Know the Etymology: 388
Place Name of the Day: Tuesday, 20 January 2015

Koholaana, Kusalaana-gama

கொஹொலான, குஸலானக₃ம
Koholāna, Kusalānagama

Koholaana
Kusalaana+gama

The place given to get religious merit

The village given to get religious merit

Koholaan	a place given to a temple etc., to get religious merit, “Pin pi’nisa pidu idama” (spoken Sinhala, Sorata); equivalent to Kusalaan: (S/ H change, Sinhala, Sorata). See box below.
Kusalaan	a place given to a temple etc., to get religious merit, “Pin pi'nisa pidu idama” (Sinhala, Sorata); Kusala: merit, power or virtue of good works (Sinhala); prosperity, virtue (Pali, Prakrit, CDIAL 3365); Kus’ala: right, proper, competent, clever, healthy, prosperous, well-being (Sanskrit, CDIAL 3365); Kusalam: charity for merit (Tamil, Neelakeasi, 5: 75); virtue, glory, greatness (Tamil, Pingkalam, 10: 348); well-being, in the context of enquiring one’s well-being as courtesy (Tamil, usage in Tamil Nadu, MTL)
Gama	village (Sinhala). See earlier columns for etymology

Koholaan in spoken Sinhala and Kusalaan in standard Sinhala mean a place or land that is given to a temple or any religious institution as a charity, so that the donor would get religious merit. In the Sinhala context such lands or places are usually given to Buddhist temples or institutions.

Sorata Thera's Sinhala dictionary, equating Koholaan and Kusalaan, explains them as “Pin pi'nisa pidu idama”, literally meaning, the place offered for the purpose of Pin (< Pi'na < Pu'nya = charity, religious charity, alms, virtue, religious or moral merit).

The spoken Sinhala form Koholaan comes by S/ H and U/ O change of Kusalaan in Sinhala, which is a cognate of Kusala in Pali and Prakrit, meaning virtue or prosperity (CDIAL 3365). The Sanskrit/ Indo-Aryan cognate is Kus'ala, meaning right, proper, competent, clever, healthy, prosperous and well-being (CDIAL 3365).

A cognate Kusalam is found in Tamil usage too. Early usage of Kusalam in Tamil, probably coming from Prakrit and could be found in a Jaina Tamil literature Neelakeasi, was meaning virtue or merit coming by charity. But contemporary usage of the word in Tamil Nadu has taken another shade coming from Sanskrit to mean well-being. Kusalam-visaariththal in the Tamil of Tamil Nadu commonly means enquiring a person's well-being as courtesy.

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Kusalam meaning merit coming by charity

“Kodukka en'ral kusalam an'ru enpathoa” (Neelakeasi, 5: 75)

“கொடுக்க என்றல் குசலம் அன்று என்பதோ” (நீலகேசி, 5: 75)

Could it be said that endowing charity is not meritorious?


Kusalam meaning virtue and greatness:

“Ku'namum maadchimaiyum kusalam enpa” (Pingkala Nika'ndu, 10: 348)

“குணமும் மாட்சிமையும் குசலம் என்ப” (பிங்கல நிகண்டு, 10: 348)

Kusalam means virtue and greatness

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Koholaana is found as place name in Dodangoda division of Kalutara district; Walasmulla division of Hambantota district and in Alawwa division of Kurunegala district.

Kusalaana-gama is a village name in Ipalogama division of Anuradhapura district

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Some related place names:

Kusala: probably from Kusalaana; Arachchikatiwa division, Puththa'lam district

First published: Tuesday, 20 January 2015, 15:26