Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka

Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka

Notable Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka Kirti Sri Rajasinha of Sri Lanka, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Sri Lanka, Muttiah Muralitharan, M. G. Ramachandran
Total population
855,025 (2001) [1]
Regions with significant populations
Sri Lanka      Other significant populations:
India  United Kingdom  Canada  Australia
Languages
Tamil, Sinhala
Religion
Hindu, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Baptist, Methodist, Islam
Related ethnic groups
Tamil people, Sri Lankan Tamils

The Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka are Tamil people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka. They are also known as Hill country Tamils, Up-country Tamils or simply Indian Tamils. They are partly descended from workers sent from South India to Sri Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in coffee, tea and rubber plantations. Some also migrated on their own as merchants and as other service providers. These Tamil-speakers mostly live in the central highlands, also known as the Malayakam or Hill Country yet others are also found major urban areas and in the Northern province. Although they are all termed as Tamils today, some have Telugu and Malayalee origins as well as diverse South Indian caste origins. They are instrumental in the plantation sector economy of Sri Lanka. In general socio economically their standard of living is below that of the national average. In 1964 a large percentage were expatriated back to India but left a considerable number as stateless people. By 1990’s most of these have been given Sri Lankan citizenship. Most are Hindus with a minority of Christians and Muslims amongst them. Politically they are supportive of trade union derived political parties that have supported most of the ruling coalition since the 1980s.

Tamil-speaking communities

Percentage of Tamils of Indian origin per district based on 2001 or 1981 (cursive) census.^[1]

There are today two groups of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The first are the Sri Lankan Tamils, who either descend from the Tamils of the old Jaffna kingdom or who migrated to the East coast. The second are the Indian Tamils or Hill Country Tamils, who are descendants of bonded labourers sent from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka in the 19th century to work in tea plantations.^[2] Sri Lankan Tamils mostly live in the Northern and Eastern provinces and in the capital of Colombo, whereas hill-country Tamils largely live in the central highlands.^[1] The Hill Country Tamils and Ceylon Tamils historically have seen themselves as separate communities. In 1949, the United National Party Government, which included G. G. Ponnambalam, a leader of the Tamil Congress and of the Sri Lankan Tamils, stripped the Indian Tamils of their nationality, including their right to vote. Prominent Tamil political leaders such as S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and his Tamil opposition party opposed this move.^[3]

Under an agreement between the Sri Lankan and Indian governments in the 1960s, around 40% of Hill Country Tamils were granted Sri Lankan nationality, and many of the remainder were repatriated to India.^[4] However, the ethnic conflict has led to the growth of a greater sense of common Tamil identity, and the two groups are now more supportive of each other.^[5] By the 1990s most Indian Tamils had received Sri Lankan citizenship.^[4]

History

Tea plantation in Sri Lanka.

Flow of immigrants

Historically Sri Lankan monarchs have used the services of South Indian labor since centuries BCE. According to the primary source Mahavamsa, number service groups from Pandyan kingdom in present day Tamil Nadu accompanied the settlement of Anuradhapura by Prakrit speakers. There is epigraphic evidence of traders and others self identifying as Damelas or Damedas (Sinhala and Sinhala prakrit for Tamils) in Anuradhapura and other areas of Sri Lanka as early as 2nd century BCE. The idea of looking upon the Demedas as aliens was not prevalent in the Early Historical Period.^[6]

South Indian soldiers were brought to Anuradhapura in ever larger numbers in the seventh, eight, ninth and tenth centuries ACE leading to number of rulers relying on their help to consolidate and rule, Raja Raja Chola (Who had a Hon.title UDAYAR was from the Raja Kula Agammudayar caste) created a town called Jananathamangalam,near Anuradhapura and settled Velakkara(Maravar), & Agampadi (Agampu+adi) soldiers(Agammudayar),(These two Castes were sub divisions from the Tamil Mukkulathor caste),they eventually got assimilated to Sinhala society,the sinhala family name Palihakkara (Palaikkarar) originated from the Velakkara soldiers and the suffix Agampodi in front of some names of the Salagama sub caste “Hewapanne”(militia)originated from the agampadi soldiers,who married Salagama Hewapanne women, There was also large scale mercantile activity from peninsular India primarily from the Coromandel Coast.^[7]

The majority Sinhalese caste structure, which is a flexible system with no religious sanctions attached to it, has accommodated the recent Hindu immigrants from South India leading to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups-the Salagama, the Durava and the Karava.^[8][9] This migration and assimilation happened until the eighteenth century.^[8] Salagamas whose caste legends allude to South India, came as Nambudiri Brahmins from Kerala, for the coronation ceremony of King Vijayabahu I, & for the coronation ceremony of Prince Wathhimi,& also as specialized service providers as weavers & as mercenary soldiers (Agampadi soldiers) from Tamil Nadu, but some of them, were punished by the King of Kotte who imposed cinnomon as a tax, eventually a section of them became cinnamon peelers. How and when this happened is unclear, but according to some historians it was in 1406 by the King of Kotte.^[8]& another section is called “Hewapanne” or soldiers.

Initial recruitment

Indian Tamil worker at a tea plantation in Ceylon, The National Geographic Magazine, April 1907

The Hill Country Tamils derive their origins from a British colonial era project. According to Professor Bertram Bastianpillai, workers around the Tamil Nadu cities of Thirunelveli, Tiruchi, Madurai and Tanjore were recruited from 1827^[10] by Governor Sir Edward Barnes on the request of George Bird, a pioneering planter.^[11] There is also a trading community of Indian Tamils who were not part of the plantation economy.^[12] As soon as these migrant workers were brought to Mannar, the port at which they landed on their arrival by boat from South India, they were moved via Kurunegala to camps in the town of Matale. There they were quarantined for a period of a week or more, examined for infectious diseases such as small pox, cholera or typhoid and vaccinated them against these diseases before they were sent to Kandy, from where they were dispersed to locations where they would either work on estates already established by a previous gang of workers or clear the jungle to establish new ones. Many died during their firs few months of employment.^[11] They were instrumental in the establishment of tea, rubber, coffee and coconut plantations. They formed the bulk of the labour force that turned the malaria-infested forests of Sri Lanka into rich plantations, which sustains the Sri Lankan economy until now.^[5][13]

Society

Tamil settlement in Central Sri Lanka

Population figures

Census operations started in Sri Lanka in 1871. The Census of 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 had lumped together Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils. Since 1911, Indian Tamils have been shown as a separate category. The population statistics are revealing. In 1911, Indian Tamils constituted 12.9 per cent of the population, whereas Sri Lankan Tamils formed 12.8 per cent; in 1921, 13.4 per cent and 11.5 per cent; in 1931, 15.2 and 11.3; in 1946, 11.7 and 11.0; in 1953, 12.0 and 10.9; in 1963, 10.6 and 11.0; in 1971, 11.6 and 11.2; and in 1981, 5.5 per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively.^[5]

The statistics reveal a more than 50 per cent fall in the Indian Tamil population between 1971 and 1981. The main reason for the fall was the repatriation of Indian citizens to India. Another fact is that that many Indian Tamils, after acquiring Sri Lankan citizenship, declared themselves as Sri Lankan Tamils. Some Tamils who migrated to urban areas and also to the North and the East also followed this same example.^[5]

Caste orientation of a plantation

Typical line housing of estate workers

The social structure of the plantations resembles the South Indian rural social structure. The community is generalyy bound by caste system. In a plantation, the tea factory is the center of activities and it stands in the central part of the plantation. The office adjoins this and these are surrounded by the quarters of the staff members such as clerks, tea makers, conductors, petty accountants or kanakkupillais, and supervisors. The bungalows of the planter and his assistants are in an isolated areas. These will be in close proximity to the office. The dwellings of the workers called line rooms are situated a little further away from the factories.^[11]

Those who are considered to be of higher castes such as Vellalas, Kallar, Agamudaiyar, Maravar, Naidus, Reddiars and Nairs occupy the first row of line rooms. They perform respectable jobs such as factory work and grinding of tea as minor labor work. Even though they belong to the labor category they are influential among conductors, tea makers, kanganies (or supervisors) and other officials. The workers considered low castes live in the dwellings that are away from the center and these dwellings are called distant or lower lines. This group consists of Pallar, Paraiyars, Sakkiliar, washers and barbers. The yard sweepers and changers of clothes are in the lowest rank.^[11]

Survival of customs

These groups follow the customs, traditions, and festivities of the South Indian Tamil ancestors. The traditional musical instruments such as Thappu and Parai are used and folk dances such as Kavadi, Kummi and Karaga Attam are performed. Folk dramas called Koothu in their various forms such as Ponnar Koothu, Sangaran Koothu, Arujunan Thabas, Kaman Koothu are still prevalent among them along with Silambadi as an important feature.^[11]

Religion

Hindu temple in Matale, popular amongst Tamils of Indian origin

In general they use Hindu beliefs to guide their day to day lives. There are number of temples and places of worship for deities on estates and in villages, towns and other places within Sri Lanka to which they have migrated. When a place is decided to be settled, the settlers would institute, under a banyan or bo tree, a triangular shaped stone or figure of a deity, plant a weapon of a popularly worshiped god such as a spear, trident or sword and worshiped these. The main deities worshiped ay are, in order of popularity, the goddess Mariamman, Murugan and his consorts, Valli and Theivanai, Pillayar, Siva, Parvathi, Vishnu and Laxmi, and the goddess of wisdom Saraswati.^[11]

In 1981 about 90 percent of the Indian Tamils were Hindus.^[14] They have little contact with Buddhism, and they worship the Hindu pantheon of gods. Their religious myths, stories of saints, literature, and rituals are distinct from the cultural sources of the Sinhalese. Furthermore, a minority of the Indian Tamils- 7.6 percent are converts to Christianity, with their own places of worship and separate cultural lives. In this way, the large Tamil minority in Sri Lanka is effectively separated from the mainstream Sinhalese culture and is fragmented into two major groups with their own Christian minorities^[14]

The first known temple was built in Matale. It began as a stone an icon of the goddess Mariamman. At this very location where the worship of her began in 1820, the now-famous Matale Sri Muthumariamman Temple was built in 1852. The trading community of the Nattukotai Chettiars introduced the worship of Murugan in his form as Lord Kathiresan at Matale and was to subsequently build the Kathiresan temple at Matale. The annual festival of this temple is celebrated in the month of July. Devotees of the plantation sector walk from the tea estates and hometowns they live in to Kathirkamam, a place considered sacred by both Buddhists and Hindus, in the South of Sri Lanka, where Murugan is worshiped in the form of Skanda.^[11]Deepavali, Pongal and Tamil New Year are commonly celebrated as festivals.

Folk deities

Each caste has its own deity based on caste predecessors and are worshiped as guardian angels, such as the Kallar caste had Nallananpillai Perumal as their guardian angel to whom vows and sacrifices made. Deities such as Madasamy, Muniandi, Kali, Madurai Veeran, Sangili Karuppan, Vaalraja, Vairavar, Veerabathran, Sudalai Madan, Nagaphooshani Ammann and Roda Mini are also worshiped.^[11]

Temple societies

A temple to Hanuman near Nuwara Eliya

There were 104 registered Hindu temples in the Nuwara Eliya District, 153 in Kandy region and 62 in Matale in 2001. Religious schools or Araa Nerri Padasaligal are conducted throughout the Central Province and registered schools of such nature are, Nuwara Eliya 22, Kandy 54 and Matale 11. A considerable number of Hindu associations and Institutions have been established and are functioning actively. There is a serious effort at conversions to other religions as well. Many have converted to Christianity and Islam. Hindu organizations such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad tries to stem the tide of conversions.^[11]

Politics

Community Development

The community was a closed community confining themselves to the plantations, while t actively contributed and contributes to the economic well-being of this country but the socio economic indicators of the community was amongst the worst in the country. The community in general was isolated, living in ghettoes within the central region as well as linguistically isolated from the majority Sinhalese villagers who live in the valleys. They were captive labor whose life in its entity was decided by the employers. Any social relationship or cultural ties were only among themselves or with South India. In the 1940s the trade union movement had galvanized the plantation workers into a militant working class. They joined hands with the Lanka Sama Samaja (or Socialist) Party, which carried the message of a working-class struggle for liberation from the exploitation by mostly British plantation companies.

