Know the Etymology: 251
Place Name of the Day: Sunday, 12 May 2013

Nivandama, Ninda-wela, Ninthavoor

நிவந்த₃ம, நிந்த₃வெல, நிந்தவூர்
Nivandama, Ninduela, Nintavūr

Nivandama,
Ninda+wela,
Nintha+oor

The endowment
The endowment paddy field
The endowment village

Nivandama	From Nibandha, Nibandhana: Grant of property (Sinhala); Nivantham, Nimantham, Nibandam: The stipulations on expenditure attached to a property endowment given to a temple (Tamil inscriptions dating from 850 CE); Nimanthap-pu’ram: Land endowed for temple expenditure (Tamil inscriptions, SII, v, 281); Nibandha: Fastening, grant of property (Sanskrit, CDIAL 7222); Bond (Pali, CDIAL 7222)
Wela	Paddy field (Sinhala); Veali: Paddy field, a measure of paddy field (Tamil); from fence, hedge, enclosure, (Tamil, DED 5538)
Oor	Village, town city (Tamil, DED 752)

Nivantham, Nimantham and Nibandam are terms often found used in Tamil inscriptions related to land endowments to temples. The terms mean conditions attached to a property endowment, i.e., the stipulated scheme on spending the returns from the endowment. Quite often the terms stand for the endowment itself.

The said terms, found used in the Tamil inscriptions since 9th century CE, are of Indo-Aryan etymology (CDIAL 7222), and are cognates of Nibandha, meaning fastening or grant of property in Sanskrit and bond in Pali.

Nibandha and Nibandhana mean a grant of property in Sinhala.

The village Nivandama must have got its name from its status as an endowment property.

The prefix Ninda/ Nintha found in some Sinhala/ Tamil place names seems to be a derivative of Nivanda/ Nivantham. Ninda/ Nintha on its own doesn’t give convincing toponymic meaning in Sinhala or Tamil.

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Usage examples from Tamil inscriptions:

Nivantham:

“Ipparisu nivanthamaakach cheythu koduththoam” (c. 850 CE, SII, iii, 43)

“இப்பரிசு நிவந்தமாகச் செய்து கொடுத்தோம்” (c. 850 CE, SII, iii, 43)

In this way we made the endowment with stipulations

Nibandam:

“In nilam nibandagn cheytha parisaavathu uvachchu eddaa’l ko’ndu kodduvaaraaka” (956 CE, South Indian Inscriptions, vii, 499)

“இந் நிலம் நிப₃ந்த₃ஞ் செய்த பரிசாவது உவச்சு எட்டாள் கொண்டு கொட்டுவாராக” (956 CE, South Indian Inscriptions, vii, 499)

The stipulation attached to this land endowment is that eight people should be engaged to beat (play) the temple drums

Nimantham:

“Ik koayilukku nimanthap pu’ramaaka vidda nila:n tha’nakka moolaiyil uvachchatku nilam” (c. 1200 CE, SII, v, 281)

இக் கோயிலுக்கு நிமந்தப் புறமாக விட்ட நிலந் தணக்க மூலையில் உவச்சற்கு நிலம் (c. 1200 CE, SII, v, 281)

The land (given) to temple drummers at the locality Tha’nakka Moolai (the corner of the Tha’nakku tree) is a land given as endowment to this temple

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Nivandama is a village in Ja-Ela division of Gampaha district

Ninda-wela is in Panduwasnuwara division of Kurunegala district

Ninthavoor is in a division by its name in Ampaa’rai district

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Some related place names:

Ninda-gam-pelessa: The shrub-jungle part of the endowment village; Embilipitiya division, Ratnapura district. Pælessa: A kind of forest eco-system (Madduma Bandara, 2009)

Nindana: Probably from, Nivanda-thana: The endowment place; Ambalangoda division, Galle district

First published: Sunday, 12 May 2013, 23:09