Know the Etymology: 128
Place Name of the Day: Tuesday, 03 October 2017

Uṭaippu/ Uṭappu/ Uḍappuva, Periya-uṭaippu, Ciṉṉa-uṭaippu

உடைப்பு/ உடப்பு/ உட₃ப்புவ, பெரிய உடைப்பு, சின்ன உடைப்பு
Uṭaippu/ Uṭappu/ Uḍappuva, Periya-uṭaippu, Ciṉṉa-uṭaippu

Uṭaippu
Periya+uṭaippu
Ciṉṉa+uṭaippu

The breach (the place where the narrow sandbank between the sea and lagoon breaches or is breached)

The big sluice or canal opening (of the Kaṭṭukkarai reservoir)

The small sluice or canal opening (of the Kaṭṭukkarai reservoir)

Uṭaippu1	a breaking, breach, the bursting of a tank (Tamil, DED 946, MTL, Winslow, Kampar, Yuttakāṇṭam, 22: 16; inscription, 1418 CE, SII, vii, 856); Oṭappu: breach or bursting of a ridge in a rice field or bund (Malayalam, DED 946); Uṭai: (verb) to break, crack, split (Tamil, DED 946); Oṭi: (verb) to break, break off (Tamil, DED 946, cognates in 16 Dravidian languages)
Uṭaippu2	a channel cut or broken through a dam in a field, disruption (Tamil, Winslow, MTL, inscription, 877 CE, EI, xviii, 2); Uṭai: (verb) to break, crack, split (Tamil, DED 946); Oṭi: (verb) to break, break off (Tamil, DED 946, cognates in 16 Dravidian languages). See Uṭaippu 1
Uṭappu	changed form of Uṭaippu. See box on Uṭaippu 1. Also note the Malayalam form, Oṭappu
Uḍappuva	Sinhalicised form of Uṭaippu. See Uṭaippu 1
Periya	big, large, great, important, (Tamil, DED 4411)
Ciṉṉa	small, little, inferior, (Tamil, DED 2594)

Uṭaippu is a common Tamil/ Dravidian word meaning a breaking or breach. In the context of the place name coming in Cilāpam, Puttaḷam, it means an artificial or natural breach in a narrow sandbar that provides an opening between sea and lagoon. In the context of Kaṭṭukkaraik-kuḷam in Mannar the term means a sluice opening in the dam of the reservoir, for canal flow.

Uṭappu is the spoken Tamil form of Uṭaippu, which has been Sinhalicised into Uḍappuva in maps and official records (note the cognate Oṭappu in Malayalam).

Uṭaippu/ Uḍappu in Cilāpam is located exactly at the neck part, linking the Kaṟpiṭṭi Peninsula with the main island. This link is a sandbank ridge of just one km width.

The breach in the ridge at this place is both natural and artificial, which could be seen in large-scale maps and satellite images.

The breach is naturally possible from time to time, on occasions such as floods and tidal waves, allowing the flow of water between Muntal (Mundal) Lake and Indian Ocean.

It is also a traditional habit of the fishing communities to cause a breach in such landscapes to facilitate communication or fishing, especially prawn fishing. 

In addition, a permanent breach was caused at this place by cutting across the ridge during Dutch times, to make a canal for inland navigation between Colombo and Puttaḷam and to link the canal with the sea. It is called the Dutch Canal.

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Uṭai as verb meaning to breach:

"உடைத்து எழு வெள்ளம்" (ஐங்குறுநூறு, 358: 3-4)

"Uṭaittu eḻu veḷḷam" (Aiṅkuṟunūṟu, 358: 3-4)

(Like) the flood breaching (the bank) and flowing high


"வையை உடைந்த மடை" (பரிபாடல், 6: 82-83)

"Vaiyai uṭainta maṭai" (Paripāṭal, 6: 82-83)

The breached gap or opening created by Vaiyai River


Uṭaippu as noun meaning a breach in seashore:

"வேலை உடைப்புறு புனல்" (கம்பராமாயணம், யுத்தகாண்டம், 22: 16)

"Vēlai uṭaippuṟu puṉal" (Kamparāmāyaṇam, Yuttakāṇṭam, 22: 16)

