I want to find out what the name "Majura" means.  It is a mountain in
Canberra. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majura

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 11 Feb 2006 19:51 PST

The meaning of Majura, oddly enough, may have more to do with Hindu
than Aboriginal origins.

In searching, I was struck that Majura also shows up as often in
reference to India as it does to Australia.  An official Australian
site on place names has this to say about the roots of 'Majura':


"Name associated with the locality since early days of settlement; the
name was given by Robert Campbell, probably after Majura in South
India..."


Do you want me to try to find the meaning of the name in India as an
answer to your question?


pafalafa-ga

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Clarification of Question by primod-ga on 12 Feb 2006 22:55 PST

Yes, I think that the Indian connection is probably the more likely
one, and may even have a link to the tea.

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 13 Feb 2006 17:53 PST

primod-ga,

I've been looking, but I haven't yet seen anything that indicates the
meaning of Majura.  If something turns up, I'll be sure to post it,
though.

Just wanted to let you know...


paf

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Clarification of Question by primod-ga on 13 Feb 2006 18:04 PST

Thanks. If it was easy I would have done it myself :-) thats why I'm
paying for your superior research skills.  Did you find the "Trikhanda
Majura" dance exit reference?
http://www.exoticindiaart.com/product/CA90/

Greetings Primod-ga
Since this is your first question to G-A, I will just mention that
this is a free comment and not an "answer" to your question, which
only a G-A Researcher with a blue name can post.

I expect that you already know that Majura is almost certainly an
Aboriginal word  - or someone's transliteration of what he understood
the word to be.
I could not find a translation of it nor a suggestion of which
Aboriginal language it comes from, but some one else may be able to
identify the language(s) common to the the Canberra area.

What I did find with the word Majura was this:
"Majurakura Wangka ngaanya, Majura's stories, collected by Bruce
Thomas, South Hedland, Pilbara
Aboriginal Language Centre, c1994. [B/MAJ].Text in Martu Wangka with
English translation."
http://www.liswa.wa.gov.au/pdf/katitjinsep03.pdf

But this site makes clear that the Martu Wangka language is found in
Western Australia, so there is absolutely no relation to Mount Majura:
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=mpj

As you probably know, the meaning of Aboriginal words that have been
used as place names is sometimes open to discussion.  Canberra is
generally thought to mean "meeting place", appropriate for the
national capital, but there are those who claim that it means "a
woman's breasts", with reference to Mt. Ainslee and Black Mountain.

I hope that someone else can give you more information.
Myoarin

I can't argue with that.  I hope someone can suggest why Campbell
chose that name.  I tried to find Majura in India, assuming that it
would be down the road from the Majura ( or Manjura) Gate in Surat and
possibly had a hill that Campbell recalled when he arrived in the
Canberra area.  No luck.

It looks like this is not going to be answered any further.  I think I
would settle for Majura Gate being the Majura that the mountain is
named after, and would pay for the meaning of Majura in Majura gate
and/or some historical background/context of the Majura gate.  I think
that would be fair compensation for this question, especially if it
was paf who answered it. Paf?