Sri Lanka became independent in 1948 and the community believes that it became the first community marked out for discrimination by the new state of Ceylon in 1948. In the elections to the first parliament of Ceylon, seven Indian Tamil representatives were returned to Parliament. The plantation workers voted either for Indian Tamil candidates or for Lanka Sama Samaja Party candidates. Dr.N.M.Perera was the leader of the opposition in the 1st parliament and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was the second largest party after the United National Party.^[11]

Disenfranchisement

Tea is one of the highest earners of GNP of Sri Lanka

The first Prime Minister, D.S. Senanayake of the conservative United National Party reacting to the possibilities of losing power to leftist political parties, commenced the task of weakening the leftist parties and their associate organizations. Indian Tamil labor had overwhelmingly supported these organizations. According opposition parties he was also influenced by segments of the majority Sinhalese population who felt their voting strength was diluted due to Indian Tamils. He introduced the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948, the Indian-Pakistani Citizenship act of 1949 and amended the parliamentary elections act and disfranchised the Indian Tamils along with many persons of Indian and Pakistani ancestry. As they had no means of electing any one to the Parliament they ceased to be the concern of parliamentary politicians. The plantation workers were thus forgotten from 1948 – 1964. They were unable to profit by any progressive legislation. The housing, health and education of the plantation workers were neglected. Infant mortality was highest in the country. Although since the introduction of universal franchise in 1931, strong traditions of social welfare in Sri Lanka have given the island very high indicators of physical well-being. Impressive national statistics tended to hide the existence of deprived pockets within the population and the most deprived population group has been the plantation labor, which had been economically, politically and socially deprived.^[11]

Donoughmore Commission

The Donoughmore Commission of 1928 recommended universal franchise, and this was also meant to include the plantation workers as well. Page 57 of the report proposed

“In the first place we consider it very desirable that a qualification of five years residence in the Island (allowing the temporary absence not exceeding eight months in all during the five years period) should be introduced in order that the privilege of voting should be confined to those who have an abiding interest in the country or who may be regarded as permanently settled in the Island…. this condition will be of particular importance in its application to the Indian immigrant population. Secondly, we consider that the registration of voters should not be compulsory or automatic but should be restricted to those who apply for it…”.

However, the very concept of Universal Franchise was anathema to most of the political leaders of that era. Ponnambalam Ramanathan, a highly respected leader, opposed universal franchise as he felt that the caste system was an integral part of the Hindu way of life(,^[15] p16), and led a delegation to London seeking to legally enshrine the caste hierarchy, and dethrone universal franchise. The Kandyan Sinhalese also objected to the enfranchisement of the Indian estate workers as they feared that their electoral base would be diluted by a large influx of Indian Tamil votes. They also argued that the Tea estates were land plundered by the British, and that the Kandyan peasants have been driven from their traditional lands and those injustices would be compounded if the Indian workers were legitimized. Governor Stanley, by an order in Council introduced restrictions on the citizenship of Indian workers to make the Donoughmore proposals acceptable to the Ceylonese leaders. Thus the first state council of 1931, which consisted of many Tamil and Sinhalese members, agreed to not to enfranchise the majority of the Indian estate workers. (p 36 ^[15]),

Soulbury Commission

A decade later, the Soulbury Commission, which paved the way for the independence of Ceylon recognized the

“anxieties arising out of the likelihood of large-scale enfranchisement of the Indian immigrants”

, The Commission, therefore, left the existing basis of franchise in Sri Lanka undisturbed(^[16] p. 217).D. S. Senanayake had led the 1941 talks with Sir G. S. Bajpai of India and had reach agreement on modalities of repatriation and citizenship, although they were finally not ratified by Indian prime minister Nehru. D. S. Senanayake had expressed the wish to

“embrace all Indian workers who integrate into the country as members of the Ceylonese nation”

, and had been relatively sympathetic, as early as 1928, and as late as 1941,to the granting of citizenship to Indian workers who wished to become permanent residents of the Island.

The Soulbury constitution came into effect in 1946. In trying to cobble an all-party cabinet inclusive of the Tamils, led by G. G. Ponnambalam, the Sinhalese nationalist groups led by S. W. R. D Bandaranaike, the Kandyan Sinhalese, Senanayake had to find a compromise formula. The 1947 elections had returned 6 representatives from the Ceylon Indian Congress (CIC), based on the votes of the franchised Indian workers and hill-country Tamils. Although this worried the Kandyans, the main reason for Senanayake and others to review their attitude to Indian workers was the growing threat of Marxist infiltration into estate trade unions. In this he had won the concurrence of G. G. Ponnambalam for the second citizenship act, which required ten years of residence in the Island as a condition for becoming citizens of the new nation. Senanayake, who had been very favorable to easy citizenship to the Indian workers had increasingly modified his views in the face of Marxist trade union activity. The Bracegirdle affaire (^[17] p539) was regarded as the harbinger of such dangers. The fear of left-wing politics began to grow in the minds of Sri Lankan politicians of the era. The Colonial government responded to the agitation of the Leftists by imprisoning N. M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva and other Left leaders. Anti Marxist feelings were shared by the main-stream Sinhalese and Tamil leaders alike. (,^[17] Ch. 36). The criticism in the house was leveled by Tamil members of the upper chamber (senate), like Senator Natesan, who pointed out that Senanayake had supported the franchise of the Indian Tamils till recently, and had “caved in” more recently.

Parliamentary acts

As the first Prime Minister, D.S. Senanayake, leader of the United national Party (UNP), feared the strong possibilities of Marxist disruption of government and commenced the task of weakening the Marxist parties and their associate organizations. Thus the newly independent first cabinet introduced the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948, the Indian-Pakistani Citizenship act of 1949 and amended the parliamentary elections act. The requirements of ten years of residence for married persons, and seven years for unmarried persons, stipulated in the 1949 act were in line with the legislation used by European nations at the time. It also allowed citizenship to “a person born in Ceylon prior to the date of the Act coming into force, of a father born in Ceylon”. However, this was in effect a continuation of the older, somewhat harsher status quo of the Indian workers in the 1930s, prior to the Donoughmore constitution, which called for only five years’ residence.

Opposition views

However, Ponnambalam and Senanayake were strongly criticized by the Marxist groups as well as by the pro-Sri Lankan Tamil Federal Party (Sri Lanka), it branded Ponnambalam a “traitor”, and Senanayake a “Sinhala extremist.”. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, the leader of the Tamil Arasu Kachchi, contested the citizenship act before the Supreme Court, and then in the Privy council in England, on grounds of discrimination towards minorities but the decision concluded that the citizenship act stipulated conditions well in line with those of European states.^[18] As the President of the Ceylon Indian Congress (CIC), S. Thondaman had contested the Nuwara Eliya seat at the 1947 general election and won. His party put forward seven candidates in the plantation electorates and six of them were returned. Thus Thondaman became the spokesperson of the plantation workers. The CIC sat with the opposition, which included the Marxist parties. He opposed the 1948 citizenship act. Mr.Thondaman supported the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP)in the 1960 elections; after the victory of the SLFP he was appointed to the House of Representative as a nominated Member of Parliament. However, he opposed the 1964 Sirima-Shastri Indo-Ceylon citizenship act. After the victory of the UNP in 1965, S.Thondaman was named as appointed Member of Parliament by the UNP.

Final rectification

The J.R.Jayawardene government that came to power in 1977 rectified the existing short comings of the Indian citizenship act and granted citizenship to all Indian Estate workers (see below). Even at that time, Thondaman was the leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress, the party of the Hill-country Tamils, and had become a skillful player of minority-party politics. He had avoided joining with the Tamil United Liberation Front TULF resolutions of 1974, which had continued with the policies of the ITAK. Thus the hill-country Tamils have successfully charted a course of cooperating with successive Sri Lankan governments.

Labor practices

Manual Tea plucking in Sri Lanka.

Based on the cultivation of cash crops, it is the dominant sector in the country’s economy. It is a major earner of foreign exchange and the largest employer. Cheap labor is one of the essential ingredients of its success. Hence these immigrants were bonded and under paid. In 1921 workers were empowered to break these bonds of indebtedness tying them to the estates. The minimum wages ordinance was extended to plantation labor in 1927 marginally raising the wages that had not changed since the 19th century. This daily wages was 41 Cts. in 1933. Owing to trade union activities it was raised to Rs 17/83 in 1983, Rs 72/24 in 1993 and became Rs 101 in 1998. The wages of female workers was lesser than males but has been equalized since1984. Even though there was an increase in wages, the living wages are not sufficient to meet their day to day needs. The plantations were nationalized under the 1972 land reform law and its 1975 amendment. The state owned plantations are managed by the Sri Lanka Plantation Corporation & Janatha Estate Development Board. The nationalization did not result in any basic change on the plantation sector. The state has been forced to take a greater interest in the health, housing and general well-being of the laborers. Hence estate schools were nationalized and brought into the general educational system with the grant of Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) many schools were built. This helped the slight growth of literacy rates. With the increased unemployment, plantation sector youths looked for other avenues. A considerable number of Indian Tamil girls are employed in garment factories. Some work in the Middle East as housemaids. There is net migration towards urban areas as well as foreign countries. Prior to the commencement of the Sri Lankan civil war many had migrated to the northern province.^[11][19] Now the plantation communities have the Plantation Human Development Trust, developed to protect their rights and ensure adequate facilities are provided such as creches and toilets. Other NGOs work towards the development of the plantation communities such as Shining Life Children’s Trust and Hanguranketha Women’s Foundation.

Current status

Inside a Tea processing factory

The Srima-Shastri pact of 1964 and Indira-Sirimavo supplementary agreement of 1974 paved the way for the repatriation of 600,000 persons of Indian origin to India. Another 375,000 persons were to accepted as citizens of Sri Lanka, which made them enter the polity. These repatriation agreements were the harbingers of the destruction of this community, which had evolved into a composite group with a distinct culture of its own. In the fifties and sixties this community was clamoring for education and recognition of its distinctive culture. This brought in the emergence of a community consciousness and the artesian of a distinct community. An educated middle class made up of teachers, trade unionists and other professional began to make its appearance. There was a vigorous campaign for social ameliorations and increased educational facilities. There was a growing spirit of resistance. People destroyed Indian passports and refused to go to India. Repatriation was resisted. International opinion was canvassed against deprivation of citizenship rights. The plantation people who were not prepared to leave, destitute, the land whose property they had built . They were prepared to fraternize within the Sinhalese and accept Sri Lankan leadership in the trade union movement. In the general election of 1977 they were able to elect 11 candidates. This helped the emergence of the plantation people as a political force, but they were faced with communal violence in 1977, 1983 and in 2000.^[5] In 1984-5, to stop India intervening in Sri Lankan affairs, the UNP government eventually granted citizenship right to all stateless persons. The late Savumiamoorthy Thondaman was instrumental in using this electoral strength in assuring the socioeconomic conditions of hill country Tamils to improve.^[11] The plight of the repatriated persons in India has not been good.^[20]

Prominent people

Muthiah Muralidaran, the popular Sri Lankan cricketer of Indian Tamil descent

• Muthiah Muralidaran – Sri Lanka international spin bowler; world record holder for most wickets taken in Test cricket
• Savumiamoorthy Thondaman – Post-independence politician
• M.G. Ramachandran – Sri Lankan-born Indian politician and Actor
• K. Natesa Iyer – Pre-independence politician
• Mano Ganesan – Prominent Human Rights activist and a politician
• Arumugan Thondaman – Sri Lankan politician

Other Indian derived communities in Sri Lanka

• Colombo Chetties
• Bharatakula

By.M.Aswinkarthik

Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism

Part of a series on
Sri Lankan Tamil people ஈழத் தமிழர்
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Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism is the conviction of the Sri Lankan Tamil people, a minority ethnic group in the South Asian island country of Sri Lanka (formerly known as Ceylon), that they have the right to constitute an independent or autonomous political community. This idea has not always existed. Sri Lankan Tamil national awareness began during the era of British rule during the 18th century, as Tamil Hindu revivalists tried to counter Protestant missionary activity. The revivalists, led by Arumuga Navalar, used literacy as a tool to spread Hinduism and its principles.^[1]

The reformed legislative council, introduced in 1921 by the British, was based on principles of communal representation, which led the Tamils to realize that they were the minority ethnic group and that they should be represented by a member of their own community. It was under this communal representation that Tamil national awareness changed to national consciousness—a less passive state. They formed a Tamil political party called the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC). In the years leading to Sri Lankan independence, political tension began to develop between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil communities as the ACTC, citing the possibility of the majority Sinhalese adopting a dominant posture, pushed for “fifty-fifty” representation in parliament. This policy would allot half the seats in parliament to the Sinhalese majority and half to the minority communities: the Muslims, the Tamils and the Indian Tamils.