(Like) the seawater that breached the shore


Uṭaippu as noun meaning a breach in a dam:

"இவ்வூர் ஏரி பெரிய மடை உடைப்பு அடைத்த ஒட்டர்க்கு" (Tamil inscription, 1418 CE, SII, vii, 856)

"Ivvūr ēri periya maṭai uṭaippu aṭaitta oṭṭarkku" (Tamil inscription, 1418 CE, SII, vii, 856)

To the tank masons who patched the breach in the main sluice of the tank of this village


Uṭaippu as noun meaning a canal opening:

"ஓடையும் உடைப்பும் உள்ளிட்டு" (Tamil inscription, 877 CE, EI, xviii, 2)

"Ōṭaiyum uṭaippum uḷḷiṭṭu" (Tamil inscription, 877 CE, EI, xviii, 2)

Including the tank and its canal-opening


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Uṭaippu/ Uṭappu/ Uḍappuva is a place in Cilāpam (Chilaw) division of Puttalam district. A narrow sand bar at this place links the Kaṟpiṭṭi Peininsula with the main island. A breach of this sand bar could connect Gulf of Mannar with Muntal-Puttalam lagoons.

Periya Uṭaippu and Ciṉṉa Uṭaippu are names of two sluices on the northern side dam of the Kaṭṭukkaraik-kuḷam (Giant's Tank) reservoir, through which two canals flow out of the reservoir. This part of the reservoir is in Mannar Town division of Mannar district (Mantai OIS)

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Some related place names:

Uṭaippuk-kēṇi: Verukal, Trincomalee

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Notes on Uṭaippu in Cilāpam:

Uṭappu/ Uḍappu is one of the very few traditional Tamil villages surviving today in the Puttaḷam district of the North Western Province. It is perhaps the largest among them. Uṭappu is also well known for its folk religion, centering-around the cult of Tiraupati Ammaṉ (Draupadi). 

Until the early part of 20th century, the coastal belt of the North Western Province and some coastal areas of the Western Province of the island were largely Tamil speaking. 

A chain of Tamil villages and townships of the coastal communities of Catholic faith and Tamil Muslims, linked Mannar and Colombo with contiguity. In fact the ethno-demographic picture we see today in Mannar was extended up to Colombo. 

The coastal communities of this region, other than Tamil-speaking Muslims, mainly belong to two groups: Karaiyār (Karāva in Sinhala) and Mukkuvar. There were also many others such as Paravar and Kaṭaiyar, mentioned in the Portuguese records of mid 16th century as the first people to embrace Catholic faith, and the Chettis (also written as Chitty: traditional trading community, Christianized).

They were all Tamil communities, having their own institutions of culture and literacy. There were also many Tamil scholars among this group of Catholics and Muslims. Simon Casie Chitty of Kaṟpiṭṭi (Kalpitiya), who brought out a number of publications in the 19th century, is a well-known example.

A literature in Sinhala, called Mukkara Haṭana, records the presence of these Tamil communities in the western part of the island and narrates how the Karaiyār (Karāva) coming from Kāñci, Kāvērip-paṭṭiṉam and Kīḻakkarai of the Tamil Nadu coast conquered Mukkuvar, captured their fort at Puttaḷam and settled in the tract between Puttaḷam and Negombo. According to the literature, the event took place in mid 13th century. (Raghavan M.D., Karāva of Ceylon)

It was not an isolated event of a particular time period, but was a process since prehistoric times that the people on either side of the waters between the island and Tamil Nadu belonged to homogeneous groups.

Identical megalithic urn burial sites like Āticcanallūr in Tamil Nadu and Pomparippu on the right opposite coast in the Puttalam district of the island are examples for the comparability of peoples and cultures on either side during protohistoric times.

One of the earliest communities of the island, found mentioned in the first written records, i.e., the Brāhmī inscriptions dateable to pre-Christian centuries, as donors to the Buddhist Sangha, is the Barata community who were the same as the Paratar or Paratavar (coastal folk, coastal chieftains of extreme south of Tamil Nadu, navigating merchants and fishermen) of the Chaṅkam Tamil references. (Indrapala, Sudharshan Seneviratne)

The reason for the early prevalence, continuity and recognition of the Tamil coastal communities under discussion on both sides of the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay was the economic importance of conch and pearl diving in these waters, right from very early times (See columns on Cilāvat-tuṟai and Nantik-kaṭal). The said communities were specialized in these activities and in the industries and trade associated with them. The stretch from Jaffna to Negombo was the hub of these activities on the side of the island. 

