Does any body know what is the meaning of EElam?
Later day Tamil inscriptions, especially one from the Chola period, refers to 'Sinhalar Eella Mandilams,' meaning the Eela regional unit of the Sinhalese. It is quite clear that the Sinhalese themselves had been associated with Eelam.
It may come as a big shock to many to know of the etymology of the term Eelam. It is the opinion of learned Tamil scholars like the late Professor Kanapathipillai, that the term Eelam must have been derived from 'Hela'. Thus in real terms eelam is an integral part of the helaurumaya (The hela heritage). |