, K.V. (2001). "Sadratnamala of Sankara Varman". Indian Journal of History of Science (Indian National Academy
of Science, New Delhi) 36 (3–4 (Supplement)): 1–58. "Archived copy" (https://web.archive.org/web/20150402140113/htt
p://www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b67_s1.pdf) (PDF). Archived from the original (http://
www.new.dli.ernet.in/rawdataupload/upload/insa/INSA_1/20005b67_s1.pdf) (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved
17 December 2009.
8. Anand Raman. "The Ancient Katapayadi Formula and the Modern Hashing Method" (http://www.speech.sri.com/people/an
and/Papers/ieee-annals19-4.pdf) (PDF).
9. Aryabhatta's Numerical Encoding (http://www-wireless.usenet-replayer.com/data/humanities/language/sanskrit/4154.html)
10. Francis Zimmerman, 1989, Lilavati, gracious lady of arithmetic - India - A Mathematical Mystery Tour "Archived copy" (h
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20090906215627/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1989_Nov/ai_8171045/).
Archived from the original (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1310/is_1989_Nov/ai_8171045/) on 6 September 2009.
Retrieved 2010-01-03.
11. Dr. C Krishnan Namboodiri, Chekrakal Illam, Calicut, Namboothiti.com Dr. C Krishnan Namboodiri. " "Katapayaadi" or
"Paralpperu" " (http://www.namboothiri.com/articles/katapayaadi.htm). Namboothiri Websites Trust. Retrieved 1 January
2010.
12. Visti Larsen, Choosing the auspicious name (http://srigaruda.com/visti/attachments/061_name%5B1%5D.pdf)
13. [2] (http://varahamihira.blogspot.com/2004/06/principles-of-naming.html)

Further reading
A.A. Hattangadi, Explorations in Mathematics, Universities Press (India) Pvt. Ltd., Hyderabad (2001) ISBN 81-7371-387-
1 [3]

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