Caption: Cover Photo
Hi friends,
It will be really interesting if we all can write the Etymology of our State/Province/Country
In this series of posts, we are trying to explain more about Kerala; today, let us review the etymology (the origin and development of a word). It is really interesting.
Most of the LGs in our Community are familiar with the name Kerala - the small state lying in the southwest of peninsular India.
Caption: Kerala in the Indian Map
Kerala - Why Kerala is God’s own country?
Right from the height peak (Ana Mudi - 8,850 feet) & many hill stations, sprawling tea plantations, lush green forests & wildlife sanctuaries, tranquil backwaters, beautiful beaches (around 550 Kms), Kerala is blessed by nature in all senses. Kerala’s own unique eco-tourism (houseboats being very special), Ayurvedic treatment centres, spectacular architecture, ambrosial culinary, admirable hospitality, etc. make it a heaven for tourists - and hence the land is known as God’s own country.
Etymology:
(Kindly let me know which one of the following options you prefer.)
As per the findings to date, the word ‘Kerala’ (or referring to Kerala) has first appeared on a rock inscription by the Maurya emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE (before the current era). It is mentioned that there were four independent kingdoms in southern India - ie. Ketalaputo (Cheras), Cholas, Pandyas and Satyaputras.
Ketalaputo (Keralaputra in Sanskrit/sons of Kerala). The Chera kings had the Tamil title as ‘Cheraman’, and Keralaputra as their Sanskrit title.
- The first possibility is that Kerala is derived directly from the Sanskrit title ‘Keralaputra’ itself.
- Or it can be CHERA_ALAM (Alam = Land; Land of Chera) which later become Keralam.
- A few historians claim that Kerala comes from Kera = Coconut & Alam =land & thus it is “Land of Coconuts”.
- Another view: In Tamil, Cherive = Mountain Slope; Cherive-Alam = Land of mountain slopes. Cherivealam later became Kerala.
- Kerala was alternatively called Malabar in the foreign trade circles in the olden days; Malabar probably comes from the Malayalam word Mala (hill) and the Persian/Arabic word Barr (country). Al-Biruni is the first known writer to call this country Malabar.
- Malabar may also be derived from the word ‘Malanad’ (Mala = Hill & Nadu = land) which means the land of hills.
- In the late Vedic text Aitareya Aranyaka, Kerala is mention as ‘Cherapadha’ (Chera Foot); this is the earliest Sanskrit text to mention this.
- In the Greco-Roman trade map, ‘Periplus Maris Erythraei’ refers to Kerala as Celobotra.
- Whereas some other Greco-Roman sources (of that era) mentioned Cheras as Kerobothra and Kelebothra.
- From the 6th century CE, the Arab sailors used to call Kerala as “Male”, which is authenticated in the ‘Topography’ by Cosmas Indicopleustes; The word ‘Male’ may be derived from the Malayalam word Mala (means hill).
- The Skanda Purana mentions Kerala as “Manikkam Keralar”, (probably the deity of the Koodalmanikyam temple, which is a very ancient & famous temple in Kerala). It is told that Kerala is also mentioned in the two Hindu epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
- According to some legends, Lord Parashurama (the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu) in concurrence with Lord Varuna (the God of the sea) threw his axe across the sea, from Gokarna to Kanyakumari and the new land is known as Kerala (the details in another post).
- Parasurama being God (Lord Vishnu), hence God’s own Country.
- Hence, Kerala has also known as Parasurama Kshetram = 'The land (temple) of Parashurama’.
- Also, since Lord Parsurama reclaimed the land from the sea, the word CHERNA – ALAM (Cherna = added & Alam = land) might have later become Kerala.
- A few historians claim that Kerala is mentioned as Ophir in the Bible, probably some coastal areas of Kerala (maybe today’s Poovar or Beypore).
Hope you all enjoyed the post;
References & disclaimer: I have read through different referral texts and online documents; I have made all efforts to give you the best valuable details; however, there can be different views/opinions too.
Sample reference Texts:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerala
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Kerala
Britannica - Kerala/History
@BorrisS @ErmesT @AdamGT @davidhyno @AjitThite @StephenAbraham @LuigiZ @Austinelewex @Sagir @Sariga
Thanks for your responses
Just a few photos from Kerala:
Caption: The tea estates & the Sahyadri
Caption: The Tusharagiri Waterfall Kerala.,
