426. Etymology of the word Odera or Vadera

It is possible that some simple appearing words may have altogether alternate explanation etymologically. For example the word: “Odera”. If we look it as a word of Kannada origin it may simply mean owner lord or boss.

·         Odera Hobli or Vadera Hobli near Kundapur.   

·         Oderabettu in Mulki

If we look it as a word of Kannada origin it may simply mean owner lord or boss. However, there are related ancient words like:  Odi and Oda. Were these words evolved into Odera?

 Let us analyse the  expositions of pleonastic compound words used in some of the  place-names vogue in the coastal districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada, popularly known as Tulu Nadu.

Oda : and its variants

(I) Oda

·         Oda/Vāda= boat

·         Odera = evolved from Oda(da)r or Oda + ar/er = A boatman.  Or fisherman.

·         Vadera =alternate form of Odera.

(II) Odeya

·         Odeya=owner, lord

·         Odera = Odeya + avar/ ar.  A  landlord or a nobleman or a king.

(III) Vadda

·         Vadda (Prakrit; Sanskrit “Vriddha”) = Elderly or senior person.  Big.   

·         Vadera= a worshippable or respectable elderly or important person. (as in “Vaddāradhane”).

(IV) Odda

·         Odda= stone cutter. Also meant an artisan? Vodda, a variant of Odda.

·         Odari= artisan? Vadari an variant of Odari. 

(V) Oddu

·         Oddu ¹= a small barrage across a fluvial course.

·         Oddu ²= stub remaining after harvest of paddy crop in fields.

First view

Our first impression is that Odera is derived from Oda (= boat).   So Oderabettu is a hamlet of fisherfolk.  This is evident from the predominant population of fishermen in the area, engaged in fishing in rivers and sea.

Apprehensive of our jumpy view, we feel it necessary to give a studied and discerning exposition in the matter.  What follows is our attempt to analyze the place names referred above.

Vadera Hobli

Vadera hobli is a large village, located between Kundapura and Basrur.  Basrur was a prominent port for marine trade during historical times.  Since ports were connected to fishermen colonies it can be surmised that Vadera hobli , was named after fisherfolk.

We find an alternate explanation in the following story: There is a historical connection of Vadera Hobli and Kundeshwara Shiva Temple to Shringeri Dharma Sansthana in Chikkamagaluru District.   It is popularly known as Shringeri Math, located at Shringeri-577139 on the banks of River Tunga.  It is about 85 km East of Udupi and 100 km (62 miles) Northeast from Mangaluru across Western Ghats.  There is an inscription of 1406 Century  AD found at Vadera Hobli.  Two priestly persons (Bhats) of Hangaru donated this large area to the administration of Shringeri Math when the Jagadguru Shri Narasimha Bharati was the Pontiff. So income from this land was used for religious purposes.  So it has become a land of ‘Brahmadaaya’.    Again these two Brahmins regained this vast land after paying original price (Moola Kraya).   According to the Inscription, the witness to this sale/purchase was Bettada Devaru (Lord of the Hill), i.e. Shri Malahanikareshwara in Shringeri.   Thereafter the income from this land is used for the administration of Kundeshwara Temple.   As the land is connected to Shringeri Shri Shri Sharda Math and Shri Shri Shri Narasimha Bharati Vodeyar was the Pontiff then, this has come to be known as ‘Vadera Hobli’. 

Oderabettu

Odera may reflect to boatmen or a feudal lord + bettu, meaning a high land at east Bank of R. Shambhavi in Mulki.   Mulki was ruled by vassals of Alupa/Vijayanagara.  They are called as ‘Savantas’.    So the hamlet is now popularly known as ‘Oderyarabettu > Oderabettu.

Odda places

·         Oddarse > Vaddarse.  It is in northen part of Udupi.

·         Oddathamukhi.   It is a hilly area in Sulia Taluk.

These could be derived from the Odda (senior, respectable) word probably suggestive of ancient Jain traditions.

Odera-Vadera : A riddle!

It is possible that originally the Oderabettu or Vaderahobli could have been   boatmens or fishermens colony, like the word “patna” (or “pattaNa”) originally used for the colony of fisherfolks .   It reflects to the societal preference of living in groups.   Fisherfolk living together as a community is an age old practice.  The Koragas, the original tribal inhabitants living in Tulu Nadu, refer to fishermen as ‘pattanadakulu’ or the people from the “patna” (=colony; town).  

The place names Oderahobli and Oderbettu are of recent coinage some time in 14^th/15^th Century AD.   It reflects the influence of Kannada.  Thus there is a possibility that the words were slightly modified with change in meaning, after the Tulu Nadu came under the rule of Kannada Kings.   It is a common factor that old place names transform into the hue of language of the conqueror.   ‘Kannadikarana’ (=Kannadaization) and Sanskritisation have played an important role in shaping and altering the place names  (as highlighted in one of our earlier Posts). Human memory is short.  It remembers only the very recent events and never bothers to know what happened in time-sand of history.

Oderabettu is a high place where the fishermen inhabited since long ago.   They engaged in fishing in ponds/lakes, streams and rivers prior to venturing to sea for fishing.  We know about the changing courses of rivers and ingress and regress of sea near the coastline.  This phenomenon is highlighted in our various Posts (on Mulki, Kaipunjal to Udyavara, Udyavara, Malpe – Magic of Malpe, Kordel, Kolalagiri, Telaru>Chelairu– Community Fishing, etc).

