Know the Etymology: 500
Place Name of the Day: Wednesday, 14 September 2016

Veḷicca-vīṭu

வெளிச்சவீடு
Veḷiccavīṭu

Veḷicca+vīṭu

The lighthouse

Veḷiccam

1.light, lamp, clearness (Tamil, DED 5496); from Veḷ: white, pure, shining, bright (Tamil, DED 5496); Veḷi: (verb) to break as the day, clear, whiten, become bright (Tamil, DED 5496); cognates in 19 Dravidian languages; Veḷiccam 2. publicity (Tamil, 5498); from Veḷi: (verb) to be open or public; (noun) outside, plain, space, publicity (Tamil, DED 5498); cognates in 9 Dravidian languages; compare Eḷi (light, open space, outside, publicity) and Eḷa (white) in Sinhala.

Vīṭu

house, settlement, habitation, abode (Tamil, DED 5393); from Viṭu: (verb) to let go, free, liberate; cognates in 13 Dravidian languages.

Veḷicca-vīṭu in Tamil commonly means a lighthouse. The phrase is a literal translation of lighthouse in English, as Veḷiccam and Vīṭu respectively mean light and house in Tamil/ Dravidian (DED 5496+5393).

The practice of having a lighthouse in port cities was known to Tamil culture since very early times, as could be seen from references in Caṅkam Tamil literature. But, "Kalaṅ-karai-viḷakku" (meaning, the light that calls ships; Kalam: ship; Karai: calling; Viḷakku: light) was the term used in the early references (Cilappatikaaram, 6: 141).

The following is the description of an ancient lighthouse noted in the Caṅkam Tamil literature, Perumpāṇāṟṟuppatai:

"Vāṉam ūṉṟiya matalai pōla,
Ēṇi cāttiya ēṟṟu aruñ ceṉṉi,
Viṇ pora nivanta vēyā māṭattu
Iravil māṭṭiya ilaṅku cuṭar ñekiḻi
Uravu nīr aḻuvattu ōṭu kalam karaiyum
Turai…" (Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai, 346-351)

“வானம் ஊன்றிய மதலை போல
ஏணி சாத்திய ஏற்று அருஞ் சென்னி
விண் பொர நிவந்த வேயா மாடத்து
இரவில் மாட்டிய இலங்கு சுடர் ஞெகிழி
உரவு நீர் அழுவத்து ஓடு கலம் கரையும்
துறை” (பெரும்பாணாற்றுப்படை, 346-351)

Like a prop-post holding the sky, stands the lighthouse; fixed with a ladder, difficult to reach the top, and having an uncovered terrace reaching against the sky. In this, the bright-flamed light that is raised in the nights would call the ships sailing in the roaring deep sea. Such is the port city (of Toṇṭaimāṉ Iḷantiraiyaṉ).

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Veḷicca-vīṭu comes as the name of a place in Mūtūr division of Trincomalee district.

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First published: Wednesday, 14 September 2016, 17:17