Sunday, August 18, 2024

Place Names in Mangalore and their Meanings (In alphabetical order)

1. Adyar – Tree filled groves

2. Alake – The shore of a pond/kere

3. Attavara – Open area on the river bank

4. Baikampady – Settlement of Baikas (Begging Monks)

5. Bajal – Dry area surrounding a water body

6. Bajpe – Dry area

7. Bakimaru – Reserved (Left over) fields

8. Ballalbagh – Named after the Ballal family that owns the Lalbagh House

9. Bantwal – Buntara Waala – A place where Bunt community reside

10. Bavutagudda – Named after the freedom fighters peak where flags were hoisted

11. BC Road – Bantwal Cross Road

12. Bikkarnakatte – Bheekara Marana Katte – Where the Britishers hung several Mangalorean freedom fighters.

13. Bokkapattana – Port named after Vijayanagar King Bokka

14. Bolur and Bolar – Settlement of the Bola tribes

15. Bondel – Bandale – A settlement of the Banda/Bondha tribes

16. Bunder – Means Port in the local language

17. Bunts Hostel – Named after a hostel run by the Bunts community

18. Car Street – The street where the lord’s chariot (Cart/Car) used to be pulled.

19. Chowki – Junction

20. Deralakatte – A resting spot for the Dera tribe

21. Derebail – A settlement of the people of Dere tribe, across a river valley

22. Dhakke – Means Dock in local language

23. Falnir – Paal Neer (Split Water) – A place that was formed at a juncture where a now dried-up river split.

24. Farangipet – Town of the Firangis (Britishers)

25. Garodi – Named after Garadi, with two conflicting origin stories of Garuda, and the traditional Pailwan Gyms.

26. GHS Road – Ganapathi High School Road

27. Gorigudda – Named after the graves found on top of this hill

28. Gurupura – The town of the Gurus (Lingayath Priests)

29. Haleangady – Old Town Shop

30. Hampankatta – Apannana Katte – A resting place near a well where a man named Appana used to draw water from the well to provide to thirsty travellers.

31. Hoige Bazar – Where sand used to be traded

32. Hoigebail – Open ground full of sand

33. Hosabettu – New Settlement

34. Iddya – A settlement of the Ideya/Yadava tribe

35. Inoli – The village of the Inna tribe

36. Jalligudde – The hill/quarry area having Jalli kallu (stone/gravel)

37. Jeppinamoger – Where the river went lower than its lowest point

38. Jyothi – Named after the Jyothi theatre which was demolished a couple of years ago

39. Kadri Kambala – Kadire Kambala, where the Kambala sport used to happen in the Kadire (Paddy) fields

40. Kadri – Named after Kadire, or Paddy corn which used to be grown abundantly in the area.

41. Kalbavi – Kallu Baavi – Stone well

42. Kaligudda – A hill where ‘Kali’ or palm toddy used to be tapped in abundance

43. Kandathpalli – Named after the Kandath Mosque in the area

44. Kankanady – Named after the Kanka tribe settlement

45. Kannur – An eye shaped island / Habitat of the Kanna tribe

46. Kapikad – A large forest area with tall trees

47. Kavoor – A protected forest area

48. KC Road – Kinya Cross Road

49. KHB Colony – Karnataka Housing Board Colony

50. Kodialbail – Kodeyala Bayalu – Which means fields or grounds surrounding Kodeyaala.

51. Kodialgutthu – Named after the Kodeyala Gutthu mane (Landlord’s house)

52. Kodical – Kodi Kallu, a sharp pillar-like rock structure which used to exist in this area.

53. Konchady – A settlement of the Koncha tribe

54. Kottara – A settlement of the Kotta/Kota tribe

55. KR Rao Road – Kudmul Ranga Rao Road

56. KS Rao Road – Karnad Sadashiva Rao Road

57. Kudla – Kudala – A confluence of two rivers

58. Kudroli – Kuduru Oli – Village on an island

59. Kudru – Local word for Island

60. Kulai – A village with a Kula (Pond)

61. Kulshekhar – Named after the Alupa king Kulashekara

62. Ladyhill – Named after the Pioneer Apostolic Carmel sisters who started a school on this hill

63. Lalbagh – Named after the Lalbagh House, literally meaning Red Garden

64. Leewell – Named after a well which was constructed by British Principal Collector Lee Morris

65. Mahaveera Circle – Named after Bhagavan Mahaveer, where earlier the famous Kalasha used to welcome visitors into Mangalore.

