Levuka Historical Port Town preserves the ancient identity of its indigenous population amidst din and bustle of the foreign colonial power of the European and American traders who arrived in Fiji in 19th century. According to Unesco’s scholarship, ‘Levuka Historical Port Town exhibits the important interchange of human values and cultural contact that took place as part of the process of European maritime expansion over the 19th century in the geo-cultural region of the Pacific Islands. It is a rare example of a late colonial port town, which illustrates the cultural hybridity of non-settler communities in the Pacific…’
The landscape of the heritage site ‘is set amongst coconut and mango trees along the beach front of Ovalau Island against the forested slopes of the island’s extinct volcano’ whose king came from the Tui community but crowned with the fascinated name of Cakobau. The priests were from the Marist community whose ancient identity is linked to the two indigenous villages Totoga(Vitoga) and Nasau and to the Copra sheds.
Levuka stands for the Lampakas or the Lambakana people of the ancient world; they were so called because of their ‘Long Ears’. Fiji identifies itself with Vrijj of the Buddhist literature or the Bhojas of the ancient history. Lambakana people first migrated to Simhala-dvipa. They were the Romans of the ancient world living at the ‘edge of the world’; during Buddha’s time they were called by the name of Lichavis because they were worshippers of the Lakuchi Trees. Bhojas or the Vrijj were their neighbours on the west.
Both Lambakanas, and Bhojas along with Tui and Marist or Mary, were all royal people of the ancient world. It is historically very important to find these royal house people coming together in one land.
Totoga—The root of Totoga is ‘Tritavaccha’ which identifies Bodhisattva born as a Brahmin in Kasi; the name also finds a setthi, or a rich trader of Arithapur(Greek Thebes) ; it also marks a village in this name;
Vitoga—It identifies the Tivaras, the name given to the inhabitants who then lived in the mountainous region of Vipula. Titiriay, name of a bird(partridge), is also identified with this place. Vata-giri was a mountain in the ‘South’ or the Negev;
Nasau—it pinpoints the mountain in this name well as a place at the fot of this mountain; the name marks a type of intoxicant.
Copra—it identifies Corabhaya who were as same as the Cora-nagas; the name seems to have some geographical relationship with the Cobras, a class of Nagas or the Serpents.
Tui—-it is ‘Ti’ means ‘Three’, also name of a place; name of many arhants or monks with ‘Ti’;
Suva—Saba or Sobha, name of a country.
Cakobau—it represents a Cakkavatii or the King of the ‘Four Quarters’; it also identifies the bird: cakkavaka: the golden coloured geese; anciently, Lanka is also known as Cupola, same as chakrabala, means the seemingly ‘meeting point of the sky and the earth’ or the end of the earth.
Ovalau—ancient Alavi, seat of Alavaka-bhikshus or the monks.
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