Know the Etymology: 11
Place Name of the Day: Tuesday, 21 March 2017

Siňharāja-aḍaviya, Aḍavi-kanda

ஸிங்ஹராஜ-அட₃விய, அட₃வி-கந்த
Siňharāja-aḍaviya, Aḍavi-kanda

Siňha+rāja+aḍaviya
Aḍavi+kanda

The big forest of the lion king

The forest hill

Adavi	also Aṭavi, Aḍaviya: wilderness, large forest, uninhabited or thinly populated district, (Sinhala, Clough); forest " Vanaya" (Sinhala, Sorata); Aṭa: forest, “Vanaya, Aṭaviya” (Sinhala, Sorata); Aṭavi-val: big forest, "Maha-vanaya" (Sinhala, Sorata); Aṭavī: forest (Sanskrit, CDIAL 177); Aṭavi: dense forest (Tamil, Cilappatikāram, 14: 54-55; Tēvāram, 6: 95: 5); Aṭar: (verb) to be close together, thick, crowded (Tamil, DED 84); Aḍar: (verb) to appear in numbers (Kannada, DED 84); Aṭarvu: denseness, thickness (Tamil, DED 84); Aṭai: (verb) to collect, gather (Tamil, DED 84)
Siňharāja	lion king (Sinhala, Sanskrit, CDIAL 13384+10679)
Kanda	hill, mountain, heap, mass, multitude (Sinhala, Clough, Sorata); see column 6 for etymology

Aḍavi/ Aṭavi meaning a big forest in Sinhala has cognates both in Sanskrit and in old Tamil. Usage in Sanskrit is not very old (epics) and cognates in Indo-Aryan are limited only to Pali and Prakrit (CDIAL 177). M. William's Sanskrit dictionary implies relationship of Aṭavī with Aṭā in Sanskrit, meaning the act of roaming or wandering. But verbs more relevant to Aṭavi meaning a forest are found in Dravidian. See box above and usage examples below.

Usage examples of Aṭavi in Tamil:

"அடவிக் கானகத்து ஆயிழை தன்னை இடை இருள் யாமத்து இட்டு நீக்கியது வல் வினை அன்றோ" (சிலப்பதிகாரம், 14: 54: 55)

"Aṭavik kāṉakattu āy iḻai taṉṉai iṭai iruḷ yāmattu iṭṭu nīkkiyatu val viṉai aṉrō" (Cilappatikāram, 14: 54: 55)

Isn't it the mighty karma that made (king Naḷa) to get separated from the jewelled one (his wife), in the middle of the night in the dense forest?


"அவை எல்லாம் ஊர் அல்ல அடவி காடே" (அப்பர் தேவாரம், 6: 95: 5)

"Avai ellām ūr alla aṭavi kāṭē" (Appar Tēvāram, 6: 95: 5)

All those are not residential places, but dense forest

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Aṭar as verb meaning to grow dense:

"கான்றையும் சூரையும் கள்ளியும் அடர்ந்து" (மணிமேகலை, 6: 81)

"Kāṉṟaiyum cūraiyum kaḷḷiyum aṭarntu" (Maṇimēkalai, 6: 81)

The shrubs Kāṉṟai, Cūrai and Kaḷḷi growing dense (in the place)

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Siňharāja-aḍaviya is a World Heritage forest located at the tri-junction of Ratnapura, Galle and Matara districts.

Aḍavi-kanda is a place in Kuruvita division of Ratnapura district.

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Revised: Tuesday, 21 March 2017, 20:30

First published: Saturday, 23 June 2007, 01:00