150. Bondel

The northeastern sector of Mangalore city where the old Padushedde and Pachanadi suburban villages meet on the Airport road is popularly known as Bondel. The name was reported to be chosen by the Catholic missionaries who established the St. Lawrence church at Bondel some hundred and odd years ago. The 'Bondel' was christened originally as Bon-dale, the beautiful valley ( bon+ dale) that refers to the scenic panorama of greenery that characterizes the older 'Pachanadi'(=green village) and 'Padu-shedde' (=western clayey plateau) villages.

But how come the French word 'bon' was affixed to Old English 'dale' to form 'Bondel'? The clue to the real origin of the word 'Bondel 'surfaces if you just walk around in the green interiors of Pachanadi. On the western side of the Railway track within the Pachanadi village close to Bondel you find an old hamlet known as 'Bandhale'.The older place name 'Bandhale'( bandh+ale =captive stream ) must have inspired the missionaries to innovate and name the locality as Bon-dale or Bondel.

Hosabettu Viswanath ponders some other probabilities concerning the origin of the word 'Bondel'.

1) Bonda = Tender branch of a palmyra. Bonde = Tender palm pod. Bonde gudduni = To beat up the tender palymra pod to get toddy. Is/Was the area abounding with palymra trees (Tari mara)?
2) Bande+halla (or 'ala') if the area is rocky.
3) Bondolu = A kind of medicinal plant. Please find out the probability.
4) Please note the similarity between Band+halla/Bana+ala or Halla) and Panhal(a), the Capital of III branch of Shilahara Dynasty in Kolhapur ( where we find ruins of a fort, palace and a dome like granary, having inlet for depositing grains at tangential point at top and removal at ground level secured (small) doors.
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Ravi's note:
1.The word "Bondel" is pronounced as 'bon-del', with soft 'd' as in English 'the' and not 'D' as in 'dog' So comparison with bonDa (tender coconut) may not be valid. And the palmyra trees are rare in the said area.
2. Band-ale is the actual nearby location (which still exists with that name 'Bandhale'-pronounced bandale, with soft 'd'.)