Jambudvīpa: Which place was known by this name—and why?

 Though several texts may be cited to discuss the location and extent of Jambudvīpa, its practical usage points to a striking conclusion: the Indian subcontinent was known as Jambudvīpa.

But why this name? The answer lies in the Jambū tree—the jamun (Syzygium cumini), which thrives abundantly in the Indian subcontinent. Its preferred conditions are roughly 20–35°C, annual rainfall of about 1,000–2,500 mm, a tropical or subtropical climate, good sunlight, and freedom from severe frost. It is particularly well adapted to the Indian monsoon climate and does not naturally thrive in cold regions. This has an interesting geographical implication: extending Jambudvīpa into Europe or the cold Himalayan regions would be difficult to reconcile with the ecology of the very tree from which the name is derived. The old Tamil tradition offers another fascinating clue. Tamil texts call Jambudvīpa Nāvalam Tīvu—the island/land of the Jambū (nāval) tree. Maṇimēkalai refers to Puhār (Pūmpuhār) as the abode of the guardian deity of Jambudvīpa. It narrates that a woman performed tapas beneath a Jambū tree at Puhār and attained the status of the guardian deity of Jambudvīpa. Thus, Puhār had an earlier name, Jambupati.

Why is this striking? The absence of this particular tradition from the Purāṇic accounts indicates a very ancient memory—from a period before the Holocene climatic conditions. Only the southern coastal regions were habitable then, with Pūmpuhār forming a major hub of the civilization of India. Even more intriguing is the tradition concerning the Upadvīpas of Jambudvīpa. The southern and southeastern islands were regarded as subsidiary islands of Jambudvīpa. The Sagara-putras are said to have dug through the earth, producing eight islands, including present-day Sri Lanka (refer Srimad Bhagavatam). This resonates intriguingly with geography. Morphological studies of the Bay of Bengal reveal ancient submarine channels and formations close to the eastern coast of peninsular India extending around Sri Lanka (see Chapter 60 of my Ramayana 5114 BCE).

Tamil literature preserves a remarkable memory of this landscape: Silappadhikāram calls the Bay of Bengal “Todu Kadal”—the “dug-out sea”; Sri Lanka is described as “கடல் அகழ் இலங்கை” (Kadal Agazh Ilangai)—Lanka encircled/formed by digging the sea. These references may preserve a memory of an older landscape in which several southern islands existed but were subsequently submerged—including Kāvāṭam, the second Pandyan capital mentioned in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. Today Sri Lanka survives. The other Upadvīpas lie beneath the sea. Jambudvīpa, therefore, is not merely a name on a cosmological map—it preserves a memory of India, its ecology, and a much older geographical landscape.

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