Ooraaththu'rai (Kayts), Pa'n'naiththu'rai, Matara
ஊராத்துறை, பண்ணைத்துறை, மாத்தர
Ūrāttuṟai, Paṇṇaittuṟai, Māttara
Uru+thu'rai
Ooru+thu'rai
Ooraa+thu'rai
Pa'n'nai+thu'rai
Maa+tara
The port of ships or small ships
The port of large boats or cargo boats
The big port
Uru Schooner, small vessel (Tamil, DED 659); Uru, Uruvu: Vessel, ship (Malayalam, DED 659); Uru: Schooner, sloop, small vessel, (Tamil, colloquial, Madras Tamil Lexicon); Oru (plural), Oruwa (singular): Boat, canoe (Sinhala); probably from the root Oor: (verb) to move slowly, sail etc (Tamil, DED 749, Changkam Diction, Kaliththokai 106:5, 103:9); Oorthi: Vehicle, such as a chariot (Tamil, Changkam Diction, Akanaarooru, 44: 4-5); Oorthal: moving, riding, sailing etc (Tamil, Changkam Diction); or probably from the root Uruvu: (verb) to pierce through, penetrate, as an arrow (Tamil, DED 663)
Pa'n'nai Large boat, large Dhoney (Jaffna Tamil, Madras Tamil Lexicon); A large kind of Dhoney (Winslow); Boat (Kathiraiver Pillai); Boat, boat like belly (Tamil, literary, Kamparaamaaya'nam, Aara'nya-kaa'ndam, 15:7); Pa'n'naiya: (verb) Of boats (Tamil, Kamparaamaaya'nam, Aara'nya-kaa'ndam, 7:119); Pa'nai: largeness, bigness, thickness etc (Tamil, DED 3894); Pa'ndi, Va'ndi: Belly as well as cart, carriage (Tamil, DED 3898, DED 50, p.512); Bandu: Belly (Dhivehi/ Maldivian); Bandu-odi: Cargo boat (Dhivehi/ Maldivian)
Thu'rai Seaport, harbour, way, sea, river, place, location, situation, place where washermen wash clothes, bathing ghat, frequented place, place of meeting, branch of knowledge (Tamil, DED 3370); Tura: Frequented place, rendezvous, harbour, place of washing clothes, natural pond or cavern (Malayalam, DED 3370); Tore: A stream, river (Kannada, DED 3370); Tu'ra: To leave, quit (Tamil, DED 3365); Thu'raivan: Chief of the coastal tract (Tamil, Changkam diction, Ku'runthokai 9:7); Tura, Ture, Dura, Tara: Port, ferry point (Sinhala, only in place names); Turu: Journey (Sinhala); Tara: Raft, float, passing over, crossing, road (Sinhala); Thaari, Thaarai: Way, road, path (Tamil, DED 3170); Daari: Way, road, path (Kannada, Tulu, Telugu, DED 3170)
Maa Greatness (Tamil DED 4786); Maal: Greatness, big man, name of Vishnu, (Tamil, DED 4786); Maa: Great, big (Kannada, DED 4786); Maay: Very big (Gondi, DED 4786); Mayali: Big (Gondi, DED 4786); Maa: (adjective) Great, large (Sinhala); Mahaa: Great, big (Sanskrit)
Kayts from Cais: Platform, landing place, pier, wharf, harbour (Portuguese, equivalent to quay in English)
The location of Ooraaththu’rai (Kayts) and Pa’n’naiththu’rai (Jaffna), commanding the sea routes of the Jaffna Lagoon and the Palk Bay [Map: TamilNet]
The etymology of the place name Ooraath-thu'rai (written as Oorkaaval-tu'rai in 19th and 20th century Tamil records) has evoked much controversy.
The place was an important harbour in the north in colonial and pre-colonial times.
Strategically located at a narrow entrance to the Jaffna Lagoon, the port was commanding the sea routes through the Palk Bay in all directions. It was guarding the fort and city of Jaffna as well as Nalloor the capital of the kingdom of Jaffna. In the past, capturing this port was always a prerequisite to control the Jaffna Peninsula.
The Portuguese and the Dutch built two forts (Fort Eyrie and Fort Hammemhiel) on either side of the lagoon entrance of this port to guard it as well as to guard the entrance into the Jaffna Lagoon.
In British times, a causeway to the Kaaraitheevu (Kaarainakar) Island, from Punnaalai in the Jaffna Peninsula was laid in 1869, essentially to link the Ooraaththu'rai port by land with the rest of the island, from the side of Kaaraitheevu.