It may not be a remote chance to say that the riverine place Oderabettu or Vaderahobli is coined to mean a ‘colony of boatmen’.  Oderabettu in Mulki is abutting Shambhavi River and is predominantly inhabited by fishermen even today, besides other places Ulya aka Chitrapu, Mulki-Hejamadi Kodi, Hejamadi Kodi located in sand barriers, Kadike or Sasihitlu (also a sand barrier spit formed between River Nandini ( Pavanje River) and sea.  Nandini and Shambhavi pair together  and form a single estuary.  Mulky was a leading port for marine trade of yore.  Sailing boats of merchants sailed up to Olalanke (Old Mulaka > Mulki town) near Karnadu (famous for Venkataramana Temple of Gouda Saraswats.

There is one more pattern of naming places.  It is the interplay of the thing/matter/place and sense of belonging.    We give some examples below:

·    Pandya/Pandyan: Pandi = boat.   Pandya or Pandyan is one who belongs to or owns a pandi..

·      Kharvi:   Khar = Sea coast.  One belongs to Khar is Kharvi, a fisherman as called in some places of Kundapur up to Karvar(a). 

·         Kadya(n) (Kad + ya):  Kad = forest.  One who is from forest area is called Kadyan.

·      Poleya (Pola+ya): Pola = agricultural field.  One who works on or belongs to this field is Poleya. It is possible that  traditionally “poleya” were agricultural laborers.

This pattern is logical and is the original intention in coining place names Vaderahobli and Oderabettu.  It goes well with the convention that the places were named invariably by outsiders. Even Dr. P. Gururaja Bhat has raised a point in the passing in his book ‘History of Tulu Nadu’ instigating us to study the place name “Oderabettu”.

Notes on this post

1. Pleonasm means use of more words than what are necessary.

2. A group of villages as an administrative unit are traditionally called hobali or hobli (equivalents: nād or nādu or māgane) in southern India. A Taluk usually consist of a few hobalis. A hobali in turn is divided into a few firka or phāt magane.  During Alupa and Vijaya Nagar period of coastal area was divided as Barkur and Mangaluru Hobalis.

It was a common custom to call out guests as from these Hobalies during Tulu traditional marriage ceremonies while placing plates (in Tulu tongue called as ‘Kanchi’) in front of groom and bride for collecting gifts in cash or kind. The Gurikara of the village addresses the assembled guests as from Barkur and Manguluru hobalies and seeks their permission as “ಕಂಚಿ ದೀಪೆರು ಪಣ್ಪೆರೋ” (kanchi deeperu panpero) and the assemblage says, OK (ಎಡ್ಡೆ ಪಣ್ಪೆರೊ). Kundapura and villages around is called Bhagwadi Hobali, where Mahishamardini  Temple is famous.

3. ‘Vaddāradhane’, composed by Shivakoti-ācharya is the earliest available text in Kannada.  It describes stories of the elderly people, practicing Jainism.   Jainism was a predominant religion during pre-Christian Era in Karnataka including coastal Karnataka in medieval days. 

  

4. Potters community of Tulu Nadu is called as Odari/Vadari, besides other traditional names such as Moolya, Kumbāra (“Kumbhakāra” in Sanskrit), Kusave, meaning one who works with mud (potters clay) and water.  Kulāla is a Sanskritised   word and as such, a potters disc is called “Kulāla Chakra”.  They have baris (surnames – descent markers such as Kundar, S uvarna, etc.  as  is common to other communities of Tulu Nadu.    They speak Tulu, though they are believed to have immigrated to Tulu Nadu from Tulugu speaking areas. It is not clear whether the word has any connection with the tribe “Odda” or “Vodda”.

5.  The Oddas or Voddas > Odari/Vadari, are a tribe of Telugu speaking people.   They are working in quarries and as such, stone-cutters or splitters, compared to Kallu kuttiga of Tulu Nadu.   Naturally, they become shilpakaras (architects or artists in rock stones and writers of inscriptions).  They are now spread all over South India, including Maharashtra.  They are now mainly engaged by builders of building constructions. 

Refer our Posts: 124/07.07.2008 (Dissecting strange words II) and

398/22.01.2018 (Trail of Potter’s Wheel in Tulu Nadu).

6. Writer Vishwanath’s   sister-in-law is from Oderabettu.  He reminiscences school days in 1950’s. He used to visit his niece’s in-laws place at Mulki-Hejamadi Kodi by crossing river at Bappanadu ferry point or Oderabettu ferry point. Once he went to Oderabettu for Bappanadu Aayana with his eldest brother on foot along sea coast up to Nandini ferry point at Kadike Kodi and reached the east bank of Nandini by ferry boat.  Return journey by road was very tedious and time consuming. Bus route from Kulur to Pavanje terminates at Nandini Ferry Point, east of present Pāvanje river  bridge.  Pavanje-Mulki route terminates at Old Mulki ferry point.  Kulur old bridge was under construction during 1950-51. Then the passengers used to embark their next bus by crossing rivers by ferry boats. 

-Vishwanath:  with  Ravindra