69.Kaipunjal and Kapu

Friend Vish recently visited his relatives at Kaipunjal near Kapu. His poser on the word ‘Kaipunjal’, prompted me to analyse the meaning of the word.
Tulu people evidently loved the geography of their land since ancient times. This is amply illustrated by the fact that most of the habitations have been named after the salient geographical/ geomorphological features of the area.
Kai-punj-al
An explanation of the basic geomorphology of the Kaipunjal area, may help better appreciation of the word. The Kaipunjal habitation is north of Kapu village, located about 10 kilometers southwest of Udupi town. Udyavara river flows westerly towards the coast and further takes a long northward turn parallel to the coastline upto Malpe town, where it joins the Arabian Sea. There is a small southward blind tributary to River Udyavara that flows (or rather fills up) mainly during the rainy season. The name ‘Kaipunjal’ evidently refers to the seasonal inflated stream-limb.
The word Kai+punja+al therefore means tributary/branch (=‘kai’) of swollen/surged (=‘punja’) river (=‘Aal’). The word ‘punj/panj’, apparently derived from our ancient Munda heritage, is the root of Tulu words ‘panji’ (=swollen animal) as well as ‘panja’ and ‘punja’ (=raised/ inflated land).The word 'panja' still exists in Kui (Gondwana)langauage.
Kapu
The word ‘Kapu’ means a reserved or protected area, possibly derived from the protected status of area during the period of regal armies. Possibly, an army of soldiers was kept at Kapu area during historical period when Udyavara was under the rule of Kings/Chieftains.

A ‘kapi-kad’ represented reserved forest of earlier days. A community of ancient guards is called ‘Kapu’ in Andhra Pradesh. The verb ‘kapu’(<.kapuni) in Tulu also means to wait.