The Government Museum has organised a week-long exhibition on traditional units of measurement used by ancient Tamils, starting today. Called mugathal alavaikal, these instruments of measurements were widely used till the metric system was introduced.
Units like Uzhakku, ‘¼ padi ½ padi, padi and marakkal were used to measure food. Made of different materials like brass, iron and wood, they were cylindrical in shape with a closed bottom. Grains were measured in the thrash-fields with the use of marakkal which roughly comes up to 5.3 litres per marakkal. Eight padis make up one marakkal.
Marakkals used in the royal palace and the treasury of the kings were named after royal people, while in the granaries, they were named after deities. Both the big marakkal and the small marakkal were in use. They were also used as gauges to measure the annual rainfall.