After Sri Lanka achieved independence in 1948, the ACTC decided to merge with the ruling United National Party (UNP). This move was not supported by half of the ACTC members and resulted in a split—one half of the party decided to merge with the UNP and the other half decided to leave the party altogether, forming a new Tamil party in 1949, the Federal party. Policies adopted by successive Sinhalese governments, and the 1956 success of the Sinhala Nationalist government under Solomon Bandaranaike, made the Federal Party the main voice of Tamil politics.^[2] Increased racial and political tension between the two communities led to the merger of all Tamil political parties into the Tamil United Liberation Front. This was followed by the emergence of a militant, armed form of Tamil nationalism.^[3]

Before Independence

Early beginning

Percentage of Sri Lankan Tamils per district based on 2001 or 1981 (cursive) census

The arrival of Protestant missionaries on a large scale to Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), beginning in 1814, was a primary contributor to the development of political awareness among Tamils.^[4] The activities of missionaries from the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Methodists and Anglican churches led to a revival among Tamils of the Hindu faith. Arumuga Navalar led a Hindu religious revivalist and reformist movement as a defensive response to the threat to their native culture posed by the British colonial and missionary activities.^[4] He translated literary works to encourage the use of the Tamil Language and spread Hindu Saiva principles. Navalar’s efforts to revive Hinduism, the predominant religion of the Sri Lankan Tamil people, influenced Tamils who built their own schools, temples, and societies, and who published literature to counter that of the missionaries. Thus, by 1925 nearly 50 schools, including the Batticotta Seminary, were fully functioning.^[5] This revival movement also set the stage for modern Tamil prose.^[6]

The success of this effort led the Tamils to think confidently of themselves as a community and prepared the way for their awareness of a common cultural, religious and linguisitic kinship in the mid-nineteenth century.^[4][7] For these contributions to the Tamil people, Arumugam Navalar has been described as a leader who gave his community a distinct identity.^[8] Jaffna’s history (known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti, now northern Sri Lanka) of being an independent Tamil kingdom lends legitimacy to the political claims of the Sri Lankan Tamils, and has provided a focus for their constitutional demands.^[9]

http://www.vavuniyatoday.com/

Communal Consciousness

Great Britain controlled the whole island by 1815, and unified the country administratively in 1833 with a legislative council that acted as advisor to the Governor. The council was composed of three Europeans and one representative each of the Sinhalese, the Sri Lankan Tamils, and the Burghers.^[10] But this situation changed in 1919 with the arrival of British Governor William Manning, who actively encouraged the idea of “communal representation”. He created the reformed legislative council in 1921 and its first election returned thirteen Sinhalese and three Tamils, a significant loss in representation for the Tamils when compared to the previous council based on direct appointment by the governor.^[11][12] Because of this, the Tamils began to develop a communal consciousness and to think of themselves as a minority community. They focused on communal representation in the council rather than national representation, and decided that their delegates should be leaders from their own community.^[11] This new sense of community identity changed the direction of Tamil nationalism. Starting in the mid-1920s, their developing national awareness transformed into a more active national consciousness, with a heightened determination to protect the interests of the Ceylon Tamil community.^[8] Influenced heavily by political history and, perhaps more importantly, Colombo-centered developments of the British administration, this emerging Tamil national consciousness led to the establishment of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress headed by Tamil politician, G. G. Ponnambalam.^[8][13]

Development

Historic changes occurred in 1931: the reformed legislative council was eliminated, and the Donoughmore Commission, which rejected communal representation, was formed. Instead, the Commission introduced universal franchise, in which representation was proportionate to percentage of population. The Tamil leadership strongly opposed this plan, realizing that they would be reduced to a minority in parliament. Many Sinhalese were also against the idea of universal franchise for all castes. G. G. Ponnambalam publicly protested the Donooughmore Commission and proposed to the Soulbury Commission, which had replaced the Donooughmore Commission, that roughly equal numbers of congressional seats be assigned to Tamils and to Sinhalese in the new independent Ceylon being planned, but his proposal was rejected. From the introduction of the advisory council, through the Donoughmore Commission in 1931, to the Soulbury Commission in 1947, the primary dispute between the elite of the Sinhalese and Tamils was over the question of representation, not the structure of the government. This issue of power-sharing was used by the nationalists of both communities to create an escalating inter-ethnic rivalry which has been gaining momentum ever since.^[13]

Ponnambalam’s advocacy of Tamil nationalism was paralleled by a similar Sinhala nationalism of Sinhala Maha Sabha, led by future Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike. This created tension between the two leaders and caused the exchange of verbal attacks, with Ponnampalam calling himself a “proud Dravidian”.^[14] This interethnic and political stress led to the first Sinhala-Tamil riot in 1939.^[15](see Riots and pogroms in Sri Lanka)

After Independence

All Ceylon Tamil Congress

All Ceylon Tamil Congress’s flag

The All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), founded by G. G. Ponnambalam in 1944, was popular among Tamils because it promoted the preservation of Tamil identity.^[8] The ACTC advocated a “fifty-fifty” policy, in which fifty percent of the seats in parliament would be reserved for Tamils and other minorities, the remaining fifty percent going to the Sinhalese. Which means 50% of the opportunities [Education(University seats),Employment, etc.) should be allocated to minorities. According to the ACTC this was a necessary defensive measure to prevent unwarranted dominance by the Sinhalese. In 1947, Ponnambalam warned the Soulbury Commission about this potential problem, and presented the ACTC’s solution, which he called a “balanced representation”. This fifty-fifty policy was opposed by a Muslim minority and sections of the Tamil community.^[13] D. S. Senanayake, the leader of the Sinhalese political groups, allowed Ponnambalam full control over presentations before the Soulbury Commission, prevented Sinhalese nationalists such as Solomon Bandaranaike from taking the stage, and avoided the eruption of acrimonious arguments.^[6] But the Soulbury commission rejected the charges of discrimination against the Tamils, and also rejected the fifty-fifty formula as subverting democracy.^[16]

Later the ACTC decided to adopt a new policy: “responsive cooperation” with “progressive-minded Sinhalese”.^[8] Yet in 1948, Ponnampalam decided to merge the ACTC with the ruling United National Party (UNP), although he had stated earlier that the UNP was not progressive-minded. The merge was not supported by the entire party, and it ended up splitting the ACTC in half, with one faction merging with D. S. Senanayake’s UNP and the other, led by S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, deciding to leave the party altogether and advocated for equal rights, 100% opportunities for Tamils without any racial barrier. In 1948, Ponnampalam voted in favour of one of several bills, later known as the Ceylon Citizenship Act which disenfranchised Indian Tamils (“Hill Country Tamils”).^[8][17] Although he did not vote for the other bills in the Ceylon Citizenship Act, because of his silence in parliament the Tamil public believed that he was not committed to Indian Tamil rights.^[8] The ACTC remained the major Tamil political party until 1956, when the Federal Party took over that position.^[18] The Tamil Congress still held parliamentary positions, however, and continued to be a force in Tamil politics. In 1976, the ACTC merged with other Tamil political factions to form a new party called the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). According to A. J Wilson, it was the legacy of Ponnampalam that the consciousness of the Tamil people was raised, and they were inspired to see themselves as a separate Tamil national identity rather as merged in an all-island polity.^[8]

Federal Party

In 1949, a new Tamil party, called the Federal Party (“Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi”), was organized by the people who broke away from the ACTC. Led by Chelvanayakam, it gained popularity among the Tamil people because it advocated Tamil rights. Its popularity was also due to the party’s opposition to the Ceylon Citizenship Act and the Sinhala Only Act.^[17][19] As a result, the Federal party became the dominant party in the Tamil districts after the 1956 elections. Despite this, the Federal Party never asked for a separate Tamil state or even for self-determination.^[18] Instead they lobbied for a unified state which gave Tamil and Sinhalese equal status as the official language and provided for considerable autonomy in the Tamil areas.^[8][18] It was against this backdrop that the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact was signed in July 1957, but pressure from the opposition and extremist groups forced Bandaranaike to abolish the pact. After the assassination of Bandaranaike, another pact was signed in 1965 between Chelvanayakam and Dudley Senenayake called the Dudey-Chelvanayakam pact, but this agreement, like the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam pact, was never implemented.^[8] The UNP was defeated in the 1970 election and replaced by the United Front (UF), led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the widow of Solomon Bandaranaike.

The new government adopted two new policies that discriminated against the Tamil people.^[8] First, the government introduced a double standard for admission grades to universities, requiring the Tamil students to achieve higher grades than the Sinhalese students.^[10][20] Secondly, the same kind of policy was adopted for jobs as public servants, which were held by less than ten percent of the Tamil-speaking population.^[8][21] The Federal Party opposed these policies, and as a result Chelvanayakam resigned his parliamentary seat in October 1972. Shortly after, in 1973, the Federal Party decided to demand a separate, autonomous Tamil state. Until 1973, Chelvanayakam and the Federal Party had always campaigned for a unified country and thought that any partitioning would be “suicidal”. The new policies, however, were considered to be discriminatory by the Tamil leadership,^[22] and this modified the official position on Tamil Nationalism. To further the new political agenda, in 1975 the Federal Party merged with the other Tamil political parties to become the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF).^[8] In 1976, after the first national convention of TULF, the Ceylon Tamils moved toward a revised nationalism and were now unwilling to live within a confined, single-island entity.^[8]

Tamil United Liberation Front

The Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was formed when the Tamil political parties merged and adopted the Vaddukoddai Resolution, named after the village, Vaddukoddai, where it was developed. In the 1977 election, TULF became the first Tamil Nationalist party to run on a separatist platform. It gained a majority of the votes in the north and east, won 18 seats, and became the largest opposition party in parliament.^[23] The Vaddukoddai Resolution had a profound effect on Tamil politics—the parliamentary system was soon to be replaced by guns. TULF tried to refashion itself as the political division, negotiating an agreement with the executive president of Sri Lanki at that time, J.R. Jayewardene. This agreement, known as the District Development Councils’ Scheme, was passed in 1980, but TULF rejected it because J.R. Jayewardene had not agreed to let TULF have the five District Ministerships in the five Tamil districts where TULF received the most votes.^[24] The Sixth Amendment was passed in 1983, requiring Tamils in parliament and other public offices to take an oath of allegiance to the unified state of Sri Lanka. It forbade the advocating of a separate state, and consequently TULF members were expelled from parliament for refusing to take the oath.^[24]

Militant groups

Tamil women rebels in formation in Killinochchi, 2004

After the expulsion of TULF from parliament, militants ruled the Tamil political movement. As a result, the 1970s saw the emergence of more than 30 Tamil militant groups. Anton Balasingham, the theoretician of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), states that the causes of the militarization of the Tamil youth were unemployment, lack of opportunities for higher education, and the imposition of an alien language. He further alleges that the majority Sinhalese government was responsible for these problems, adding that the only alternative left for Tamil youths was a “revolutionary armed struggle for the independence of their nation”.^[8][25] Only five of the militant groups—People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) and LTTE—remained a potent political force; the rest were flawed ideologically and therefore not strictly Tamil Nationalist factions.^[26]

Of these five dominant groups, the LTTE is the most solidly nationalistic Tamil resistance organization. Furthermore, because of its policies, constructive Tamil Nationalist platform, and desire for national self-determination, the LTTE is supported by major sections of the Tamil community.^[26] It had established a de facto state in the areas under its control, called Tamil Eelam, and had managed a government in these areas, providing state functions such as courts, a police force, a human rights organization, and a humanitarian assistance board.^[27] a health board, and an education board.^[28] In addition, it ran a bank (Bank of Tamil Eelam), a radio station (Voice of Tigers) and a television station (National Television of Tamil Eelam).

By.Aswinkarthik

Tamil culture

Tamil culture is the culture of the Tamil people. Tamil culture is rooted in the arts and ways of life of Tamils in India, Sri Lanka, and across the globe. Tamil culture is expressed in language, literature, music, dance, theatre, folk arts, martial arts, painting, sculpture, architecture, sports, media, comedy, cuisine, costumes, celebrations, philosophy, religions, traditions, rituals, organizations, science, and technology.

Language and Literature

Religion

.The Six Abodes of Lord Muruga is seen in Tamilnadu.

Architecture

Tamil architecture is the style and techniques developed in the Tamil regions over thousands years. Although ancient Tamil architecture included houses, palaces and public buildings, the surviving ancient signatory buildings are temples. Two important collections of these ancient monuments have been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites. They are Mahabalipuram (600-900), and the Great Living Chola Temples (848-1280).

Sculpture

Bronze Chola statue depicting Shiva dancing as Nataraja. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Tamil sculpture ranges from elegant stone sculptures in temples, to bronze icons with exquisite details.^[1] The medieval Chola bronzes are considered to be one of India’s greatest contributions to the world art.^[2][3] Unlike most Western art, the material in Tamil sculpture does not influence the form taken by the sculpture; instead, the artist imposes his/her vision of the form on the material.^[4] As a result, one often sees in stone sculptures flowing forms that are usually reserved for metal.^[5] As with painting, these sculptures show a fine eye for detail; great care is taken in sculpting the minute details of jewellery, worn by the subjects of the sculpture. The lines tend to be smooth and flowing, and many pieces skillfully capture movement. The cave sculptures at Mamallapuram are a particularly fine example of the technique, as are the bronzes of the Chola period. A particularly popular motif in the bronzes was the depiction of Shiva as Nataraja, in a dance posture with one leg upraised and a fiery circular halo surrounding his body.

References

1. ^ “SHILPAIC LITERATURE OF THE TAMILS”. V. Ganapathi. INTAMM. Retrieved 2006-12-04.
2. ^ Aschwin Lippe (December 1971). “Divine Images in Stone and Bronze: South India, Chola Dynasty (c. 850–1280)”. Metropolitan Museum Journal (The Metropolitan Museum of Art) 4: 29–79. doi:10.2307/1512615. JSTOR 1512615. “The bronze icons of Early Chola period are one of India’s greatest contribution to world art…”.
3. ^ “Heaven sent: Michael Wood explores the art of the Chola dynasty”. Royal Academy, UK. Retrieved 2007-04-26.
4. ^ Berkson, Carmel (2000). “II The Life of Form pp29–65”. The Life of Form in Indian Sculpture. Abhinav Publications. ISBN 8170173760.
5. ^ Sivaram 1994

Hinduism in Sri Lanka

Hindus currently make up more than 15% of the Sri Lankan population, and are almost exclusively Tamils apart from small immigrant communities from India and Pakistan such as the Sindhis, Telugus, Kannadigas and Malayalees. In the 1915 census they made up almost 25% of the population, which included the indentured labourers the British had brought. Due to assimilation, emigration (over 1 million Sri Lankan tamils have left the country since independence) and conversion to various sects of Christianity and Buddhism, today they are a smaller and still dwindling minority. Hinduism is dominant in the Northeastern province, where there is a significant number of Tamil people. Hinduism is also practiced in the central regions (where there are significant numbers of people of Indian Tamil descent) as well as in the capital, Colombo. According to the government census of 2001, there are about 1,500,000 Hindus in Sri Lanka (including estimates for the districts in Northern and Eastern Provinces, in which the census was not carried out).