66. Maikala – Mayikala – A place of the goddess Mayadevi

67. Malemar – Maale Maaru – Fields owned by the Maale tribe

68. Manjalpade – A scenic hill with the shade of yellow, possibly due to the straw reeds and the reflection of the colour of the evening sun

69. Manjanady – Settlement of Manja tribe

70. Mannagudde – A hill having loose red soil

71. Marakada – Maara Kadu – Forest of the Maara tribe

72. Maroli and Maravoor – Settlement of Marava tribes

73. Maryhill – After Mother Mary

74. MG Road – Mahatma Gandhi Road

75. Milagres – Named after the Milagres Church present in the area.

76. Morgan’s Gate – Named after British Coffee Trader, J.H. Morgan - General Manager, Commonwealth Tile Factory, who had bungalows in the area

77. Mullerkad/Mulakkad – Forest area owned by the Father Mullers group

78. Mulur – Settlement of Moolya tribes

79. Nadumane – House on the centre

80. Naguri – The land of Naga worship

81. Nandigudda – Hill with a Nandi statue

82. Navbharath Circle – Named after a popular newspaper in Mangalore ‘Navbharath’ which had its printing press here. Now called Rashtrakavi Manjeshwar Govinda Pai Circle. On the statue, he can be seen reading the same newspaper.

83. Neermarga – A road beside a now-extinct river

84. Pachanady – Green Fields

85. Padavinangady – A commercial area located on a elevated plateau (Padavina Angady)

86. Padavu – Means an elevated strip of land near some hill.

87. Padubidri and Moodabidri – Bamboo Fields on the West (Padu) and East (Moodu)

88. Padushedde and Moodushedde – Hill on the West (Padu) and East (Moodu)

89. Pakshikere – Lake of Birds

90. Panambur – Town of the Panaba tribe

91. Pilikula – Tiger’s Pond

92. Polali – Pural or River changing sides, also from the Sanskrit word Paliapuria

93. Pumpwell – Named after a water pumping station present in the area

94. Shaktinagar – Colony named after the Ramashakti Mission

95. Statebank – Named after the statebank located at the area, was earlier called Uppina Gadi, which means Salt Sellers area.

96. Sulthan Battheri – Tipu Sultan’s Battery (A military outpost, not the electric cell)

97. Thannirbhavi – Cold Water Well – Origins stated to be a well near the beach which used to have clear cold drinking water lacking salinity

98. Thokur – Thoke Ooru – Village in a valley

99. Ucchila – Uccha Illa – Houses on a higher point // Ucchu Ill, Abode of Snakes

100. Ulaibettu – Uliya Bettu – Hill surrounded by water

101. Uliya – Local word for Island

102. Ullal – Ola Aala – Water inlet – Where the river entered the village

103. Urwa – Ooruva – Urban settlement

104. Valencia – Roman/Latin origins for brave/courageous

105. Vamanjoor – Named after the Oma tribe

106. VT Road – Vitobha Temple Road

107. Yekkur/Yekkar – Settlement of Yekka tribes

108. Yeyyadi – Settlement of the Yeya/Yadava tribes

109. Thumbe - minute white flower without significance

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

"India" in various Indian languages.

