Man
is born with all necessities of life - some are readily available and some are
not. In prehistory, the bountiful and
pristine Nature provided foodstuff readily to our fore-fathers; they had to
just forage or hunt for them. Man devised means to get them by specialising in
various professions and trades.
What
is the indigence for him to go on changing the name of his settlement or
geographical area? What is the driving force or emotional urge - wise or unwise
- for changing names? Coming to our State, 'Mysore State' was changed to 'Karnataka', considering the historical relevance. Some Anglicised names were
restored to its original status, such as 'Mysore' to 'Mysuru', 'Bangalore' to 'Bengaluru', 'Mangalore' to 'Mangaluru', 'Coorg' to 'Kodagu', 'Udpi' to 'Udupi', etc. As a
country, 'Hindustan' became 'India' during colonial rule (by Portuguese, Dutch and
French in some trading harbour pockets and entire nation under British). It adopted the name of 'Bharat' after
Independence, but retained the name of 'India', keeping in mind its importance in
international relations. Other States and important cities also underwent
changes for obvious reasons.
Many
countries in the turbulent world too have been undergoing changes in their names
and their cities for emotional reasons and/or political upheavals. The list is too big to be included here. Besides, it is not desirable to make this
article too long by quoting them.
Under-currents
of change:
Place
names have meanings and not definitions (Post-166/14.01.2009: Tulu Onomastics). So the need for change may be realised or
envisaged for one or more of the following guiding factors to make the name fit
and apt accordingly:
1.
Compelling reasons or
happenings, requiring a change in name.
2.
Political exigency so as to give
a proper meaning.
3.
Place name as an Identity
Marker.
4.
Turning inward or back upon
itself, so to say in one word ‘inversion', as an aftermath of political
changes.
5.
Coming into being a new
societal or cultural environment on borders or migration and/or forced
occupation,
6.
Promulgation by Government
authorities to serve the purpose of politics, economy and commerce.
7.
Protecting cultural heritage.
8.
Name changes for streets,
predominantly populated areas and administrative sectors.
9.
Changes/Fluctuations in language
elements in a region.
10.
Traditions prevailing in an
area.
11.
Domination of a powerful
political force or dominant cultural force.
12.
Geographical or type of
surroundings to give a specific space-related identity.
Lest
we should forget, may we bring to memory once again the beautiful Poem
‘Monastery of Old Bangor’ by English Poet Wordsworth wherein he summed up the changes
done by Saxon conquerors in British place names:
“Another
language spreads from Coast to Coast,
Only
perchance some melancholy stream,
And
some indignant hills old names preserve,
When
laws, and creeds, and people all are lost I “
Old
vs. New Tulu Place names:
We
have dealt with incidentally some of the Tulu place name changes elsewhere in
our Posts on Toponyms. We give below some names which come to our mind readily.
Readers may enrich this list by sharing the information which is at their
disposal.
Bolteru
(ಬೊಳ್ತೆರು)
= Belthangadi
Kaniyar .. .. Kanyaar =Kumble.
Kaniyar .. .. Kanyaar =Kumble.
Karyodi
(Kariya Odi) = Karla (Tulu) or Karkala (Tulu/Kannada).
[Post-239 on Kar & Bar]
Kudar
= Malpe [Post-255/15.10.2010: Import of Kuda element in place names]
Kudla
= Mangaluru with several changes [Posts: 246/27.06.10: Kudla – A controversy,
247/10.07.2010: Mangalore Place names & 345/01.12.2014: Mysterious history
Mangaluru]
Kukke = Subramanya (The village has come to be named/known by the name of Deity Subramanya itself).
Kuduma = Dharmasthala (famed for the Temple of Lord Manjunatha and his Kshetrapala Annappa Panjurli Daiva.
Kuvalayapura: Kollur (Kuvalayapura is a sanskritised name, as is Rajatapura to Udupi and Varakula to Barkur. The place is famous for the Temple of Goddess Mukambika on the bank of River Sauparnika).
Narol = Naraavi (Post: 301/19.05.2012).
Nandār = Nandāvara, a village in Bantwal Taluk.