The strategic importance of the port continues to this day, as a major naval base of Sri Lanka is located at this port on the side of Kaaraitheevu (Kaarainakar).
Location of the port of Ooraaththu’rai (Kayts) at a narrow entrance to the Jaffna Lagoon [Image courtesy: Google Earth; Legend: TamilNet]
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Some Tamil writers have argued that Oor-kaaval-thu'rai, meaning 'the port guarding the country' in Tamil, is the original form of the place name, which became Ooraathu'rai.
But there are other arguments:
The Pali chronicle Poojavaliya, compiled in the 13th century, notes the name of the port as Ooraa-tota.
The 17th century chronicle Rajavaliya, notes the name as Hooraa-tota and also comes out with a mythical story that the port got the name because of the landing of a mythical boar at this place. Ooraa (Ooroa, plural) means, boar, hog, pig, swine etc in Sinhala (from S'ookara, Sookara in Sanskrit > Sookara in Pali > Hooraa, Ooraa in Sinhala).
The second part of the Pali chronicle Culavamsa, which was finally compiled in the 18th century, while narrating the events of the 13th century, writes the name of the port as Sookara-tittha (Tittha in Pali means port, ford, landing place etc).
Hence there was the argument that the name of the port has come from Sinhala.
Even decades ago, the present writer has noticed that the local way of calling the port was either Oo'raath-thu'rai or Oo'raath-thoaddai (with a retroflex R). See column on Ambalan-tota for the Dravidian etymology of Tota/ Thoaddam/ Thoaddai/ Thoduvaay meaning port, ferry point, ford etc in Sinhala and Eezham Tamil.
The form Oorkaaval-thu'rai seems to be a late 19th or early 20th century Tamil standardization that probably came by a conflation of the place name with the idea of the strategic importance of the port. The form is neither used in speech nor found in any early written records.
But at the same time, the mythological explanation found in the late Pali/ Sinhala literature, associating the name of the port with a mythical boar, also only reminds us of the Sanskrit/ Sanskritized Stala Puraanas of Tamil Nadu that Sanskritized Tamil place names without caring for etymology and came out with mythical stories to explain them (example: Marai-kaadu > Vedaranyam).
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If we stick to objective written records for the etymological study of the name of the port, the earliest available records are two inscriptions in Tamil, both are dated to the 12th century CE.
One was issued locally, probably at the port itself, by a Sinhalese king Parakrambahu I, who was occupying the port at that time and had his army stationed there, and a Chola king, Rajadhiraja II, who made an expedition to capture the port issued the other inscription. The first one is now found in the temple at Nayinaatheevu and the other is found at Thiruvaalangkaadu in Tamil Nadu.
Both the inscriptions very clearly depict the name of the port as Ooraath-thu'rai.
An etymological explanation through Tamil, Malayalam and Sinhala, that seems to be appropriate to the context, is the possibility of the prefix of the place name coming from the Tamil/ Malayalam Uru or Uruvu meaning a ship, schooner etc and Oru/ Oruwa in Sinhala meaning a boat or canoe.
Ooraath-thu'rai therefore could have simply meant 'the port of call for ships' or schooners, dhonis etc (small vessels).
The Tamil, Malayalam and Sinhala words cited above come from Dravidian etymology (DED 659), and are related to the verb root Oor that means to move slowly, sail etc (DED 749). Oorthi (vehicle) and Oorthal (moving slowly, sailing) are other related words in Tamil.
Examples from Changkam Tamil diction:
“கடலுள் பரதவர் அம்பி ஊர்ந்தாங்கு” (கலித்தொகை 106:5)
“kadalu'l parathavar ampi oornthaangku” (Like Parathavar move in the sea on boats; Kaliththokai 106:5)
“துறை அம்பி ஊர்வான் போல் தோன்றும் அவன்” (கலித்தொகை 103:9)
“Thu'rai ampi oorvaan poal thoan'rum avan” (He looked like a person moving his boat towards the port; Kaliththokai 103:9)
Uru is not a popular word in written Tamil to mean a ship. But it is prevalent in colloquial Tamil, meaning a schooner, sloop or a small vessel (Madras Tamil Lexicon). In Malayalam, Uru or Uruvu means a ship. Oru (Oruwa in singular) is a popular word in Sinhala to mean a boat, especially an out-rigger canoe with sail.
Ports getting their names from the types of vessels that frequent them is a common phenomenon: Note the other examples such as Pa'n'naith-thu'rai (the port of large cargo boats), Naavaan-thu'rai (the port of Naavaay type of vessels), Sammaan-thu'rai (the port of Sampan or Chinese type of sail ships), Kappal-thu'rai (the port of sail ships or sailboats) and Padakuth-thu'rai (the port of small boats).