"India" in various Indian languages.
 1. Assamese: ভাৰত (Bharat) 
2. Awadhi: भारत (Bhārat)
3. Badaga: Bharata
4. Bagheli: भारत (Bhārat)
5. Bengali: ভারত (Bhārôt)
6. Bhili: भारत (Bhārat)
7. Bhojpuri: भारत (Bhārat) 
8. Bodo: भारत (Bhārat)
9. Chhattisgarhi: भारत (Bhārat) 
10. Dogri: भारत (Bhārat)
11. Garhwali: भारत (Bhārat) 
12. Gondi: भारत (Bhārat)
13. Gujarati: ભારત (Bhārat) 
14. Haryanvi: भारत (Bhārat) 
15. Hindi: भारत (Bhārat)
16. Ho: भारत (Bhārat)
17. Kannada: ಭಾರತ (Bhārata) 
18. Kashmiri: بھارت (Bharat) 
19. Konkani: भारत (Bhārat)
20. Kodava: Bhārata
21. Kurukh: भारत (Bhārat)
22. Kutchi: ભારત (Bhārat)
23. Ladakhi (Bhoti): དབུས་རྒྱལ (Bharat) 
24. Magahi: भारत (Bhārat)
25. Maithili: भारत (Bhārat)
26. Malayalam: ഇന്ത്യ (Indya) 
27. Manipuri: ভারত (Bharat) 
28. Marathi: भारत (Bhārat)
29. Meitei: ভারত (Bharat)
30. Mizo: India 
31. Nagamese: इंडिया (India)
32. Nepali: भारत (Bhārat)
33. Odia: ଭାରତ (Bhārata) 
34. Pahari: भारत (Bhārat)
35. Punjabi: ਭਾਰਤ (Bhārat) 
36. Rajasthani: भारत (Bhārat) 
37. Sadhri: भारत (Bhārat) 
38. Sanskrit: भारत (Bhārata) 
39. Santali: ᱵᱷᱟᱨᱚᱛ(Bharat)  
40. Sikkimese: भारत (Bhārat) 
41. Sindhi: ڀارت (Bharat)
42. Tamil: இந்தியா (Indhiya) 
43. Telugu: భారత్ (Bharat)
44. Tripuri: ভারত (Bharat)
45. Tulu: Bhārata
46. Urdu: بھارت (Bharat)

Thanks & Regards 
Know Your Roots

Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Are Agrawal's Marwadis, Punjabis or Hindites ?

Agrawal, Agarwal, Agerwal, Agrawala, Agarwala, Agarwalla, Aggarwal, Agarawal or Agarawala is a Hindu Bania community

“The Agrawals are descendent from kshatriya king Maharaja Agrasen of the Solar Dynasty.  Literally, Agrawal means the "children of Agrasen" or the "people of Agroha", a city in ancient Kuru Panchala, near Hisar in Haryana said to be founded by Agrasen”
Agrawal surname was adopted by the 18 children of Maharaja Agrasen. (Agroha + Wal(balak in punjabi)). Maharaja Agrasen come from a town in North Haryana called “Agroha” in Hisar district earlier in Punjab Province during British Rule.

Maharaja Agrasen was a very compassionate ruler and often disliked killing animals as sacrifice in Yagna and soldiers of other kingdoms in small wars. During his 18th Yagna he decided that he would not kill any animal or soldier anymore. He stopped the Yagna and told the priest that he couldn't slaughter the sacrifice animal. The priest warned him that without so, the havan could not be complete. In response, the Maharaja decided to renounce the Kshatriya Dharma and adopted Vanik Dharma. He married 17 Nagas. After his death, the kingdom was divided among the 18 Gotras of the Agarwals like “Bansal”, “Goyal”, “Kansal” and so on. Business and trading went on with full vigour making the people in the region very rich and prosperous. Later on, Nomadic herds of Huns, Sythians and Greeks started arriving and protecting the kingdom became tougher.

Around 1000 years ago : Muslim Invaders raided the entire city forcing the people of Agroha to flee the area. There was widespread killings, rape, murder and loot.

Mahmud of Ghazni (Persian: محمود غزنوی‎; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030) was the first independent ruler of the Turkic dynasty of Ghaznavids, ruling from 999 to 1030. At the time of his death, his kingdom had been transformed into an extensive military empire, which extended from northwestern Iran proper to the Punjab in the Indian subcontinent, Khwarazm in Transoxiana, and Makran.

Mahmud Ghazni was among the first Invader and soon all of Haryana and Punjab was completely destroyed.

