Talk:Idumban

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Merge with Hidimba?[edit]

As a Tamil speaker, I understand that Idumban is the Tamil pronunciation and spelling of the Sanskrit Hidimba, the Mahabharata character. It seems to me that Tamil tradition has adapted this character with a unique story, involving Murugan, which is absent in mainstream Hindu texts. Should this article not be merged with Hidimba, with a separate section added in Hidimba's article to cover this article's content? @Rasnaboy @Redtigerxyz You're welcome to pitch in. Chronikhiles (talk) 05:57, 8 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Chronikhiles:Do we have reliable sources saying that Idumban is the Tamil adaptation of Hidimba? If so, then I think we can think about merging the content as you suggested. But I don't find any so far. Again, if the Idumban story was indeed well-sourced in the Tamil literature (which, again, doesn't seem to be the case currently since this article lacks enough reliable sources), then these can be left as separate articles, as they currently are, leaving brief mention about each other in both the articles. In either case, the current sources aren't enough and we need to work on them a bit. Rasnaboy (talk) 13:44, 8 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Rasnaboy While I have found some pretty old journals that do state that the Tamil rendering of Hidimba is Idumban, none of the texts seem to indicate that they are, in fact, the same person, even though the linguistic similarity is admitted (https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Tamil_Traditions_on_Subrahma%E1%B9%87ya_Muruga/nnIcAAAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=I%E1%B9%ADumpan+murugan&dq=I%E1%B9%ADumpan+murugan&printsec=frontcover). The Tamil Wiki has two different articles called Idumban, and Idumban, the Mahabharata character. I must conclude that the Tamil Hindu tradition has borrowed both the name of the Mahabharata character, as well as his sister Hidimbi, who is called Idimbi: (https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Thaipusam_in_Malaysia/kB1qDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=idumban+idumbi+murugan&pg=PT201&printsec=frontcover). So, you got the same name, the same sister, but a different legend. I don't know what the merge policy is under these circumstances, but I think Idumban and Hidimba should offer some reference to each other in their respective articles. Chronikhiles (talk) 14:25, 8 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Unless we have some evidence in WP:RS that both are the same, we should not merge them, or link each other. Often the scriptures have characters with the same name, but are in fact different individiuals. For example, Rama, Parashurama and Balarama are all called Rama in some scriptures. Redtigerxyz ^Talk 16:34, 11 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

@Chronikhiles:. Thanks for the sources. I agree with @Redtigerxyz: regarding merging. I've fixed the article titles in the Tamil Wiki articles for clarity but since we do not yet have a WP:RS to differentiate the two, we shall keep them as they are now until we find a good source. Rasnaboy (talk) 09:44, 12 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your insights! Chronikhiles (talk) 09:54, 12 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]