The tract was especially known for the closest embarking points to the pearl banks (Cilāvattuṟai and Mariccukkaṭṭi in the Mannar district) and for conch diving in the Palk Bay and in the lagoons of Jaffna, Puttaḷam, Uṭappu, Cilāpam (Chilaw) and Nīr-koḻumpu (Negombo).

Even though the communities are aborigine to the region and the etymology of their names are Dravidian, like many other identities in the region Sanskritization could be seen in the myths associated with the identities.

Thus, Karaiyār or the Sinhala Karāva (from Karai, meaning coast) and the Mukkuvar (from Mukku, meaning diving), trace their origins to the geographical context of Mahabharata and Ramayana epics. The myths of Kuru-kulam for Karaiyār, linked to the Guru country of Mahabharata and Muṟ-kukar for Mukkuvar, traced to Guha of Ramayana, are of this nature. 

The religious demography of the coastal tract under discussion fast changed first with the advent of Islam and then with Catholic Christianity. But once again, they were changes sharing same forces, same patterns and involving same peoples on both the coasts. 

For example, a Kāyal-paṭṭiṉam or Kīḻakkarai in Tamil Nadu is not different from Puttaḷam in the island, and a Maṇappāṭu in Tamil Nadu is not different from Negombo in Sri Lanka, in their demographic milieu of Islam and Catholic Christianity.

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The place names of the entire stretch of north western and part of western coast of the island bear amble testimony for the Tamil demography of the region and how the place names were Sinhalicised in recent times along with the population.

Three factors played major roles in the Sinhalicisation process: (a) Disrupted geographical contiguity and social communication, (b) State policy and political scenario, (c) Elite decision of the community.

The declaration of Vilpattu sanctuary (later national park) in the beginning of 20th century and abandonment of the traditional coastal highway A3, linking Jaffna and Colombo by the British, seriously disrupted the linguistic contiguity of the Tamil people along the western coast. The Puttaḷam Cilāpam, Nīr-Koḻumpu Tamils were thus isolated from the rest. In addition, their long communication with the southern coast of Tamil Nadu stopped with the independence of India and Ceylon.

The policies of the successive governments in the island motivated by ethnic politics, applied language-oriented pressure on the Tamil speaking population of the coast. The pressure was multi-fronted, ranging from electoral readjustments, colonization, official-language implementation and economic opportunities to school education, signboards, maps etc.

The elite of the communities, especially the elite of the Catholic community at one stage thought of abandoning Tamil and adopting Sinhala. The Sinhala Catholic Church played a significant role in encouraging the transition, culminating in stopping prayers in Tamil in the churches. 

The younger generation or the third generation of the people of the tract under discussion doesn't speak or understand Tamil at all, while the middle generation can only understand with difficulty. The old generation can still speak but only within itself. 

However, the Muslims continued with the use of Tamil. 

The few Tamil villages, such as Ilavaṅ-kuḷam that continued with the use of Tamil, disintegrated fast under the prevailing conditions.

The survival of Uṭappu as a Tamil village is perhaps due to its strong folk religious orientation and strength of population.

In Tamil Nadu, the cult of Draupadi, based on a folk Tamil version of Mahabharata, is noticed among several communities. In a few instances, even Brahmins patronize the cult. But in the context of Ilaṅkai, apart from Uṭappu, it is mostly found observed among the Mukkuvar community in Jaffna and Batticaloa, along with its usual rituals such as fire-walk.

Draupadi is treated in a different way in the Mahabharata of Tamil folklore that is known for stories and characters such as Alli-aracāṇi, Pavaḷakkoṭi, Palvaricai etc. There is a three-volume book on the Cult of Draupadi as found observed in the Tamil folk tradition, authored by Alf Hiltebeitel and published by the University of Chicago Press for those who seek further details. 

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Revised: Wednesday, 03 October 2017, 18:30

First published: Saturday, 04 April 2009, 18:45