Tam: உதகமண்டலம் utakamaṇṭalam
‘Single Stone Settlement’ [Ooty, Ootacamund] City, Tamil Nadu
From Tam: oṟṟai, ‘single’; kal, ‘stone’, ‘rock’; Tod/Kot: moḏ/manḏ, ‘Toda village’.
The modern Ooty was founded in the 19thC on the site of a Toda mand.
The British used it as the summer HQ for the Madras Presidency. They corrupted the name first to Ootacamund, and later to Ooty.
Ooty is 2,240m up in the middle of the Nigiri mountain range.
The stone may have had ritual significance for the Toda tribespeople.
Doddabetta (2,637m), the highest mountain in the Nilgiri range, sits above Ooty and 9km away by road.
Ooty: Aerial View from Doddabetta Peak Hemant meena