Why Rajapalayam is not a dog

A lot of trivia buffs I know, can wax eloquent about Timbuktu and Transylvania. But when you can ask them about Tindivanam or Thoothukudi, they are likely to think, ‘Can’t lower our level from Shaquille O'Neal to Shakila, dude.’ My riposte to them will be: what’s the point of knowing every little detail about Washington when you know nothing about our own Washermanpet? There’s no shame in being a patchai tamizhan (Tamil for son-of-the-soil), guys. You have nothing to lose except your ariyaamai (ignorance).

Now that I am done with my rant, lemme clarify. I am no kazhaga kanmani (Dravidian fanatic). I am just another peyarsooti (namer) with a fascination for names with fascinating origins. And Tamil Nadu offers plenty of delights for nameophiles like me. Take Erode for instance. The netizen might be tempted to assume that it’s an Ecommerce site like eBay. But as any Dravidologist will tell you, it’s a portmanteau of Iru odai (two rivers).

Likewise Tanjore might delude the American into imagining a Miamiesque beach with the allure of skin bronzing. Pity, it’s a breeze-kissed verdant city with an exotic etymology. The story goes that Tanjan, a demon who was killed by Sri Anandavalli Amman, had one unticked checkbox in his bucket list – that of a city being named after him. Amman, being a generous woman, gave the devil his due.

Pazhani, Madurai, Rameshwaram and Mayiladhuturai have equally intriguing mythological origins. If you remember your KB Sundarambal and Thiruvilaiyadal, you can work them out. The names you’ll have trouble with are Kanchipuram, Pappanasam, Rajapalayam and Vellore.

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Kanchipuram is not derived from a silk saree, or for that matter, Rajapalayam, from a pedigreed hound. Kanji is a tree peculiar to the temple town while Palayam means Fort. Papam Nasam means destruction of sins and Vel Oor is the land of spears. Get it? Now that I’ve enlightened you, I solemnly assure you that the next time I hear you making statements like ‘Sivakasi got its name from a Vijay movie,’ I will hunt you down in true blue Vettaikaran style.