Know the Etymology: 499
Place Name of the Day: Friday, 09 September 2016

Horaṇa, Horan-galla, Haraň-gala, Araň-gala, Paṁbu-raṇa

ஹொரண, ஹொரன்-க₃ல்ல, ஹரங்-க₃ல, அரங்-க₃ல, பம்பு₃-ரண
Horaṇa, Horan-galla, Haraň-gala, Araň-gala, Paṁbu-raṇa

Horaṇa
Horan+galla
Haraň+gala
Araň+gala
Paṁbu+raṇa

The forest

The forest hill

The forest of Paṁba weed

Horaṇa	from Haraṇa: = Araṇa: = Araṇya: forest (Sinhala, Clough); Araṇa: distant, foreign (Sanskrit, Rig Vedic, CDIAL 598); Araṇya: foreign land (Sanskrit, Rig Vedic, CDIAL 600); desert, jungle (Sanskrit, Atharva Vedic, CDIAL 600); H added in this case.
Haran	also Haraň: forest, "Araṇyaya" (Sinhala, Sorata). See box on Horaṇa.
Aran	also Araṇa: forest, "Araṇyaya" (Sinhala, Sorata); preserved wilderness (Sinhala, Clough); Araň: combination form of Aran. See box on Horaṉa.
Raṇa	forest, "Vanaya" (Sinhala, Sorata); from Araṇa: forest (Sinhala, Sorata); A dropped in this case. See box on Horaṇa.
Paṁba	1. a weed, a kind of brushwood, a genus of ferns; of which there are Ẹt-paṁba, Maha-paṁba and Hīn-paṁba; Lygodium (Sinhala, Clough); 2. effigy or scarecrow made of Paṁba weed; "Paṁba ādiyen sādana minisruva" (Sinhala, Sorata); Paṁbayā: scarecrow, the figure of a man made of the Paṁba (Sinhala, Clough); Pampai: Eezham Tamil term for the weed (place names); Pammai: doll, puppet (Tamil, Jaffna Dictionary, MTL); Pommai: puppet, doll, effigy (Tamil, DED 4530); Bombe: poppet, doll, effigy (Kannada, Tulu, DED 4530); Pāvai: puppet, doll, image (Tamil, DED 4107); Pāpe: puppet, doll (Kannada, Tulu, DED 4107)

Haraṇa, Araṇa, Haran, Haraň, Aran, Araň and Raṇa in Sinhala are variations of Araṇya, meaning a forest. Horaṇa is a toponymic variation of Haraṇa. The terms Aran and Araň in Sinhala mean a forest as well as a preserved forest. All the terms correspond to Araṇa and Araṇya in Sanskrit, which originally meant a foreign land and later came to mean a forest (CDIAL 598, 600).

Paṁba in Sinhala and Paṁpai in Eezham Tamil mean a kind of weed, which is used in making scarecrows or effigies. The word Paṁba itself mean such an image in Sinhala. The etymology may be related to, Pammai, Pommai, Bombe etc in Dravidian, meaning a doll, puppet or effigy.

* * *

Horaṇa is headquarters of a division by its name in Kalutara district.

Horan-galla is in Niyagama division of Galle district.

Haraň-gala is a place in Kothmale division of Nuwara Eliya district.

Araň-gala could be found in Kaduwela division of Colombo district; Kundasale division of Kandy district and Naula division of Matale district.

Paṁbu-raṇa is a place in Matara Four Gravets division of Matara district

* * *

Some related place names:

Horaň, Haran:

Horaň-gala: Nivithigala, Ratnapura

Harannā-gala: Hikkaduwa, Galle

Haran-kahava: The place for wild turmeric; Pujapitiya, Kandy; Haldummulla, Badulla. Haran-kaha: wild turmeric, Curcuma zerumbet (Sinhala, Clough)

Haran-kaha-pata: The place of wild turmeric; Agalavatta, Kalutara. See Haran-kahava

* * *

Aran, Araň

Araň-gāva: Minuwangoda, Gampaha

Aran-vela: Beliatta, Hambantota

Aran-talāva: Mahaoya, Ampara

Aran-kẹlē: Ganewatta, Kurunegala

Aran-dara: Galigamuwa, Kegalle

* * *

Raṇa:

Ranava: Palagala, Anuradhapura

Nẹdu-rana: The forest of Nẹdun trees; Eheliyagoda, Ratnapura. Nẹdun, also Nẹńdun: a large timber tree, Pericopsis mooniana (Sinhala, Clough)

Ranāla: Kaduwela, Colombo

Hirana: Panadura, Kalutara

* * *

Paṁba (Sinhala):

Paṃbē: Beruwala, Kalutara

Paṁbala: Madampe, Puttalam

Yapamma: Lunugala, Badulla

Paṁburu-gas-vẹva: Gomarankadawala, Trincomalee. Paṁburu is another plant, Attalantia missionis (Sinhala, Clough)

* * *

Pampai (Tamil):

Pampai-maṭu: Vavuniya, Vavuniya

Pammaṉ-kuḷac-cēṉai: Moothoor, Trincomalee

Pāppā-mōṭṭai: Manthai West, Mannar

* * *

First published: Friday, 09 September 2016, 19:02