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The Portuguese gave the name Cais to the port of Ooraath-thu'rai. The fort they built there was called Fortalaza do Cais. In Portuguese language Cais means a platform, landing place, pier, wharf or harbour. The English word quay (pronounced as kee), meaning a wharf, pier etc is etymologically related to this word.
The place name Cais later became Kayts in Dutch and in English renderings. Kayts is still the popular name for the port of Ooraath-thu'rai as well as for the island where it is located, especially among non-Tamils.
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The word Pa'n'nai has several shades of meaning in Tamil, usually related to the quality of largeness, such as a large farm, large body of water, large family, assembly, etc, including a kind of a large boat.
The meaning, 'large boat' or 'cargo boat' seems to be the most appropriate meaning in the context of the place name Pa'n'naith-thu'rai.
Madras Tamil Lexicon notes that the meaning 'large dhoney' for the word Pa'n'nai is especially a usage of Jaffna Tamil. Even though the word is lost in Jaffna Tamil today, the MTL must have got the meaning from the Jaffna Dictionary made in the 19th century. The Tamil dictionaries of Winslow and Kathiraiver Pillai that covered Eezham Tamil usages also note that Pa'n'nai means a large kind of dhoney or boat.
Tamil literary usages confirm that the word Pa'n'nai was used to mean a cargo ship/ boat or a boat in old Tamil.
Examples:
“தண் துறை இனப் படுமணி குவிக்கும் பண்ணைய” (கம்பராமாயணம், ஆரண்ய-காண்டம், 7:119)
Tha'n thu'rai inap paduma'ni kuvikkum pa'n'naiya (The cool port is of cargo ships that bring in large quantities of choice precious stones; Kamparaamaaya'nam, Aara'nya-kaa'ndam, 7:119)
“பணைத்த பண்ணையில் துற்றிய புகுதரும் தோற்றத்தால்” (கம்பராமாயணம், ஆரண்ய-காண்டம், 15:7)
Pa'naiththa pa'n'naiyil thuttiya pukutharum thoattaththaal (In the way eaten items get into a large boat like belly; Kamparaamaaya'nam, Aara'nya-kaa'ndam, 15:7)
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The word Pa'n'nai, in the sense of meaning a large boat, and in the sense of meaning things or gatherings that are large, seems to be connected to the word Pa'nai of Dravidian etymology (DED 3894) that means largeness, thickness etc., or to the root Pa'nai/ Va'nai, that is connected to curvature, vault etc (DED 5236).
Also note that belly and a cargo boat or a cargo cart/ carriage (usually having a curved/ vaulted roof) share words of comparable etymology. Examples: Pa'ndi/ Va'ndi (belly as well as cart, Tamil, DED 3898, DED 50, p.512; also Paa'ndil < pa'ndi-il; Va'ndil < Va'ndi-il from the vaulted roof or the round wheels); Bandu/ Bandu-odi (belly/ cargo ship in Dhivehi/ Maldivian).
Pa'n'nai could have probably meant a cargo boat of large belly or a cargo boat of vaulted roof. Whatever the case may be, what the evidences suggest is that Pa'n'nai meant a large boat that was used for cargo purposes.
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Pa'n'naith-thu'rai was the port of the Jaffna Fort. It was located just outside the walls of the Jaffna Fort. The port was commanding the sea routes coming from the Palk Bay as well as the sea routes running through the Jaffna Lagoon.
As recent archaeological evidences of Rouletted Ware and Amphora potsherds unearthed inside the Jaffna Fort (Pushparatnam 2011) suggest, the port of Pa'n'nith-thu'rai seems to have existed for roughly 2000 years, since the Roman times, and the Portuguese might have selected the location later to build a fort there.
The port existed until late British times, especially to bring in cargo to the city of Jaffna, from the ships anchored in the Palk Bay. The wharf area (Aluppaanthi) could be seen even to this day a few hundred meters southeast of the fort.
Until 1950s, Pa'n'naith-thu'rai was used for boat communication to the islands off Jaffna, especially to the Kayts Island. The port went into disuse when a causeway was built in the 1950s linking Kayts with Jaffna city. The suffix of the place name, Thu'rai (port) is lost today and only the prefix Pa'n'nai survives in the name of the causeway, as Pa'n'naip-paalam.
