Kantavara is a remote sylvan village in
Karkal Taluk of Udupi District. It can be approached from Mudabidri via Beluvayi or
from Karkal or Belman via Manjarapalke
or from Mundkur via Bola.
The
village list in the Census of India shows it as Kanthavara. There is also a village known as Kantavaram in Visakhapatnam district of Andhra Pradesh.
In
Tulu language the village Kantavara
is known as Kantara. The general
impression among the people is that Kantavara
is the actual original name of the village and the illiterate villagers tend to
deform the place name as Kantara. We
shall delve into these place names and make an endeavor to verify if this
impression is correct or not.
Kantara
Kāntāra
means a forest in Kannada and Sanskrit. According to Kittlel's Kannada
Dictionary says, it is a Dravidian word. However,Kānt(h)ar
or Kant(h)ara is not a place name unique to Tulunadu. Kantar and its numerous variants such as Kant(h)a,
Kant(h)an, Kant(h)ari, Kant(h)ari(y)a, Kanthal, Kant(h)ali, Kant(h)apada, Kant(h)a(va)ram,
Katharpur, Kantharia, Kanthalur, Kantaoh, Kantaroli, Kantarda, Kantargre,
Kantaranguri, Kantarabali, Kantharpata, etc are found in many parts of India
suggesting its wide distribution in States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Orissa,
West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Uttara Khand, Gujarat and Rajasthan apart from Karnataka.
The
existence of more number of villages having the word Kantar in their name over
Kant(h)avara(m) suggests that Kantara could been the original ancient place
name which in some cases has been subsequently modified or Sanskritized into
Kantavara(m) with passage of time during the history.
Incidentally,
the word Kantara also represents a
male personal name of among certain tribal people.
Origin
The
word Kantara can also be found in African
and Mediterranean regions. In fact village and streams named Kantar(a) can be found around Euphrates,
Cyprus and Algeria. In Arabic language Kantara
means a bridge. Whether the Arabic word Kantara
is derived from similar ancient Sumerian word or does it has any genetic significance
in respect of Indian place names is to be studied further.
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