Theological origins

According to legend, Sri Lanka was formed when sage Narada persuaded the God of Wind and Air, Vayu, to humble his close friend, Mount Meru (a huge mountain where the Gods lived). Vayu then blew strong winds at the mountain for a year, which was shielded by the Garuda, a mythical bird. When the Garuda took respite for a while however, Vayu caused part of the apex of the mountain to fall into the sea, forming the island of Sri Lanka.

The first major Hindu reference to Sri Lanka is found in the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana (The life of Rama), The Ramayana tells of the conquest of Lanka by Rama, an incarnation of the Lord Vishnu.The Ramayana also mentions about a bridge between India and Sri Lanka, known as Rama’s Bridge, constructed with rocks by Rama with the help of Hanuman and other vanars. Many believers view the sand bar islands connecting Sri Lanka to India as the remains of the bridge as seen in satellite images. Archeological evidence is also found to support worship of Lord Siva in parts of Sri Lanka, from pre-historic times, prior to the arrival of Prince Vijaya.

Historic roots

The earliest Hindus were the indigenous Tamils who were traditional worshippers of Lord Shiva and followers of Saiva Siddhantam, the oldest existing Hindu school of thought. However, this assertion is not proven with evidence. Evidence states the earliest inhabitants of the island worshipped demons (Yakshas)^[1], serpants (Nagas) ^[2] and spirits. The Prakrit speaking immigrants from North India – Prince Vijaya and his followers, also joined with the Hindu Tamils. But they were converted to Buddhism during King Ashoka’s rule in India due to Buddhist missionary activities in Sri Lanka. However it was activity from across the Palk Strait that truly set the scene for Hinduism’s survival in Sri Lanka. The invasion of Sri Lanka by the South Indian and Orissa rulers followed by slow and steady migration of people from the Deccan Peninsula brought Hindu religious practice and tradition to Sri Lanka. Shaivism (devotional worship of Lord Shiva) was the dominant branch practiced by the Tamil peoples thus most of the traditional Hindu temple architecture and philosophy of Sri Lanka drew heavily from this particular strand of Hinduism. Thirugnanasambanthar mentioned the names of a number of Sri Lankan Hindu temples in his works^[3]

[edit] Conflict and coexistence

Hinduism in Sri Lanka based on 2001 census data except for when the percentage is given in cursive; these are from 1981 census instead

From 400 onwards, military campaigns in the form of invasions, by rulers from South India and Orissa (then known as Kalinga Desa) and counter-attacks by the Singhalese Buddhists rulers in Sri Lanka, heralded a period of great turmoil wherein the Hindu Tamils from the affore mentioned areas in India and the Buddhist Singhalese would struggle for territorial control. In 1017, Rajaraja Chola annexes a large part of Lanka to Tamilakam but later the Sinhala dynasty were able to oust the Cholas in the year 1070. In 1215 Cholas again briefly ruled SriLanka, for a period of well over 16 years and made to retreat into the Northern area of Jaffna Peninsula.

In time, after the mentioned invasion in 1215 and the retreat, a form of bloody stalemate was reached wherein Tamils from South India began to get firmly established in the Northern and Eastern areas, with the Singhalese inhabiting the South and Central regions. This period also saw the establishment of an Tamil kingdom centered around Jaffna.

There is also evidence, throughout history of Tamil kings from South India and Kalinga Hindus becoming Buddhists and ruling over both Hindus and Buddhists. Some such as Chola King Ellalan or Elara reigned as a Tamil but in a manner acceptable to the Buddhist. Great Sinhala Buddhist kings such as Nissanka Malla had Tamil ancestry and were born Hindus. This practice continued till the elapse of the Kandyan kingdom in 1815. Also Buddhist kings were also known donate resources towards the upkeep of great Hindu temples.

Further many Hindu deities who are Tamils such as Kannaki and Ayyanar have become part of the Sinhala Buddhist worship system. These deities are known as Pathini and Ayyanayake respectively. Along with other traditional gods within the Hindu pantheon such as Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma. It is norm for Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka to have shrines to Gods such as Skanda, Vishnu and Ganesha, who have now become part of the Sinhala Buddhist pantheon. Thus, hinduism although not the dominant religion of the majourity has had a central place in Sri Lanka, throughout history, showing the historical connections between the Sinhalese and the Tamils.

[edit] European invasion

Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil, Jaffna

The arrival of European colonialists brought profound consequences to both Hindu and Buddhist communities. In 1505, a Portuguese fleet, under the command of Captain–major Don Lourenco de Almedia, arrived off the coast of Sri Lanka. Eventually deals were struck between rival native rulers and the Portuguese. Formal treaties between the two groups thereby formerly heralded the entry of the alien forces in the political arena of Sri Lanka.

Eventually over time, the Europeans were able to take advantage of the fractured nature of Sri Lankan politics, eventually culminating in successful military wins against the rebellious natives, most notably against the Hindu Tamils in the North, whose leaders were made to swear allegiance to the king of Portugal in return for maintaining their distinct laws and customs.

However, any so-called rulers had merely become puppets of their European overlords until in the end, further rebellion caused the Tamil Jaffna Kingdom to fall in the hands of the Portuguese in June 1619, when the incumbent ruler and his family were arrested and taken prisoner. According to the Portuguese administrative arrangements, the jurisdiction of Jaffna came directly under the Viceroy at Goa. In Goa, the deposed ruler was tried for high treason by the Portuguese High Court (Relaco), found him guilty of all charges leveled against him by the Europeans and the ruler was sentenced to death. Ultimately, the last Tamil Hindu king of the Jaffna Kingdom (1215 to 1619) was hanged in the year 1621.

Conversion attempts

While attempting to control their newly-won lands in Asia, the Portuguese were also actively encouraging Hindu Tamils to convert to Catholicism. Force conversion was also practiced. In 1618(??), following some serious Tamil revolts, the Council of the Jesuit Society had resolved that those Tamils who converted to Christianity would be spared of death. Others encouraged to embrace the Catholic creed included the wives and children of murdered Tamil leaders.

Tellingly, the surviving three children of the executed Tamil King of Jaffna, had been converted to Catholicism when young and were later sent to Portugal for their studies. The eldest of these children officially signed a declaration form handing over full control of Jaffna to the King of Portugal^{[citation needed]}. This officially ended Tamil sovereignty, in Sri Lanka which began as an invasion in 1215, and permitted Catholic conversion activity in those formerly Tamil areas. The result of these actions explain why there are today Tamil Catholics to be found in Jaffna and surrounding parts.

Portuguese were marginally more successful in converting numerically more Tamils of the coastal regions of Both Sri Lanka and India as they were able to intercede on behalf of these fishing communities against the machinations of the Muslim merchant guilds who had monopolized pearling and other trading activities till then. By eliminating the Muslim middlemen, the Portuguese won the loyalty of these people. But further inland their attempts would yield only minimal results.

During the British colonial period a large scale attempt to convert Tamil Hindus to Protestantism by American Baptist, Presbyterian missionaries along with British Methodist and Anglican was attempted via building schools and hospices. Again they were only marginally successful. Conversion attempts today by various Buddhist, Christian sects, Bahá’ís, and Mormon missionary activity is still ongoing. The ongoing civil war and the recent Tsunami has given further impetus to these efforts. Nevertheless the vast majority of Sri Lankan Tamils still remain loyal to their ancestral Hindu religion.

Philosophical roots

The elite and the upper classes, consisting of the higher castes, amongst the Tamils adhere to what is known as the Saiva Siddhanta or Dvaita school of Shaivism. Sidanta is opposed to the mainstream Vedanta school of India. Adherents of various Dvaita school both amongst the majority Vaishnavites and minority Shaivites can been seen across India. But amongst Sri Lankan Hindus, it is the Dvaita Siddhanta school of thought that commands elite loyalty. Dvaita Saiva Siddhanta school differentiates between the soul, god and actions or Karma as opposed to the unity of the soul and god as expounded by the Vedanta school. Most elite temples follow what is known as Agamic rituals which are highly Sanskritzed rituals along with usage of Tamil hymns by specialized singers known as Ootuvar.

Most other Sri Lankan Hindus follow what is commonly known as folk Hinduism without the baggage of philosophical school of thought They usually worship a village, clan or tribal deity within or outside the accepted pantheon of Hindu deities. Some local Deities are Kannaki, Mariamman, Draupadi, Ayyanar, Vairavar and worship of weapons such as Vel or the lance. They might worship it in a formal temple structure, forest grove or an open plain. They might or might not use the help of Brahmin priests. Localized rituals are employed but share common features across India, specifically South India. Some such rituals are Kavadi Attam or penance dancing, Tee Midi or fire walking [1], trance due to possession by local gods and animal sacrifices to appease local gods or spirits.

Religion is compulsory subject in Sri Lankan schools and Hindu students can chose from either Hinduism or Saiva Siddhanta as a compulsory subject from Grade 1 to Grade 11. Sri Lankan Tamils mostly study Saiva Siddhanta while upcountry Tamils mostly study Hinduism.

[edit] Social reformers & religious teachers

Arumuka Navalar

As a reaction as well as effort to arrest the conversion efforts of missionaries there arose many religious reformers that wanted to modify the existing Hindu practices to better able to stand up to western Christian critique. Few of them are prominent, such as Arumuka Navalar and Vipulananda Adigal. Amongst religious teachers or Gurus, Kaddai Swamy and Yogaswami[2] stands out whose direct sannyasin sishya, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, founded Saiva Siddhanta Church in Hawaii in the United States.

Well known Hindu temples

Hindu temple, Colombo

As most prominent Hindu places of worship were concentrated on the coastal areas, all were destroyed by the Portuguese zealots during the post 1505 AD colonial era. Hindus in Sri Lanka believe that the Island once had 5 prominent temples dedicated to Lord Shiva. Namely

• Naguleswaram in the North
• Ketheeswaram in the North West
• Koneswaram in the East
• Muneswaram in the West and
• Tondeswaram in the South.

All were destroyed by the Portuguese during the colonial period. Of these apart from the temple in the South all have been rebuilt during the British or post independent era.

Apart from these temples there are other prominent temples such as the newly constructed Ponnabalvaneswarm temple in the capital Colombo and the Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil constructed in Jaffna during the medieval period that are still important to current day Hindus.

There are also places of worship and temples that are sacred to both Buddhists and Hindus in Sri Lanka. The prominent one is Katirkamam also known as Kataragama temple dedicated to Lord Murukan or Skanda. Also Adam’s Peak a mountain top that is also known as Sri Pada by the Buddhists and Sivanolipada Malai by the Hindus.

Well-known Hindu post-secondary institutions

• Attiar Hindu College or Aathiya Hindu College
• Batticaloa Hindu College or Batti Hindu College
• Chavakacheri Hindu College, Sangathanai
• Colombo Hindu College, primary to high school
• Jaffna Hindu College, primary to high school
• Jaffna Hindu Ladies College
• Jafnna Hindu College Old Boys’
• Kilinochchi Hindu College
• Kokuvil Hindu College
• Kokuvil Ramakrishna M.V
• Kondavil Hindu Maha Vidyalayam
• Kondavil Ramakrishna Vidyalayam
• Koneswara Hindu College or Sri Koneshwara Hindu College
• Manipay Hindu College
• Muthur Kalaimagal Hindu College
• Pandatharippu Hindu College, Pandatharippu
• Puliyamkulam Hindu College, Puliyamkulam
• Ratmalana Hindu College, primary to high school
• Ramanathan Hindu Ladies College
• Senguntha Hindu College
• Sithy Vinayagar Hindu College, Mannar
• Thevarayali Hindu College
• Trincomalee Hindu College or Trinco Hindu College, primary to high school
• Trincomalee Sri Koneswara Hindu College
• Urumpirai Hindu College
• Vaddukoddai Hindu College or Vaddukoti Hindu College
• Valaichchenai Hindu College or Valaichenai Hindu College
• Vivekananda Hindu College or Vivekananda College

Civil conflict and exodus

In the long term, as a dwindling minority, the future could appear uncertain for the survival of a community after almost 2,500 years of varying degrees of presence in Sri Lanka. The Tamils of recent Indian origin, in the plantations, which constitute over half of the Hindu population in Sri Lanka continues to exist, unaffected of the consequences of the civil war. The prohibition of naval travel between Sri Lanka and India has isolated Srilankan Hindus from their Indian neighbours.

Demographics

According to the 1981 census, there were 2,297,800 Hindus in Sri Lanka. The 2001 census reported 1,312,900 Hindus in all of Sri Lanka except for the Northeastern Province. According to the 2001 estimates there were a total of 2,233,624 Ceylonese Tamils and 859,052 Estate Tamils in all of Sri Lanka. It is widely believed that the estimates for Northeastern province were inflated. The Govt. gives total Tamil population in Sri Lanka as 3,092,676 constistuting 16.45% of the total population. (In 1981 18.5% of the total population). Outside the Govt. Census, 1,505,502 Tamils were estimated to be living in Northeastern Province (Excl.Amparai). Out of these Tamils it can be estimated that 1,285,000 are Hindus. Thus the total Hindu population in Sri Lanka stands at 2,597,000 as of 2001, making 13.81% of the total population (Down from 15.48% in 1981). It should be noted that 20,000 people died during the 2004 Tsunami in LTTE held areas alone. [3] [4] [5] In 1981 close to 85% of all Tamils were Hindus. However this figure is probably lower now due to large scale conversions to other religions.