Pa’n’naith-thu’rai is the place where the present causeway begins from the Jaffna Fort. The bay northwest of it is Naavaan-thu’rai and the point southeast of it is Kozhumputh-thu’rai. Note the location of Pa’n’naiththurai in the lagoon, facing an entrance to the deep sea of the Palk Bay [Image courtesy: Google Earth]
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Thu'rai is a popular Tamil word of Dravidian etymology (DED 3370), meaning a seaport or harbour.
The word also means way, sea, river, place, location, situation, place where washermen wash clothes, bathing ghat, frequented place, place of meeting, branch of knowledge etc.
The shade of meaning port or harbour probably comes from the verb root Thu'ra, meaning to leave or quit (DED 3365).
Even though not listed as Sinhala words, cognates of Thu'rai such as Tura, Ture, Dura and Tara are widely found in the Sinhala place names in the contexts of seaports and ferry points.
Even if the Sinhala word Tara is taken to mean, raft, float, passing over, crossing and road, as listed by the Sinhala dictionaries, the word seems to be a cognate of Thaari/ Thaarai in Tamil and Daari in Kannada, Tulu and Telugu, meaning way, road, path etc., which are listed as of Dravidian etymology (DED 3170).
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Maa is a word meaning great, big, large etc in Tamil, Sinhala, Prakrit and in many other Dravidian languages (see table). It could be a cognate of Mahaa in Sanskrit, meaning the same. But the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary lists the word Maa as of Dravidian etymology (DED 4786).
Other than being an adjective, noun, expletive and an Urichchol (special category of word of abstract qualities), having nearly 54 shades of meaning, the word Maa also has a verb usage in old Tamil, meaning, to be limitless (Glossary of Historical Tamil Literature)
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The port of Matara: The Dutch fort of the place is in the southern side of the river near the mouth [Image Courtesy: Google Earth]The port town, Ooraath-thu'rai or Kayts is the Divisional headquarters of the Islands Division of the Jaffna Peninsula.
The port town, Matara (Maa-tara) is a district headquarters in the Southern Province.
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Some related place names:
Oru (Sinhala):
Oru-thota: The ferry of canoes, or the bridge made of canoes; Gampaha division, Gampaha district
Oru-gala: The rock in the shape of a boat or canoe; Giribawa division, Kurunegala district
Oru-goda-watta: The grove in the bank of canoes, or Uru-goda-watta, the grove in the big bank; Kolannawa division, Colombo district
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Thu'rai (Tamil):
Kaankeasan-thu'rai, Kaangkeayan-thu'rai: The port of Kaangkeayan (probably the name of a chieftain of the coastal community). The old name is said to be Kasaath-thu'rai, meaning that that the port to sail on pilgrimage to Budh Gaya; Valikaamam North division, Jaffna district; There is another Kaankeyan-thu'rai in Batticaloa district
Mayiliddith-thurai: The port in the high ground of Mayilai (Bauhinia) shrubs; Valikaamam North division, Jaffna district
Veeramaa'nikkaththeavan-thu'rai: The port named after, Veeramaa'nikkaththeavan, a chieftain of the coastal community; Mayiliddi, Valikaamam North division, Jaffna district
Periyanaadduththeavan-thu'rai: The port named after Periyanaadduththeavan, a chieftain of the coastal community; Mayiliddi, Valikaamam North division, Jaffna district.
Uduth-thu'rai: The port of acacia; (Udai in Tamil means acacia, DED 594; also note the place name Udu-vil, the pond of acacia); Vadamaraadchi East division, Jaffna district
Valveddith-thu'rai: The port of jungle stretch; Vadamaraadchi North division, Jaffna district. See column on Valveddiththu'rai
Paruththith-thu'rai: The port of cotton plantation, or the port for the transaction of cotton; Vadamaraadchi North division, Jaffna district
Maathakal-thu'rai: Not ascertained. Probably, Maa-thakkal-thu'rai: the big port of rafts or Catamarans; or the port of big rafts/ catamarans; Thakkal and Thakkai mean rafts, floats etc. (Theppam), especially in Jaffna Tamil usage (Madras Tamil Lexicon, DED 3012), or probably Maathaakkan-kal-thu'rai: the rocky port of a chieftain; Maathaakkan is a title of chieftains or generals in the times of the kingdom of Jaffna; Valikaamam Southwest division, Jaffna district
Kozhumputh-thu'rai: The port at the point; Jaffna division, Jaffna district. See column on Colombo.
