Know the Etymology: 202
Place Name of the Day: Thursday, 07 April 2011

Thumpa'lai

தும்பளை
Tumpaḷai

Thumpa'lai

The (place of) Thumpa’lai trees (Vatica obscura)

Thumpa'lai

Thumpa’lai: A large tree, Vatica obscura of the Dipterocarpaceae family that produces a gum resin which was used in the past in making incense smoke (Eezham Tamil, Henry Trimen, A Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon, London, 1893); Dummala: The name of the tree Vatica Obscura in the vocabulary of the Veddas (Henry Trimen, A Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon, London, 1893); Dun: The name of the tree, Vatica obscura, in the usage of Sinhala woodcutters (Henry Trimen, A Handbook of the Flora of Ceylon, London, 1893); Dun, Dun-gaha: A large timber tree, resinous, peculiar to Ceylon, Doona zeylanica of the Depterocarpaceae family (Sinhala, Colough’s Dictionary); Dum, Duma, Dumbul, Dumbulu: Smoke (Sinhala); Dupa, Dhoopa: Incense (Sinhala); Thoopam, Thoomam: Smoke, incense smoke (Tamil); Dhooma: Smoke (Sanskrit); Dhoopa: Incense or smoke proceeding from gum or resin (Sanskrit)

A Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon, published in 1893, records that Tumpalai is the Tamil name for a large tree, which has been botanically classified as Vatica obscura of the Dipterocarpaceae family (Henry Trimen, A Handbook to the Flora of Ceylon, London, 1893, p.129).

According to the handbook, this gregarious tree was found forming forests in the Eastern Province inland from Batticaloa at Polukanawa and Devilane and in the Province of Uva at Bintenne. It was found abundant locally.

But, nearly a hundred years later, in 1998, the tree Vatica obscura, which is native to the island and found only in the island, has been declared an Endangered Species of the red listed category, records the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN), citing P. Ashton.

“Regeneration is reported to be good. However, this species was not recorded during the extensive forest surveys conducted between 1991 and 1996 for the National Conservation Review, suggesting that it is either extremely rare or possibly extinct.” (ICUN website)

The tree is found today only in some restricted pockets.

“The rare and endemic tree Vatica obscura, the only species of the Dipterocapaceae to occur in the dry zone, is found in restricted location on the banks of the Maduru Oya and Gallodai Aru.” says literature on Maduru Oya National Park.

The tree, long known to the timber dealers, was not botanically determined till 1882. It flowers in pinkish white in the month of June and its timber is hard, heavy and brown. The tree produces an odorous sticky gum-resin, which was used by the Veddas for light, records the 1893 handbook.

The tree got its name from the resin, which was used in making incense smoke.

The Veddas called the tree by the name Dummala, while the Sinhala woodcutters called it Dun.

Thoopam, Thoomam in Tamil and Dum, Duma, Dumbul, Dumbulu, Dupa, Dhoopa etc in Sinhala mean smoke or incense smoke, and the words are cognates of Dhooma in Sanskrit meaning smoke and Dhoopa, meaning incense or smoke proceeding from burning gum or resin.

There were also other trees such as Chaa’lampan/ Hal (Vateria indica) in the island producing such resins. See column on Chaa’lampan.

The name Dun, by which the Sinhala woodcutters called Thumpa’lai or Vatica obscura, as recorded by the 1893 handbook, actually stands for another tree Dun-gaha, which is also of the same family Depterocarpaceae and produces incense resin, but belongs to a different species, Doona zeylanica, which too is peculiar to the island.

But unlike Thumpa’lai, which is found in the dry zone, Dun or Dun-gaha (Doona zeylanica) is found in the central parts of the island.

The taxonomy of Vatica in the island is very controversial and has always been a point of discussion, writes Kunjani Joshi of the Botany Department of the Tribhuvan University, Nepal, who applied molecular pattern method to study the species by getting samples of Thumpa’lai (Vatica obscura) from the National Herbarium of Sri Lanka (Iyonia.org).

The Thumpa’lai tree, native of the dry zone of the island and once found abundant in its habitats, has become almost extinct today. But it survives in the place names from Point Pedro and Kayts Island to Puththa’lam and Batticaloa. A place name Thumpa’lagn-choalai in Batticaloa evidences that in the past there were forests or groves of the tree in the East.

* * *

Thumpa’lai is a place close to Point Pedro in the Point Pedro division of the Jaffna district

* * *

Some related place names:

Thumpa’lai: Vatica obscura

Thumpa’lagn-choalai: The grove or forest of Thumpa’lai trees; This is a village in the Ea’raavoor-pattu division of Batticaloa district

Thumpa’laip-piddi: The high ground or Vatica obscura trees. This is a locality in Veala’nai West in the Kayts Island of Jaffna district (Balasundaram, p.156)

Thumpa’lai: The place of Vatica obscura trees; Thikkodai, Poaratheevuppattu division, Batticaloa

* * *

Dummala: Vatica obscura

Dummala-deniya: The land of Vatica obscura trees; Wennapuwa division, Puththa’lam district; Warakapola division, Kegalle district

Dummala-kotuwa: The enclosure of Vatica obscura trees; Dankotuwa division, Puththa’lam district

* * *

Dun, Dunu: Doona Zeylanica

Dunu-vila: The pond of Doona zeylanica trees; Akurana division, kandy district

Dun-golla: The grove or forest of Doona zeylanica trees; Minipe division, Kandy district

Dun-hinna: Probably a variation of Hena; the slash and burn field of Doona zeylanica trees; Medadumbara division, Kandy district. Hinna: An area of land leased out, usually for slash and burn cultivation (Dhivehi/ Maldivian)

De-dunu-pitiya: The high ground or tableland of two Doona zeylanica trees; Hatharaliyadda division, Kandy district

Dun-kumbura: The paddy field of Doona zeylanica trees; Hatharaliyadda division, Kandy district

First published: Monday, 11 April 2011, 21:43