Hindus constitute the overwhelming majority of Tamils in Sri Lanka. However in the district of Mannar, Christians slightly outnumber Hindus. Highest proportion of Hindus are found in Eastern Sri Lanka (Close to 91% of all Tamils, with 92% in Amparai and Batticaloa and 87% in Trincomallee). In the Central Province also the proportion of Hindus is more than 90% of the Tamil population. (91% each in Matale and Nuwara Eliya and 88% in Kandy). In Uva province the proportion of Hindus is 91.3% of the Tamil population. However in 1981 93.15% of Uva Tamils were Hindu. In Northern Province 84% of all Tamils were Hindus (90% in Vavuniya, 87% in Jaffna and Mullaitivu and 42% in Mannar).

The below table compares 2001 census with the 1981 census.

	Total 1981	Total 2001	Ceylonese Tamils	Indian Tamils	Tamils 01	Hindus 01	H% 01	Hindus/Tamils	C Tamils 81	I Tamils 81	Tamils 81	Hindus 81	H% 81	H/T 81
SL	14,846,750	18,797,257	2,233,624	859,052	3,092,676	1,312,970	6.98%	NA	1,886,864	818,656	2,705,520	2,297,806	15.48%	84.93%
Colombo	1,699,241	2,251,274	247,739	24,821	272,560	194,743	8.65%	71.45%	170,590	19,824	190,414	130,215	7.66%	68.39%
Gampaha	1,390,862	2,063,684	65,302	7,621	72,923	42,356	2.05%	58.08%	48,182	5,919	54,101	26,750	1.92%	49.44%
Kalutara	829,704	1,066,239	12,665	28,895	41,560	34,678	3.25%	83.44%	9,744	33,659	43,403	37,035	4.46%	85.33%
Kandy	1,048,317	1,279,028	52,052	103,622	155,674	134,438	10.51%	86.36%	52,791	98,436	151,227	132,943	12.68%	87.91%
Matale	357,354	441,328	24,320	23,493	47,813	42,433	9.61%	88.75%	20,579	24,912	45,491	41,352	11.57%	90.90%
N Eliya	603,577	703,610	46,066	355,830	401,896	359,135	51.04%	89.36%	76,449	257,478	333,927	303,571	50.30%	90.91%
Galle	814,531	990,487	11,079	9,275	20,354	14,934	1.51%	73.37%	7,271	11,056	18,327	15,086	1.85%	82.32%
Matara	643,786	761,370	5,161	16,672	21,833	17,339	2.28%	79.42%	4,683	13,875	18,558	15,356	2.39%	82.75%
Hambantota	424,344	526,414	1,869	424	2,293	1,369	0.26%	59.70%	2,500	284	2,784	2,174	0.51%	78.09%
Jaffna	738,788	490,621	975,789	2,847	978,636	0	0.00%	NA	790,385	19,980	810,365	705,705	84.97%	87.08%
Mannar	106,235	151,577							54,474	13,850	68,324	28,885	27.19%	42.28%
Vavuniya	95,428	149,835							54,179	18,714	72,893	65,574	68.72%	89.96%
Mullaitivu	77,189	121,667							58,209	11,215	69,424	60,117	77.88%	86.59%
Killinochchi	91,764	127,263							Inc. Jaffna
Batticaloa	330,333	486,447	362,431	727	363,158	0	0.00%	NA	233,713	4,074	237,787	218,812	66.24%	92.02%
Ampara	388,970	592,997	109,188	715	109,903	100,213	16.90%	91.18%	77,826	1,411	79,237	72,809	18.72%	91.89%
Trincomalee	255,948	340,158	163,255	453	163,708	0	0.00%	NA	87,760	5,372	93,132	80,843	31.59%	86.80%
Kurunegala	1,211,801	1,460,215	17,585	2,972	20,557	13,303	0.91%	64.71%	14,920	6,616	21,536	15,133	1.25%	70.27%
Puttalam	492,533	709,677	48,072	2,227	50,299	29,482	4.15%	58.61%	32,282	2,289	34,571	18,997	3.86%	54.95%
Anuradhapura	587,929	745,693	5,073	443	5,516	3,459	0.46%	62.71%	8,026	719	8,745	6,843	1.16%	78.25%
Polonnaruwa	261,563	358,984	7,034	194	7,228	6,592	1.84%	91.20%	5,267	124	5,391	4,781	1.83%	88.68%
Badulla	640,952	779,983	29,542	143,535	173,077	158,473	20.32%	91.56%	37,520	129,498	167,018	156,037	24.34%	93.43%
Moneragala	273,570	397,375	5,754	7,493	13,247	11,623	2.92%	87.74%	5,346	8,859	14,205	12,778	4.67%	89.95%
Ratnapura	797,087	1,015,807	28,740	82,591	111,331	96,738	9.52%	86.89%	19,094	84,740	103,834	92,156	11.56%	88.75%
Kegalle	684,944	785,524	14,908	44,202	59,110	51,662	6.58%	87.40%	15,074	45,752	60,826	53,854	7.86%	88.54%

By KArthik

List of Hindu temples in Sri Lanka

List of Hindu Temples in Sri Lanka as Province and District wise are follows

Northern Province

Jaffna

1. Sri Vallipura Aalwar Kovil, Vallipuram, Puloly South, Puloly.
2. Vaduvavaththai Veerapathrar Kovil, Vaduvavaththai, Puloly South, Puloly.
3. Kanai Vairavar Kovil, Kanai, Puloly South, Puloly.
4. Upayakathirkamam Murugan Kovil, Upayakathirkamam, Puloly South, Puloly.
5. Puttalai Pillayar Kovil, Puttalai, Puloly South, Puloly.
6. Vannai Sri Kamakshi Ampal Kovil,Vannarpannai,K.K.S.Road,Jaffna. http://www.vannaikamakshi.com
7. Sri Visalachchi Samatha Wisvanathar Kovil, Vali-West, Araly Centre.
8. Sri Mahaa Ganapathi Pillaiyaar Kovil, Vali-West, Sithankerny Junction, Sithankerney. http://www.sithankerney.net
9. Chempithodda Gna Vairavar Kovil, Vali-West, Araly South.
10. Mavady Gana Vyravar Kovil, Vali-West, Chankanai South.
11. Kalawathurai Ganan Vyravar Kovil, Vali-West, Aralee South.
12. Sri Siva Sithamparaeswarar Kovil, Vali-West, Sithankerny. http://www.sithankerney.net
13. Sithamparam Ambalavanr Kovil, Vali-West, Chankanai Center.
14. Arasady Vyravar Kovil, Vali-West, Chankanai South.
15. Lanka Paruthi Vyravar kovil, Vali-West, Chankanai Center, Chankanai Center.
16. Gnanavyravar Kovil, Vali-West, Chuleepuram Center.
17. Gnanavyravar Kovil, Vali-West, Tholpuram West6.
18. Nikara Gnanavyravar Kovil, Vali-West, Chankanai West.
19. Thoddaththu Vairavar Kovil, Puloly South, Puloly.
20. Sinnavalavu Gnavairavar Kovil, Vali-West, Araly North.
21. Olludai Gnavairavar Kovil, Thellipalai, Kadivalai Elavalai
22. Gnanavyravar Kovil, Thellipalai, Sithiyampuliyady.
23. Gnanavyravar Kovil, Thellipalai, Kadduwan Rd. Mallakam.
24. Gnanavairavar kovil, Jaffna Town, Eachchamoddai.
25. Vairavar kovil, Jaffna Town, Kulathady.
26. Sri ampalavanr kovil, Jaffna Town, Nedunkulam.
27. Arulmihu Gnanavairavar kovil, Karaveddy, Kottawaththai.
28. Kilisiddy Gnanavairavar kovil, Karaveddy, Irumbu mathavady,Vathiry.
29. Arulmihu paththanai vairavar kovil, Karaveddy, Alvai east.
30. Valliappar gnanavairavar kovil, Karaveddy.
31. Sakkalawathay gnanavairavar kovil, Karaveddy.
32. Gnavairavar Kovil, Islands South, 6th Ward, Velanai.
33. SriGnavairavar Kovil, Islands South, 6th Ward, Sangaththanai.
34. Sri Veerapaththira Kovil, Islands South, 6th Ward, Velanai.
35. Vairavar kovil, Islands South, Saravanai West, Velanai.
36. Sivan Kovil, Islands South, 7th Ward, Pungudutivu.
37. Gnanavairavar kovil, Islands South, 7th Ward, Pungudutivu.
38. Veerapathirar Kovil, Islands South, 9th Ward, Pungudutivu.
39. Veeramalai Vairavar Kovil, Islands South, 10th Ward, Pungudutivu.
40. Puthaiyadi Vairavar Kovil, Islands South, 10th Ward, Pungudutivu.
41. Alady Vairavar Kovil, Islands South, 4th Ward, Pungudutivu.
42. Maruthady Vairavar Kovil, Islands South, 4th Ward, Pungudutivu.
43. Athi Vairavar Kovil, Islands South, 2nd Ward, Pungudutivu.
44. Kurunthady Vairavar Kovil, Islands South, 2nd Ward, Pungudutivu.
45. Arulmihu Gnanavairavar kovil, Nallur, Kondavil East.
46. Arulmihu Gnanavairavar kovil, Nallur, Kokuvil.
47. Kumarakoddam Gnanavairavar Kovil, Nallur, Kondavil.
48. Srikamalambikaisametha Kailasasamy Kovil, Nallur.
49. Sri Puveneswarar Ambal Kovil, Nallur, Kondavil.
50. Samundathevi Sametha Gnanavairavar Kovil, Nallur, Kondavil, North.
51. Gnanavairavar kovil, Nallur, Ariyalai.
52. Konamalai Vairavar Kovil, Nallur, Kokuvil East.
53. Sivasubramaniyar Kovil, Nallur, Maniyar Road.
54. Sri Gnanavairavar Perumal Kovil, Nallur, Thirunelveli North.
55. Iraddaipulam Gnanavairavar Kovil, Sandilipay, Sandilipay North.
56. Arulmihu Sri Saamundaampikaa sametha Eenchadi Gnanavairavar Kovil, Suthumalai North, Manipay.
57. Aladai Vairavar Kovil, Sandilipay, Uyarapulam.
58. Anthikuli Gnanavairavar Kovil, Sandilipay, Savatkaddu.
59. Veerapathirar Kovil, Pointpedro, Katkovalam.
60. Athivairavar Kovil, Pointpedro, Athikovilady, VVT.
61. Vairavar kovil, Pointpedro, Revady, VVT.
62. Valambikai sametha vaitheeswara kovil, Pointpedro, Valvai South West, VVT.
63. Sadaiyandy Vairavar Kovil, Pointpedro, Valvai South West, VVT.
64. Vairavar kovil, Pointpedro, Kothiyal Lane, VVT.
65. Gnanavairavar kovil, Pointpedro, Nediyakadu, VVT.
66. Vairavar kovil, Pointpedro, Netkolu, Thondamanaru.
67. Gnanavairavar kovil, Pointpedro, Konavalai.
68. Kulathady Vairavar Kovil, Pointpedro, Polikandy West.
69. Maruthady Gnanavairavar Kovil, Pointpedro.
70. Odakarai Sivan Kovil, Vali-West, Chanknai South.
71. Sampunathar Sivan Kovil, Vali-West, Pannipulam.
72. Koddadiperan Sivan Kovil, Vali-West, Chulipuram West.
73. Sivagnavairavar Kovil, Thellipalai, Kailaya Valavu, Mallakam.
74. Sivan Kovil, Thellipalai, Kovitpulam, Thellipalai.
75. Anantha Nadarajah Kovil, Thellipalai, Mahajana College,
76. Sivan Kovil, Jaffna Town, Columbuthurai.
77. Sri ampalavanr kovil, Jaffna Town, Nedunkulam.
78. Valambikai sametha vaitheeswara kovil, Karaveddy,
79. Sivan Kovil, Islands South, 7th Ward, Pungudutivu.
80. Sivan Kovil, Islands South, 3rd Ward, Pungudutivu.
81. Sri Gnaneswarar Kovil, Nallur, Kondavil East.
82. Sivan Kovil, Sandilipay, Sudumalai North.
83. Nunasai Sivan Kovil, Sandilipay, Madakal.
84. Sivan Kovil, Pointpedro, Muchampulavu, Puloly South.
85. Koneswarar Kovil, Pointpedro, Thondamanaru.
86. Kanapatheeswaram Sivan Kovil, Kayts, Sivankovil, Kayts.
87. Sivan Kovil (Eelaththu Sithamparam), Kayts, Karainagar.
88. Gnanavairavar kovil, Kayts, Naranthanai East, Kayts.
89. Thanthonri Manonmani Amman Kovil, Naranthanai North, Kayts.
90. Nayinai Nakapoosani Amman Kovil, Nayinathivu.
91. Vairavar kovil, Kayts, Oluvil Road, Karamban.
92. Koonan Paruththy Vairavar Kovil, Kayts, Ilakady, Karainagar.
93. Sri Aathy Vairavar Kovil, Kayts, East Road, Kayts.
94. Aalamkanru Gnanavairavar Kovil, Kayts, Vetharadaippu, Karainagar.
95. Vairavar kovil, Kayts, Sithambaramoorthikerny, Kayts.
96. Sadaiyaly Gnanavairavar Kovil, Kayts, Sadaiyaly, Karainagar.
97. Gnanavairavar kovil, Kayts, Valanthalai, Karainagar.
98. Srisithambareswara Sivakamyambal Devas, Kayts, Karainagar Center.
99. Sivan Kovil, Uduvil, Punnalaikadduwan South.
100. Gnanavairavar kovil, Kopay, Sirupiddy.
101. Ollai Vembady Gnanavairavar Temple, Kopay, Neerveli.
102. Perunthalai Sivan Kovil, Kopay, Sirupiddy.
103. Sankili Vairavar Temple, Kopay, Paththaimeni, Atchchuveli.
104. Nedunkulam Gnanavairavar Temple, Delft, 5th Ward, Delft.
105. Mayiliyar Vairavar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Idaikurichchy, Varany
106. Vairavar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Manthuvil West Kodikamam.
107. Paddaiyolachchy Veerapaththeerar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Central Road, Meesalai East.
108. Arulmihu Gnanavairavar kovil, Thenmaradchi, Kaithady West, Kaithady.
109. Vairavar kovil, Thenmaradchi, Kaithady Center, Kumaranagar.
110. Vairavar Muniyappar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Kaithady Center, Kumaranagar.
111. Veerapathirar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Maravanpulo North.
112. Thanthontry Gnavairavar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Kaithady, Navatkuly South.
113. Chandrasegaravaryvananathar Sivan Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Chavakachchery.
114. Veerapathirar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Palavy South, Kodikamam.
115. Narasingha Vairavar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Shanthypuram, Madduvil North.
116. Koilamanai Maruthady Sivan Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Koyilamanai, Kodikamam.
117. Paramasivan Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Ketpeli West, Mirusuwil.
118. Veerapathirar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Ketpeli Centre, Mirusuwil.
119. Gnanavairavar kovil, Thenmaradchi, Kachchai Road, Kodikamam.
120. Vairavar Kovil, Thenmaradchi, Madduvil South.
121. Thuvali Kannakai Amman Kovil, Uduppiddy
122. Selva sannithi Temple, Thondamararu
123. Vannai Sri Vengadesa Varatharaja Perumal Kovil, Clocktower Road, JAFFAN. http://www.vengadesa.com
124. Kanthaswamy Vairavar Kovil, Nunavil centre, Chavakachcheri http://www.facebook.com/pages/kantacuvami-vairavar-kovil/142091942502666?pub=2305272732
125. Arulmiku Manthikai Kanakai Amman Kovil, Puloly South, Puloly.<