As far as Agrawals are concerned with they fled to various Northern regions of India. Many to Rajasthan areas under Rajputs who later started calling themselves as Marwadi Agrawals though historically they are not. Since its been at least 12–15 generations of living in Rajasthan, they sometimes are called/known as Marwadis like other business communities of Rajasthan such as Maheshwaris, Porwal etc. Some fled to Tomar Dynasty dominated areas near Mehrauli, Delhi region. Some fled to Jaat dominated areas in modern day South Haryana like Rohtak, Jind and parts of North-Western UP like Meerut, Saharanpur and adopted Kadiboli Hindi. Many migrated further North into parts of Punjab such as Sangrur, Bhatinda, Mohali etc under the Jatt dominated areas, adopted Punjabi language and became Punjabi Agrawals

Under the Mughal Empire, the presence of Agarwals in the entire North India rose as very good traders. The Mughal emperors saw an opportunity to increase trade in various areas of the Indian Subcontinent since they were of the opinion of ruling over India and making it an Islamic Region so they wanted to make it prosperous and for the same recruited loads of Aggarwals/Jains to trade along the entire GT(Grand Trunk) road which was the trading route all the way from Afghanistan -> Lahore -> Delhi. That’s when many many Agarwals migrated to Lahore & Delhi region for business and trading.

18 gotras of Agrawals

Bansal
Goyal
Kuchhal
Kansal
Bindal
Dharan
Singhal
Jindal
Mittal
Tingal
Tayal
Garg
Bhandal
Nangal
Mangal
Airan
Madhukul
Goyan

Conclusion: Agarwals are originally from Haryana and are mostly found in other North-Western areas of India like Rajasthan, Punjab, Delhi NCR and Chandigarh.

They are actually Haryanvis but adopted Rajasthani (Marwadi), Punjabi and Hindi.


Religious Diversity in Linguistic Group's

All Linguistic communities has all 3 religion - Hindu, Muslim and Christian.
Few have Jain, Buddhism and Judaism followers 

📌TULU
🌟Tulu Hindus - 
Bunt, Billava, Shivalli, Sthanika, Shettigar, Ganiga, Mogaveera, Kulal, Tulu Gowda etc
🌟Tulu/Tulunad Muslims - 
Bearys
🌟 Tulu Christians - 
Tulu Protestants, New Life, Pentecost, Basel Mission etc
🌟 Tulu Jain's :
Digambara Jain's 

📌 KONKANI 
🌟Konkani Hindus -
Daivadnyas, Vaishya Vanis, Kunbi, Kharvi, Kudaldeshkars, Rajapuris, Chaptekars, Gaud Saraswats, Chitrapur Saraswats, Mesta
🌟Konkani Muslims - Konkani Navayats
🌟Konkani Christians - Konkani Catholics , New Life, Born Again 

📌 KODAVA 
🌟Kodava Hindus : 
Kodava Kshatriyas, Amma Kodava, Peggade, Airi, Kodava Nair, Khambatti, Medha 
🌟Kodava Muslins : 
Kodava Mappillas 
🌟Kodava Christians : 
Catholics 

📌KANNADA 
🌟Kannada Hindus - 
Vokkaliga Gowda, Veerashaiva Lingayat, Kuruba, Gollas, Kichatiga, Nayakas, Mesta  
🌟Kannada Muslims -
Pinjars
🌟 Kannada Christians -
Kannada Catholics, Kannada Protestants, Methodist, Pentecost
🌟 Kannada Jain's - 
Digambara Jain's 

📌 MALAYALAM 
🌟 Malayali Hindus - 
Naira, Eravas, Namboodari Brahmins, Nambiars
🌟Malayali Muslims -
Mappillas
🌟 Malayali Christians -
Latin Catholics, Syrian Malabar Catholics, Syrian Malankara, Jacobite, Marthoma, Orthodox 
🌟 Malayali Jain's - 
Digambara Jain's

📌 MARATHI 
🌟 Malayali Hindus - 
Deshastha Brahmins, devruke Brahmins, Marathas, 
🌟Marathi Muslims -
🌟 Marathi Christians -
Catholics & Protestants
🌟 Marathi Jain's - 
Digambara Jain's

Monday, April 15, 2024

Tulu Catholics

 TULU CATHOLICS :

 During the sixteenth and seventeenth century, a significantly large number of Goan Catholics, migrated to Canara due to a variety of reasons. The arrival of the Christians, particularly from Goa to South Canara was neither completely voluntary no completely peaceful. The migration was the result of religious, political, economic, cultural, social and other causes.Padvals were the local Catholic converts of South Canara and did not mix with the Christian immigrants from Goa. 