Naavaan-thu'rai: The port of Naavaay type of boats/ ships; Jaffna division, Jaffna district
Periya-thu'rai: The big port; this is a port that faces the Palk Bay side of the Delft Island; Delft Island, Jaffna district
Maavalith-thu'rai: The port of great sands; Delft Island, Jaffna district
Kachchaayth-thu'rai: Probably, the port at the coastal point, (Kachchaayam: a point along the seacoast, is the meaning found only in the Tamil dictionary of Kathiraiver Pillai, who was from Jaffna); Thenmaraadchi division, Jaffna district
Padakuth-thu'rai: The port of small boats; Maanthai West division, Mannaar district
Aayath-thu'rai: The port having customs; Musali division, Mannaar district
Chilaavath-thu'rai: The port for pearl diving; Musali division, Mannaar district
Kudath-thu'rai: The small port; Karaithu'raippatttu division, Mullaiththeevu district
Sammaan-thu'rai: The port of Sampan or Chinese type of sails: Sammanthu'rai division, Ampa'rai district. There is another Sammaan-thu'rai in Vadamaraadchi in Jaffna district
Chungkath-thu'rai: The port having customs; Damana division, Ampaa'rai district
Ampilan-thu'rai: The port having a public resting place; Ma'nmunai Southwest division, Batticaloa district
Puddiyadith-thu'rai: The port near the mound; Poaratheevuppattu division, Batticaloa district
Thu'rai-neelaava'nai: The port part of the village Neelaava'nai; Ka'luvaagnchikkudi division, Batticaloa district
Maavilankan-thu'rai: The port of Maavilangkai trees; Aaraippattai division, Batticaloa district
Kappal-thu'rai: The port of sail ships; Trincomalee Town, Trincomalee district
Ilangkaith-thu'rai: The island-port. Ilangkaith-thu'rai is in fact located in an islet at the entrance to the Ullaik-kazhi Lagoon from the Indian Ocean. See column on Lanka/ Ilangkai for the word originally meaning any island or islet in rivers etc in old Tamil and in Austro-Asuatic/ Munda languages. Ilangkaith-thurai is located in a region of considerable Vedda influences; Verukal division, Trincomalee district
Ilangkaith-thu’rai is the small islet lying across little inside of the lagoon entrance [Image courtesy: Google Earth]
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Thura (Sinhala):
Kammal-thura: The port near a foundry; the village of the fort is called Kammala, which means a foundry or an ironsmith's work place (Kammaa'lai in Tamil); Negombo (Neer-kozhumpu) division, Gampaha district
Dela-thura: The port of breadfruit trees; Wattala division, Gampaha district
Divi-thura: The port having an island; or the port of the island; Welivitiya-Divithura division, Galle district; Athuraliya division, Matara district
Gala-thura: The port of the rocky place; Ayagama division, Ratnapura district
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Thure (Sinhala):
Palanga-thure: Negombo division, Gampaha district
Dan-thure: The port of Jambu trees; Yatinuwara division, Kandy district
Diya-thure: The ferry point at watery place; Ibbagamuwa division, Kurunegala district
Palliwaasal-thure: The port in the locality of the mosque; Katpiddi (Kalpitiya) division, Puththa'lam district
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Dura (Sinhala):
Damba-duraya: The port or ferry point having Jambu trees; Katana division, Gampaha district
Ma-durawa: The big port or ferry point; Dompe division, Gampaha district
Pana-dura: Meaning not ascertained; Panadura division, Kalutara district
Udama-dura: The ferry point or way at the upper part; Walapane division, Nuwara Eliya district
Yatima-dura: The ferry point or way at the lower part; Walapane division, Nuwara Eliya district
Batan-dura: Probably, the port of labourers of daily wages; Pasgoda division, Matara district
Ma-dura-goda: The bank/ hill/ mound at the big port; Welipitiya division, Matara district
Kekana-dura: Probably, the port of cranes, or the port having a hooked landscape; Matara Four Gravets, Matara district
Himi-durawa: The port of a master/ chieftain; Uhana division, Ampaa'rai district
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Tara (Sinhala):
Kalu-tara: The port at the mouth of the river Ka'lu-ganga (the river of dark waters); Kalutara division. Kalutara district; Colombo division, Colombo district
The inscription in Tamil, presently in Nayinaatheevu temple, and issued by Parakramabahu I in 12th century CE, which notes certain regulations about the Ooraaththu’rai port. Note the spelling Ooraaththu’rai in line two [Image courtesy: K. Indrapala]
The deciphered text of the Nayinaatheevu inscription [Text courtesy: K. Indrapala]
The deciphered text of the Thiruvaalangkaadu inscription of the Chola king, Rajadhiraja II that mentions Ooraaththu’rai [Image courtesy: Sadasiva Pandaraththar, History of Cholas Vol II]
First published: Tuesday, 03 May 2011, 18:55