Kilinochchi

1. Vairavar kovil, Karachchi, Akkarayan.
2. Sivan kovil, Karachchi, Krishnapuram.
3. Sivan kovil, Karachchi, Uthayanagar west.
4. Sivan kovil, Karachchi, Kanakambikai kulam.
5. Vairavar kovil, Karachchi, 27, Thirunagar.
6. Vairavar kovil, Karachchi, 104, Thirunagar north.
7. Sudalai vairavar kovil, Karachchi, Puthumurippu.
8. Sivan kovil, Karachchi, Mayavanoor.
9. Kallady vairavar kovil, Pallai.
10. Karanthai vairavar kovil, Pallai, Tharmakerny.
11. Monduwan vairavar kovil, Pallai, Arasar kerny.
12. Aththikandu vairavar kovil, Pallai, Arasar kerny.
13. Narasimmavairavar kovil, Pallai, Pallai nagar.
14. Paddivairavar kovil, Poonakari, Gowtharimuani.
15. Veerapathirar kovil, Poonakari, Mannaiththalai.
16. Vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Selvapuram.
17. Vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Kavakulam.
18. Vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Samippulam.
19. Vilathikadu vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Nallur.
20. Veerapathirar kovil, Poonakari, Karikkoddukkulam
21. Vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Madduvilnadu west.
22. Mudavairavar kovil, Poonakari, Pallikkudha.
23. Nainakaddu vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Veddukkadu.
24. Vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Cheddiyakuruchchi.

1. Vaikalady vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Karrukkaithivu.
2. Kampilivairavar kovil, Poonakari, Gnanimadam.
3. Aknivairavar kovil, Poonakari, Gnanimadam.
4. Addathuddivairavar kovil, Poonakari, Gnanimadam.
5. Maruthady vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Gnanimadam.
6. Pampadiththan vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Sempankunru.
7. Vairavar kovil, Poonakari, Sithankuruchchi.

Mullaitivu

1. Gnanavairavar kovil, Maritimepattu, Mullaithivu.
2. Thantrontreeswarar kovil, Oddusuddan.
3. Vairavar kovil, Oddusuddan, Sammalan kulam.
4. Athivairavar kovil, Oddusuddan, Karippaddamurippu.
5. Gnanavairavar kovil, Oddusuddan, Karippaddamurippu.
6. Vairavar kovil, Oddusuddan, Katkidangu, Mankulam.
7. Soolavairavar kovil, Oddusuddan, Olumadu, Mankulam.
8. Pathalavairavar kovil, Oddusuddan, Olumadu, Mankulam.
9. Vairavar kovil, Oddusuddan, Mankulam veethy.
10. Sivan kovil, Puthukudiyiruppu.
11. Sivan kovil, Puthukudiyiruppu, Manthuvil.
12. Sivan kovil, Thunukkai, Koddaikaddiyakulam

Vavuniya

• Manikapuram gnanavairavar kovil, Cheddikulam, Menickparm, Manickapuram.
• Gnavairavar Kovil, Vavuniya, Rambaikulam.
• Vairavar Kovil, Vairavar Kovil Veethy, Vavuniya.
• Vairavar Kovil, Vavuniya, Kurumankadhu.
• Veerapaththirar Kovil, Vavuniya, Sasthirykoolankulam.
• Sannasi Vairavar kovil, Vavuniya, Kaththar Sinnakkulam.
• Sri Thurkkai Amman Kovil, Srinagar, Poonthoddam, Vavuniya.
• sri muththumari amman kovil thonikkal vavuniya.
• Ketheeswaram, Mathottam – Ketheeswarar, Gauriammai, gauri thIrththam – 32 km from ThalaimannAr – Ancient temple destroyed by Portuguese in 17th cent ACE, but rebuilt in 1903.

Jaffna

Jaffnaயாழ்ப்பாணம்
City
View from the Public Library
Jaffna
Coordinates: 9°40′0″N 80°0′0″E
Country	Sri Lanka
Province	Northern
District	Jaffna
Government
– Type	Municipal Council
– Mayor	Yogeswari Patkunarajah (Eelam People’s Democratic Party)
Area
– Total	20.2 km2 (7.8 sq mi)
Population (2010)
– Total	84,416
– Density	4,179/km2 (10,823/sq mi)
Time zone	Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone (UTC+5:30)
Website	Jaffna city website

Jaffna (Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாணம் Yazhpanam, Sinhala: යාපනය Yāpanaya ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which was known as Kadiramalai in the ancient period, and served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical antiquity. Jaffna’s suburb, Nallur served as the capital of the centuries-long medieval Jaffna kingdom. Prior to the Sri Lankan civil war, it was Sri Lanka’s second most populated city after the commercial capital Colombo. Since the 1980s insurgent uprising, military occupation, extensive damage, expulsion and depopulation has happened. Since the end of civil war in 2009, refugees and internally displaced people are returning to their homes and government and private sector reconstruction has begun.

Historically, Jaffna has been a contested city. It was made into a colonial port town during the Portuguese occupation of the Jaffna peninsula in 1619. It changed hands to the Dutch colonials, who lost it to the British in 1796. After Sri Lanka gained independence 1948, the political relationship between the minority Sri Lankan Tamils and majority Sinhalese worsened and after the Black July pogrom, civil war erupted in 1983. Jaffna was occupied by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1986 and from 1989 until 1995. Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) briefly occupied the city in 1987. The Sri Lankan military gained control in 1995.

Majority of the city’s population are Sri Lankan Tamils, although there was a significant number of Sri Lankan Moors, Indian Tamils and other ethnic groups present in the city prior to the civil war. Most Sri Lankan Tamils are Hindus followed by Christians, Muslims and a small Buddhist minority. The city is home to number of educational institutions established during the colonial and post-colonial period. It also has number of commercial institutions, minor industrial units, banks, hotels and other government institutions such as the Hospital. It is home to the popular Jaffna library that was burnt down and rebuilt. The city is anchored by the Jaffna fort rebuilt during the Dutch colonial period.

History

Prior to the military capitulation to the Portuguese Empire in 1619, the capital of the native Jaffna Kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of the Aryacakravarti was Nallur. Nallur is close to the city limits of Jaffna.^[1][2] The capital city was known in royal inscriptions and chronicles as Cinkainakar and in other sources as Yalpaanam in Tamil and Yapaapatuna in Sinhalese.^[3]

Colonial history

Entrance of Jaffna Fort that was originally built by the Portuguese and renovated by the Dutch on 1680.

From 1590, Portuguese merchants and Catholic missionaries were active within the Jaffna kingdom. Impetus for a permanent fortified settlement happened only after 1619, when the expeditionary forces of the Portuguese Empire led by Phillippe de Oliveira captured the last native king Cankili II.^[4] Phillipe de Oliveira moved the center of political and military control from Nallur to Jaffnapatao^[5] (variously spelt as Jaffnapattan or Jaffnapattam), the Portuguese rendition of the native name for the former Royal capital.^[6] Jaffnapatao was attacked number of times by a local rebel Migapulle Arachchi and his allied Thanjavur Nayakar expeditionary forces but the Portuguese defense of the city withstood the attacks.^[7] Jaffnapatao was a small town. It had a fort, a harbor and Catholic chapels and other government buildings.^[8] Portuguese merchants took over the lucrative trade of Elephants from the interior and monopolized the import of goods from Colombo and India thus disfranchising the local merchants.^[7] Portuguese period was a time of population movement to the Vannimais in the south, religious change and as well as introduction of many European educational and health care methods to the city.^[7][9]

In 1658, Portuguese lost Jaffapatao to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) after a three month siege.^[3] During the Dutch occupation, the city grew in population and size. Dutch were also tolerant towards native mercantile and religious activities. Most Hindu temples that were destroyed by the Portuguese were rebuilt. A community of mixed Eurasian Dutch Burghers formed and became part of the city during this period. The Dutch expanded rebuilt the fort considerably, built notable Presbyterian churches and other government buildings most which survived until the 1980s and were destroyed or damaged during the Civil war.^[10] During the Dutch period, Jaffna also became prominent as a trading town in locally grown agricultural products with the native merchants and farmers profiting as much as the VOC merchants.^[11] Great Britain took over Dutch possessions in Sri Lankan from 1796.^[12] Britain maintained many of the Dutch mercantile, tolerant religious and taxation policies. During the British colonial period, almost all the schools that eventually played role in the high literacy achievement of the Jaffna residents were built by missionaries belonging to American Ceylon Mission, Saivite reformer Arumuka Navalar and others. All the major roads and railway line connecting the city with Colombo, Kandy and the rest of the country were built. Under the British, Jaffna enjoyed a period of rapid growth and prosperity.^[12] The excess wealth of the citizens of the city was directed towards building civic projects like temples, schools, library and the museum.

Post-colonial history

Jaffna Public library construction began in 1933.

After Sri Lanka became independent in 1948 from Britain, the relationship between majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils worsened. Residents of Jaffna city along with the rest of Tamil population of Sri Lanka were in the fore front of the political mobilization behind Tamil nationalist parties. After the Tamil conference incident in 1974, the then mayor of Jaffna Alfred Duraiappah was assassinated by the leader of rebel LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran in 1975. Following further deterioration of political discourse, the Jaffna library was burnt down in 1981 by Police and other miscreants. Failure of the political class to find an adequate compromise led to full scale civil war starting in 1983 soon after the Black July pogrom.^[13] Sri Lankan military and police were using the Dutch era fort as their encampment which was surrounded by various Tamil militants groups. Bombardment from air and land of the city led to damage to civic and civilian properties, death and injury to civilians and destruction the economic potential of the city. In 1986, the Sri Lankan military withdrew from the city and it came under the full control of the LTTE.

In 1987, the Indian forces brought to Sri Lanka under the auspicious Indo- Sri Lankan peace accord led an operation to take the city from the rebels. It led to incidents like the Jaffna university hellidrop and Jaffna hospital massacre in which patients and medical workers were killed by the Indian Army.^[14] More than 200 civilians were also killed during attempt to take the city over by the IPKF.^[15] After the departure of the Indians, the city came under the control LTTE once more, but were ousted in 1995 after a 50 day siege. The economic embargo of the rebel controlled territories in general also had a negative impact in Jaffna including lack of power, critical medicines and food. During the period of LTTE occupation, all Muslim residents were expelled in 1990 and forced evacuated all residents in 1995.^[16] Since the end of civil war in 2009, refugees have begun to return and visible reconstruction has taken place. The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora and business interests from Colombo has invested in commercial enterprises. Countries in Europe, US and India have shown an interest in investing in infrastructure projects and other economic activities.