Jain Converts : Padval is evidently the konkanised form of a Tulu Jain surname Padival, and thus historian Severine Silva in his The Marriage Customs of the Christians in South Canara, India (1965), speculates that the Padvals in the Christian community were Jain converts. Their descendants constitute a minor caste among the Mangalorean Catholics of Dakshina Kannada. According to Mangalorean genealogist Michael Lobo, the major Padval clans are the Rodrigues family of Ambepol, Bantwal, Bejai, Nod and Kadri; Tauro family of Bantwal, Kodialbail and Kankanadi; Lobo family of Bellore, Derebail and Mermajal; and D'Souza family of Bejai, Kadri and Vamanjoor.

The actual mother tongue of these people was tulu but because of intermarriage with konkani catholic, lack of tulu services in church and this was tiny population they later got mixed with major chunk of Konkani Catholic. Thats how their mother tongue tulu was replaced by konkani.

This is the reason we have church services in tamil, telugu, kannada, malayalam, marathi, punjabi speaking Catholics but not Tulu Catholics 


The Holy Cross Church, Pavoor, Kasaragod district, Kerala is a Roman Catholic Church (Latin Rite) and the only place in the world where a range of Catholic Church Services are conducted in Tulu.

It comes under Catholic Diocese of Mangalore, It consists of the Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka, and the northern parts of the Kasargod district up to the Chandragiri river in Kerala. The Chandragiri river is traditionally considered to be a boundary between Tulu Nadu and Kerala. Because Tulu speaking kings ruled over the area like Kanyakumari ruled over by Malayali kings.

Whereas in other the churches in the Diocese of Mangalore and Northern Kasaragod the services are conducted in Konkani, English and Malayalam, the main Holy Mass at Pavoor Church at 7:30 am  on Sundays, is in Tulu. The service at 11 am, mainly for children, is in a cocktail of languages. On the first Sunday of the month the service is in Konkani, on the second Sunday in Tulu and on the third and fourth Sundays in Kannada. At the main morning service, the hymns are sung in Tulu, prayers are recited in Tulu and the sermon is preached in Tulu.

The credit for introducing Tulu at Pavoor Church goes to an Italian Jesuit priest who came to Mangalore in 1897. Fr Alexander Camissa, born in 1868 in Italy, spent one year at Suratkal, Mangalore taluk learning Tulu. He continued his Tulu studies at Jeppu Seminary where he was a teacher. 

When Fr Alexander started the Pavoor Mission in 1913 it was a barren landscape. He obtained 300 acres (1.2 km2) of land from the government and settled there. 

Thus, the Tulu language services were initiated because the original settlers of Pavoor parish were Tuluvas, knowing neither Kannada nor Konkani not malayalm, the dominant church service languages in the region. Even today the original settlers constitute about 95% of the 110 families in the parish, the rest 10 being Konkanis. 

Kow Your Roots 

Vishal Kodial 

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Know Buddhist Communities in India

Buddhism is an ancient Indian religion, which arose in and around the ancient Kingdom of Magadha (now in Bihar, India), and is based on the teachings of Gautama Buddha who was deemed a "Buddha" ("Awakened One"), although Buddhist doctrine holds that there were other Buddhas before him. Buddhism spread outside of Magadha starting in the Buddha's lifetime.


Beda Buddhists
Bengali Buddhists
Bhotiya Buddhists
Bhutia Buddhist 
Bodh Buddhist 
Bugun Buddhist 
Chakma Buddhist 
Chugpa Buddhist 
Gurung Buddhist 
Khamba Buddhists
Khamti Buddhists
Khamyang Buddhists
Ladakhi Buddhists
Limbu Buddhist 
Lepcha Buddhist 
Lishipa Buddhists
Marathi Buddhists
Na Buddhist 
Rakhine Buddhists
Sherpa Buddhists
Tai Phake Buddhists
Tamang Buddhists
Tanchangya Buddhists

Regards,
Vishal Kodial 
Know Your Roots

Place Names in Mangalore and their Meanings (In alphabetical order)

1. Adyar – Tree filled groves 2. Alake – The shore of a pond/kere 3. Attavara – Open area on the river bank 4. Baikampady – Sett...