As the legend goes, this place was ruled
by a powerful King Nandarāye. He was born to a man from downtrodden
class from a Brahmin girl, who was banished to forest by her parents on her attaining puberty
before marriage. He introduced leather money. On his downfall, those
leather coins were eaten away by dogs and foxes. Hence the famous
saying in Tulu: ‘Nandu Rayana baduku nari nāyee tindudu pOndu’
(Read also
Posts: 266(05.01.2011), 268 (23.01.2011) and 107 (07.04.2008).
Periadka = Hiriyadka (Change effected in Kannada in Government Revenue records)
Posodi = Hosabettu [ Post-109: Odipu; Post-239 On Kar & Bar]
Puraal = Polali [ Post-64/29.12.2007; 315/18.09.2013]
Ala= An ancient Place Name Indicator Word, a place beside river/water.
In summer earlier, the sandy bed and bank of the River Phalguni is conspicuous by shallow water or absence of water at some stretches. This naturally attractive quality is epitomised by its refined name "Pulinapura".
In summer earlier, the sandy bed and bank of the River Phalguni is conspicuous by shallow water or absence of water at some stretches. This naturally attractive quality is epitomised by its refined name "Pulinapura".
Kannada-English Dictionary of F. Kittel gives the meaning of ‘Pura’as a stream, a rivulet, a brook, a water channel (Poral, Ponal & Kalpura).
Tortalu>Sirekallu = Suratkal. [Post-111/23.04.2008: Swirling waves of Suratkal].
Suratkal: One mythical story
connects it to fight between Kharasura and Lord Ganesha. When the giant body of Kharasura fell down,
his head fell on the rocky area of Suratkal.
The other story revolves around Lord Shiva, King Ravana, Shiva’s Atma
Linga(= sacred stone structure in the form of a phallus for worshipping by
devotees), Lord Vishnu, Narada and Lord Ganesha, posing as a Brahmin boy. Ravana was bestowed with the Atma Linga as a
reward for his rigorous penance, which he undertook to get more power with the
grace of Shiva. Shiva gave the Atma Linga with a
condition that it should not to be placed anywhere on the soil during his
journey from Kailas to Lanka Dweepa. On his way, he stopped at Gokarna to do
evening ablution and prayer to Shiva as per his routine rituals during sun
sets. The (false) sun set was brought
about by Vishnu by shielding the Sun with his Divine Wheel, the Sudarshana
Chakra. On seeing Ganesha in the guise of a ‘bāla vatu’
(= a Brahmin boy wearing a sacred thread as a sign of celibacy), as advised by
Sage Nārada, Rāvana
handed over the Atma Linga with strict instructions not to keep it on the
ground until he finished his evening prayers.
Ganesha tricked Rāvana by calling him soon
three times that he (Ganesha) could not bear the weight any longer and landed
the linga on the sea shore. The linga
sank into the earth. Rāvana
strenuously tried to extricate the Linga but howsoever he put more force, the
Linga did not budge. By the force of his pulling, upper parts (head) of the
linga flew at different places. One
piece fell at Suratkal (Dakshina Kannada) and other pieces fell at Dhareshwar,
Gunavanteshwar, Murudeshwar and Sejjeshwar (all in Uttara Kannada
District). Shiva temples were built on
these places. Shiva is worshipped as
Mahabaleshwar in Gokarna and as Sadashiva at Suratkal. These legends try to give importance to ’Shira’
(head) and ‘kallu’ (=stone) by relating it to Shiva-linga.
Volalanke
= Mulaka > Mulki (Post-305/18.10.2012: Mulki,
an emerged land).
Odipu
= Udpi > Udupi (Post-109/20.04.2008 ;Post
318/29.10.2013: Udupi-Orissa – common thread).
Odiyara
= Udyavara (Post-184/27.04.2009: Magic of Malpe,
Post-182-183/7th& 16th April 2009: Uliyargoli to
Malpe 1 & 2 & 181/31.03.2009: Vanished Port of Udyavara). It was mentioned
as ‘Odera’ in Greek writing called ‘Oxyhydrinchus
Papyrus).
**
May
we hope, the list would grow with the help of Tuluva readers!
Conclusion
We
have been witnessing through ages changes in place names, having relevance to
linguistics, for one or the other reasons cited above. The cauldron of change with beliefs –
geographical, political, lingual and social – is keeping on boiling. The strain of Wordsworth’s poem may echo in
one’s ears when one sees the changes in place names wrought by the Time for anyone
of the reasons aforesaid.