Governance

The Jaffna Municipal Council governs the City of Jaffna. It was established under the Municipalities Ordinance Act of 1865. Although other cities such as Kandy, Galle and Colombo had elected municipal councils soon after the 1865 ordinance, Jaffna did not have an elected municipal council for many years. This reflected the desire of the British bureaucrats to govern the city directly rather than share power with a highly literate electorate.^[17] The first elected mayor was Cathiravelu Ponnambalam.^[18] Number of subsequent mayors were assassinated such as Alfred Duraiappah, Sarojini Yogeswaran and Pon Sivapalan.^[19] There were 15 years without elections since 1983.

The post civil war elections were held in 2009 after a gap of 11 year. The municipal council consists of 29 members.^[20] As the original municipal council building was destroyed during the civil war, a new building is to be constructed for the current municipal council in 2011.^[21]

Geography and climate

The city is surrounded by Jaffna Lagoon to its west and south, Kokkuvil and Thirunelveli to the north, and Nallur to the east. Jaffna peninsula is made of limestone as it was submerged under sea during the Miocene period. The limestone is gray, yellow and white porous type. The entire land mass is flat and lies at sea level. Within one mile of the city center is the island of Mandativu which is connected by a causway. Palmyrah groves can be seen where land has not been used for construction. Other notable vegetation is a leafless shrub called talai (alae africana) and koddanai (oleander).^[22]

Jaffna has the highest average temperature in Sri Lanka – 83° F (28° C). The temperature is highest in the months of April – May and August – September. The temperature is coolest in December – January. The annual rainfall is brought in by the North East monsoon and it varies from one place to the other and also from year to year. The average rainfall is 50 inches in the western part of Jaffna peninsula.^[22]

Demography

Historically residents of Jaffna city were Tamils, Moors (Muslims), Europeans and Eurasian Burghers.^[3] Over time the composition changed with Tamils and Moors predominating and Europeans and Burghers either assimilating or moving away. Europeans and the natives lived in separate sections of the city. Most houses were modest in size and the streets were kept clean.^[23]After 1900’s the population increased and Sinhalese from the south also settled in Jaffna. Prior to the civil war there were Moors, Sinhalese, Indian Tamils and other ethnic groups living in Jaffna.

During colonial times Jaffna was Ceylon’s (Sri Lanka) second largest city. Post-independence the city was overtaken by the growth of settlements near Colombo. But even in 1981 Jaffna was the largest city outside the Greater Colombo area. The population of Jaffna, like the rest of the North and East, has been heavily affected by the civil war. Many of its Tamil residents have emigrated to the West or moved to the relative safety of Colombo.^[12] The city’s small Moor and Sinhalese population have either been forcibly expelled or fled. As a consequence the city’s population is significantly lower than it was 30 years ago. Many of the city’s residents who left during the civil war have settled down elsewhere and are unlikely to return. There have been reports, particularly after the end of the civil war in 2009, about resettling those residents who wish to return to Jaffna but there hasn’t been any substantive effort to do so yet.

Historic Population of Jaffna 1880 to 2010

Religion

Left:Restored Muslim Mosque in a bombed out portion of the city. Right:St.James Church originally established in 1861.

Most Tamils are Hindus, professing the Saivite sect but might also propitiate many of the village deities. Most Christians are Roman Catholics with small but influential number of protestants belonging to the Church of South India, the successor organization of American Ceylon Mission and other colonial era protestant churches. All Moors were Muslims with the Sunni sect predominating with a small number of Shias prevalent amongst mercantile immigrants from North India or Pakistan. There is a small community of Tamil Buddhists who converted to Theravada Buddhism during the 20th century due to the efforts of Maha Bodhi Society.^[27] Most Sinhalese were either Buddhists or Catholics.

There was a small community of nomadic wanderers known as Kuravar who visited Jaffna seasonally and spoke a dialect of Telugu or Tamil. Tamils were also divided along the caste system but as an urban area class was more important than caste which was more pronounced in rural areas of Jaffna district.

Economy & Transportation

Jaffna city was founded as a trading town by European merchants. Although a historic port used by the native Jaffn kingdom was already in existence when the Portuguese arrived, it was the European mercantile activity that made it prominent. In colonial times production of clothes, items of gold and silver, processing of Tobacco, Rice and other related activities formed an important part of the Economic activities.^[28] In modern times the port was its prince source of revenue but it has declined drastically. Currently it survives as a fishing port. The city had a wide range of industries including food processing, packaging, making of house hold items and salt processing but most ceased after 1995.^[12] Since them most industrialists, entrepreneurs and business people have relocated to rest of Sri Lanka and abroad. After 2009, foreign governments within the EU, US, India and investors from the south of the island and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora has shown an interest in making investments in Jaffna district in general and Jaffna city in particular.^[12]

Jaffna is 396 KM from Colombo. It is directly connected by railways and roads system, both of which were disrupted during the civil war. The A-9 highway connecting the city with the rest of the country was opened after the 2002 ceasefire. It is served by government and private sector coaches and buses. Commercial flights are available from Colombo to Jaffna via the Palali Airport.^[29]

Education

Jaffna city has number of education institutions founded by the missionary efforts and Saivite revivalism during the British colonial period. Peter Percival a Wesleyan Missionary started several schools in Jaffna city including Jaffna Central College and Vembadi Girls’ High School. Prior to the civil war, the city had one of the highest literacy rates within Sri Lanka.^[29]

Literature & Media

Jaffna has had a media sector from the mid 1800’s. The first known English and Tamil weekly called, Uthayatharakai in Tamil or Morning Star was published jointly in 1840 by American Ceylon Mission and the Weslyan church. In 1863 the Ceylon Patriot was published by a local advocate as a weekly. The Jaffna Catholic Guardian and the Hindu Organ were published by Roman Catholic and Hindu organization to present their religious interests between 1876 and 1889 respectively. The first Tamil monthly was Sanmarkapothini which was published in 1884.^[30]

These early journals were followed by number popular newspapers in Tamil such as Eelakesari and Eelanadu. Jaffna was also the seen the publication of journals committed to the growth of modernistic and socially purposive literature such as Bharati and Marumalarchi in 1946. Now defunct English weekly Saturday Review was an influential news magazine that came out of Jaffna. During the civil war many publishers, authors and journalists were assassinated or arrested and the media heavily censored. Since the 2000’s Jaffna is served by newspapers such as Uthayan, Yarl Thinakkural, Valampurii and Thinamurasu.

Notable buildings

Nallur Kandaswamy temple that was restored during the 17th century, situated in Nallur

Most historic buildings such as Temples, Saraswathy Mahal library and palaces in the Royal city of Nallur and the rest of Jaffna peninsula were destroyed by the Portuguese colonials. Materials from destroyed buildings were used in the construction of the Jaffna fort and other fortifications.^[31] Cankilian Thopu or entrance of the palace of Cankili I and Mantri Manai or minister’s palace are few of the pre-colonial buildings still standing in the royal quarters of Nallur. Within the Jaffna city proper, the Dutch fort is an imposing structure followed by many Dutch era homes, churches and civil buildings most of which were damaged during the civil war. There are number of British colonial era building such as the Indo-Sarasenic style clock tower and the Public library that are notable. Almost all Hindu temples in Jaffna including the socially important Nallur Kandaswamy temple were reconstructed during the Dutch and British period.

By.M.Aswinkarthik

Trincomalee

Trincomalee திருகோணமலை
City
Trincomalee
Coordinates: 8°34′0″N 81°14′0″E
Country	Sri Lanka
Province	Eastern
District	Trincomalee
DS Division	Town & Gravets
Government
– Type	Urban Council
– Mayor
Area
– Total	7.5 km2 (2.9 sq mi)
Population (2007)
– Total	101,958
– Density	13,594/km2 (35,158/sq mi)
Time zone	Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone (UTC+5:30)
Website	Trincomalee website

Trincomalee (Tamil: திருகோணமலை Tirukōṇamalai) (Sinhala: Thrikūṇamaḷaya) is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 (2007).^{[citation needed]} The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay, Trincomalee is one of the main centers of Tamil speaking culture on the island. The city is home to the famous ancient Koneswaram temple alluded to in its historic Tamil name Thirukonamalai from which its anglicized name is derived, and has been a sea port that has played a major role in the maritime and international trading history of Sri Lanka. It is referred to as Gokanna in Pali^[1] or Gokarna in Sanskrit.trincomalee capital city of hindu king ravanan and later arround 13 cen rul by king sangili

The Bay of Trincomalee’s harbour is renowned for its large size and security; unlike every other in the Indian Sea, it is accessible to all types of craft in all weathers. The beaches are used for surfing, scuba diving, fishing and whale watching. The city also has the largest Dutch fort in Sri Lanka. It is home to major Sri Lankan naval bases and a Sri Lankan Air Force base.

Names and etymology

Trincomalee, is an anglicized form of the Tamil word “Tiru-kona-malai”, meaning “Lord of the Sacred Hill”; a reference to the town’s ancient Koneswaram temple.^[2] Thiru comes from the Tamil for “sacred”, Kona means “Lord” or “Chief” in the language while Malai in Tamil means mountain or hill.^[2][3][4] Another meaning for the word Kona in Tamil is peak, and other definitions for Tirukonamalai include “sacred angular/peaked hill” or “three peaked hill”.^[5][6] The town is situated on a hill at the end of a natural land formation that resembles an arc; the temple itself is built on Swami Rock, historically referred to as Kona-ma-malai, a cliff on the peninsula that drops 400 feet (120 metres) directly into the sea.^[7]

Sanskrit texts, as well as an inscription unearthed by archeologists, call it Gokanna.^[8] The Vayu Purana refers to a Siva temple on Trikuta hill on the eastern coast of Lanka in the 3rd century.^[9] The Mahavamsa documents that the King Mahasena destroyed a Deva temple and built a Buddhist shrine in its stead to expiate for an earlier heresy on his part.^[10]

Tamil texts, as well as excavated inscriptions detail the Saivite principalities that formed in Trincomalee in service of the Koneswaram temple by the medieval age. The South Indian Tamil literature Tevaram of Tiru-gnana Sambandar makes mention to the Siva temple in Trincomalee in the 6th century.^[11] Koneswaram and the royal administration of the city is documented in several late medieval texts such as the Konesar Kalvettu^[12] and the Dakshina Kailasa Puranam.^[13]

History

Trincomalee which is a natural deep-water harbour that has attracted seafarers like Marco Polo, Ptolemy and Sea Traders from China and East Asia since ancient times. Trinco, as it is commonly called, has been a sea port since the days of the ancient Sri Lankan Kings. The earliest known reference to the port of Gokanna is found in the Mahavamsa stating that in 5th century BC, when King Vijaya who having failed to convince his brother to come to Sri Lanka as his successor, got down his youngest son Panduvasdeva, who landed at Gokanna and was subsequently enthroned at Upatissagama.

King Parakramabahu I used Gokanna (Trincomalee) as his eastern port, to launch a successful invasion of Burma in the 12th Century.^[14] An English sea captain and historical chronicle writer named Robert Knox came ashore by chance near Trincomalee and surrendered to the Dissawa (official) of the King of Kandy in 1659. Hence, it was an important trade city between Sri Lanka and the outside world, and one of the British Empire’s most important ports in Asia during the second world war.

Trincomalee had a Portuguese force during the reign of Kandyan King Rajasinghe I. Rajasinghe finally ended with an alliance with Dutch and the Dutch invaded Kottyar Bay Fort as their first attack. The fall of the Kottyar Bay Fort was the first nail in the Portuguese coffin.

Trincomalee was occupied by the Dutch, and subsequently by French alternately, until the capture of the fort there by the British in 1795. Trincomalee was the first land to be captured by the British who fought and defeated the Dutch, who did not want to surrender Ceylon as directed by the Prince of Orange, who took refuge in London after being defeated by the French republicans under Napoleon. As such Trincomalee has served as an entrance to a western invader from Calcutta.

Historical sites

The Koneswaram Temple.

Sri Lankan Tamils consider this place to be sacred to them and are widely believed to be the indigenous people of the area. Trincomalee and its environs have many Tamil Hindu sites of historical importance. These sites are sacred to the Hindus and some Buddhists worship in these Hindu sites.

Even though King Mahasena demolished the Sivan Temple and built a Mahayana Buddhist temple on the hilltop the Hindus of this area maintain a good peaceful relationships with the minority Sinhala Buddhists living in the area. This was possible because Hinduism being a peaceful religion was tolerant and does not advocate violence even when the Buddhist committed disruptive acts.

Hindu historical sites

The Koṇēsvaram temple attracted pilgrims from all parts of India^{[citation needed]}. The Koṇēsvaram shrine itself was demolished in 1622 by the Portuguese (who called it the Temple of a Thousand Columns), and who fortified the heights with the materials derived from its destruction^{[citation needed]}. Some of the artefacts from the demolished temple were kept in the Lisbon Museum including the stone inscription by Kulakottan (Kunakottan)^{[citation needed]}. It has an emblem including two fish and is engraved with a prophesy stating that, after the 16th century, westerners with different eye colours will rule the country for 500 years and, at the end of it, rule will revert back to Vadugus.^{[citation needed]} The Hindu temple was also documented in several late medieval texts such as the Konesar Kalvettu^[12] and the Dakshina Kailasa Puranam.^[13]

Buddhist historical sites

There are several Buddhist historical sites around the Trincomalee, meaning that there had been a Buddhist inhabitance in the area for many centuries. These include the famous Seruwila Mangala Raja Maha Vihara (Seruwila Temple), south of the trico town, which is under consideration to be declared a UNESCO world heritage site dating back to 2nd century B.C.^[15] the Sri Gajaba Len Vihara (Sri Gajaba Cave Temple), Tiriyay temple and the Welgam temple.^[16]

The Dutch Fort

The entrance to the roadway leading to Koneswaram is actually the entrance to what used to be Fort Fredrick. The fort was built in 1623 by the Portuguese and captured in 1639 by the Dutch. It then went through a phase of dismantling and reconstruction and was attacked and captured by the French in 1672.

