Pottuvil (Tamil: பொத்துவில், romanized: Pottuvil; Sinhala: පොතුවිල, romanized: Potuvil) is a town in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka, located in the Eastern Province on the eastern coast of the Island. It is situated 4 km (2.5 mi) north of the popular tourist destination Arugam Bay.
Name
The romanized form Pothuwila and also Pothuvila are also common in English-language writings of Sinhalese writers, and in many webpages. Most sinhala newspaper articles and Facebook pages refer to "Pothuvila", පොතුවිල.
History
This town is mentioned in the Pali Chronicle known as the Cūḷavaṃsa, and the Vanni Raajaavalaiya. "Bodhivāla" is mentioned in the Cūḷavaṃsa (Chapter lvii, 54) in the context of the Ruhuna (see: Principality of Ruhuna campaigns of Vijayabahu I, 11th century CE). Archaeologists like Ellawala Medhananda Thero, and historians have discussed the place name while Linguists recognize the change of "b" to "p" and the clear evolution of the modern name "Pothuvila" from Bodhivāla. "Vāla" means "water" (or also periphery) in compound usage (Pali Text Society dict., p 610) as in "Aalavaala"(Sanskrit), i.e., basin of water found at the root of a tree. "vāla" is also a type of jasmine, Pavonia Odorata grown in temples."Vaala" also means circumference or periphery (c.f., chakravaala), and "Bodhivaal" could simply mean the region enclosing a Bodhi (c.f. Devaala).
Pottuvil was affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. The town's population in 2007 was 33,625.
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