The British in Trincomalee

The Trincomalee beach

On January 8, 1782 the British captured the fort but the French recaptured it on August 29 of the same year. In 1783 the French ceded it to the British and subsequently Britain ceded it to the Dutch. In 1795 the British recaptured and held it until Sri Lanka’s independence in 1948. The importance of Fort Fredrick was due to Trincomalee’s natural harbour. Through Trincomalee, it was believed a strong naval force could secure control of India’s Coromandel Coast.

Prior to the Second World War the British had built a large airfield to house a permanent RAF base, RAF China Bay and a fuel storage and support facilities for the Royal Navy and HMS Highflyer naval base based there. After the fall of Singapore, Trincomalee became the home port of the Eastern Fleet of the Royal Navy, and submarines of the Dutch Navy. The harbour and airfield were attacked by a Japanese carrier fleet in April 1942 in the Indian Ocean Raid

Until 1957, Trincomalee was an important base for the Royal Navy and was home to many British people who were employed by the British Admiralty. One of the places inhabited by the British was Fort Fredrick which is now occupied by the Sri Lankan Army. Some of the old buildings in the fort were used as residences, including one previously occupied by The Duke of Wellington. In the early 1950s The British Government built groups of bungalows within the Fort specifically for their employees.

These bungalows still exist and provide accommodation for soldiers of the Sri Lankan Army. One of the groups of bungalows was named Edinburgh Terrace. Children of the British residents attended a Royal Naval School which was part of the Naval Base.

Post independence

Sri Lankan naval ship at Trincomalee

The naval and air bases were take over by Sri Lanka in 1957, today SLNS Tissa and SLN Dockyard are used by the Sri Lankan Navy, while the Sri Lanka Air Force is based at SLAF China Bay. The Sri Lanka Army has its Security Forces Headquarters – East in Trincomalee.

Trincomalee War Cemetery, is one of the six commonwealth war cemeteries in Sri Lanka, it is maintained by Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence on behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The Navy Base is home to a naval museum called The Hoods Tower Museum. The name of the museum refers to a watchtower built on a hill commanding a 360-degree view of the harbor and the bay.

Harbour

Trincomalee’s strategic importance has shaped its recent history. The great European powers vied for mastery of the harbour. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the English, each held it in turn, and there have been many sea battles nearby.

The harbour, the fifth largest natural harbour in the world, is overlooked by terraced highlands, its entrance is guarded by two headlands, and there is a carriage road along its northern and eastern edges.

Trincomalee’s location, in a less well developed and sparsely populated area, has in the past hampered its own development. Nevertheless plans are under way to develop Trincomalee as a commercial seaport.

Beaches

Trincomalee has some of the most picturesque and scenic beaches found in Sri Lanka, relatively unspoilt and clean. The area is famous for bathing and swimming, owing to the relative shallowness of the sea, allowing one to walk out over a hundred meters into the sea without the water reaching the chest. Whale watching is a common pastime in the seas off Trincomalee, and successful sightings are on the rise with the increase of tourism in the area.

The Trincomalee Beach in front of Chaaya Blu Resort, Trincomalee, in July 2010.

Hot springs

There are the seven hot springs of Kanniya (Kal = stone; niya = land), on the road to Trincomalee. A high wall bounds the rectangular enclosure which includes all seven springs. Each is in turn enclosed by a dwarf wall to form a well. The water is warm, the temperature of each spring being slightly different. The use of the springs for bathing is controlled by the neighbouring Mari Amman Kovil, who holds the lease of the wells^{[citation needed]}.

Climate

Deutsche Welle Relay Station

There is a Deutsche Welle Shortwave and Mediumwave Relay Station in Trincomalee. It was not adversely affected by the Tsunami of 2004 because of the sea terrain around Trincomalee. Deutsche Welle started broadcasting from Trincomalee Relay Station in 1984.

Education

The Naval and Maritime Academy of the Sri Lanka Navy and the Air Force Academy of the Sri Lanka Air Force is situated in Trincomalee. It was first established in 1967, and gained university status in 2001.^[18] The Eastern University of Sri Lanka, which has its main campus in Batticaloa, also has a campus in Trincomalee.

List of Trincomalee schools

• Zahira College, Trincomalee
• Kinniya Central College
• St Joseph Collage, Trincomalee
• T/R.K.M.Sri Koneswara Hindu College
• Kinniya Muslim Girls College
• T/Sri Shanmuga Hindu Ladies College
• T/St Mary’s College
• Orr’s Hill Vivekananda College
• T/Vikneswara Mahavidyalayam
• T/Sampoor Mahavidyalayam,Sampoor
• Sinhala central college at Trincomale town
• Kantale central college at Kantale town
• Al-Aqza College, Kinniya
• Naamahal Vidyalayam, Trincomalee
• Kalaimahal Vidyalayam, Trincomalee
• St Francis Xavier School
• T/Agrabodhi National College, Kanthale
• T/Nalanda College, Chinabay

2004 tsunami

In the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, Trincomalee was a focal point for relief efforts on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.^[19]

Maps

• Detailed map of Trincomalee Adobe Reader required to view the map

By.M.Aswinkarthik

Koneswaram temple

Koneswaram temple
Shiva temple front gate with the bell tower
Koneswaram temple Location in Sri Lanka
Coordinates:	8°34′57″N 81°14′44″ECoordinates: 8°34′57″N 81°14′44″E
Name
Proper name:	Thiru Koneswaram Kovil
Tamil:	திருக்கோணேச்சரம்
Location
Country:	Sri Lanka
Province:	Eastern
District:	Trincomalee District
Location:	Swami Rock (Konamamalai), Trincomalee
Architecture and culture
Primary deity:	Shiva
Architectural styles:	Dravidian architecture
History
Date built:	Unknown; earliest reference 3rd century CE, latest reconstruction 1952 CE

Koneswaram temple (Tamil: திருக் கோணேச்சரம் கோயில்) (also historically known as the Konesar Kovil, the Temple of the Thousand Pillars and Maccakeswaram Kovil of Konamamalai) is an important Hindu temple in Trincomalee, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka venerated by Saivites throughout the continent. The primary deity is the Hindu god Lord Shiva in the form Konesar. At its zenith, Koneswaram was of considerable size and heralded as one of the richest and most visited temple complexes in Asia. Built atop Swami Rock, a rocky promontory overlooking the Trincomalee harbor, the temple has lay in ruins, been restored, renovated and enlarged by various royals and devotees throughout its history. Koneswaram is heralded as a grand seat of Shiva worship in the 6th-7th century CE Tamil hymn canon Tevaram. Its bronze idols from the 10th century CE reflect the high points of Chola art. The temple has been administered and frequented by Tamil Hindus and is located in Trincomalee, a classical period port town.

Koneswaram was developed in the post classical era, between 300 CE and 1600 CE by kings of the Pandyan and Chola empires as well as local Vannimai feudal chiefs, with decorations and structural additions such as its thousand pillared mandapa hall furnished by kings of the Pallava dynasty and the Jaffna kingdom. Its characteristically large gopuram towers were visible to sailors at sea. This culminated in Koneswaram becoming one of the most important surviving buildings of the classical Dravidian architectural period by the early 17th century, forming a large complex housing shrines to many Hindu deities. Koneswaram Kovil owned the entire property and land of the town and the surrounding villages, ownership of which was affirmed through several royal grants in the early medieval period. Services were provided to the local community with the Kovil’s revenue.

In 1624, the Koneswaram temple was largely destroyed by Portuguese colonials. Hindus built a successor temple at a nearby site in 1632 CE – the Ati Konanayakar temple in Tampalakamam – to house some of the destroyed temple’s idols, where they are still worshipped. In the 1950s, the ruins of the original temple were discovered underwater beside Swami Rock by Sir Arthur C. Clarke and a friend. It was rebuilt of much more modest dimensions at its original site by local Hindu Tamils 450 years after its destruction. Surviving sculptures and idols at the site are reinstalled in the reconstructed building. The Lingam form of Shiva here is believed to be Swayambhu and was retrieved from the ruins. Legends surrounding the temple associate it with the popular epic Ramayana with Swami Rock connected to Mount Meru, home of the devas in Hindu mythology. The temple also has been a source of conflict between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamils due to claims and counter claims of its historicity.

The modern temple is built based on classical Dravidian Hindu architecture. The annual temple festival attracts Hindus from around the country.

History

In Tamil, Koneswaram refers to the holy shrine and the presiding Shiva deity’s names are Koneswaran or Konesar. The name of the coastal peninsula town where it lies, Trincomalee, is an anglicized form of the Tamil word “Tiru-kona-malai”, meaning “Lord of the Sacred Hill”;^[1] Thiru comes from the Tamil for “sacred”, Kona means “Lord” or “Chief” in the language while Malai in Tamil means mountain or hill.^[1][2][3] Another meaning for the word Kona in Tamil is peak, and other definitions for Tirukonamalai include “sacred angular/peaked hill” or “three peaked hill”.^[4][5] The temple was constructed atop Swami Rock, also called Swami Malai or Kona-ma-malai, a cliff on the peninsula that drops 400 feet (120 metres) directly into the sea.^[6]

The Sanskrit equivalent of the deity’s name is held to be Gokarneswara and the name of the port town in Sanskrit, Gokarna or Gokarna Pattana. Gokarna is also a place name in India and Nepal associated with Shiva temples.^[7] In Pali the city was known as Gokanna Pattana.

Although the exact date of the Koneswaram temple’s birth is not universally agreed upon, inscriptional and literary evidence of the temple’s history and practices from the postclassical era (c 500 CE – 1500 CE) attests to the shrine’s classical antiquity. Kaviraja Varothiyan’s Tamil poem inscribed on the 17th century CE stone inscription chronicle of the temple, the Konesar Kalvettu, gives the shrine’s date of birth as circa 1580 BCE.^[1] Tradition holds that the Tamil Chola prince Kulakottan extensively built/renovated the Koneswaram temple and the Kantalai tank, responsible for irrigating plains belonging to the shrine.^[8] According to historians S. Pathmanathan and Paul Peiris, Koneswaram temple has a recorded history from 300 CE. Pathmanathan states Koneswaram was probably established by the mercantile communities that frequented the island from the 4th century BCE ancient Kalinga region in India, where another temple dedicated to Gokarnasvamin at Mahendra mountains is found.^[9] Due to royal patronage by various Tamil dynasties, the temple was developed and already well established from the early classical to medieval era. Hindus built at least three great stone temples with gopura on Swami Rock during Koneswaram’s zenith, with the principal temple of the complex at its highest eminence.^[10][11][12]

Koneswaram is venerated as one of 5 ancient Iswarams of Lord Shiva on the island.^[13] Heralded as “Dakshina Kailasam”/”Then Kailasam” (Kailash of the South) because it lies on exactly the same longitude as the Tibetan mountain Mount Kailash (the primary abode of Shiva),^[13] Koneswaram has attracted thousands of pilgrims from across Asia, and from the 6th century CE, has been glorified as one of 275 Shiva Sthalams, or holy Shiva dwellings on the continent.^[13] The historical literature Mattakallappu Manmiam (Batticaloa Manmiyam) that chronicles the history of Tamil settlement in Batticaloa, describes Koneswaram as one of the nine most important and sacred sites in the world for all Hindus.

Chronology

Kullakottan’s restoration

Medieval Tamil chronicles such as the 18th century Yalpana Vaipava Malai and stone inscriptions like Konesar Kalvettu recount that the Chola royal Kankan, a descendant of the legendary King Manu Needhi Cholan of Thiruvarur, Chola Nadu, restored the Koneswaram temple at Trincomalee and the Kantalai tank after finding them in ruins. He visited the Munneswaram temple of the west coast, before settling ancient Vanniars in the east of the island. According to the chronicles, he extensively renovated and expanded the shrine, lavishing much wealth on it; he was crowned with the ephitet Kulakottan meaning Builder of tank and temple.^[8][14][15] Further to the reconstruction, Kulakottan paid attention to agriculture cultivation and economic development in the area, inviting the Vanniar families to the area including Thampalakamam (Tampainakar) to maintain the Kantalai tank and the temple itself. The effects of this saw the Vanni region flourish.^[16][17] Modern historians and anthropologists agree as historically factual the connection of the Vanniars with the Konesar temple, but consider the story of Kullakotan to be mythical based on the travails of historical figures such as Gajabahu II, Kalinga Magha or a Chola regent of Sri Lanka.^[18]

6th-7th century CE hymn, Pallava Dynasty

In the 6th century CE, a special coastal route by boat travelled from the Jaffna peninsula southwards to the Koneswaram temple, and further south to Batticaloa to the temple of Thirukkovil.^[19] Koneswaram temple of Kona-ma-malai is mentioned in the Saiva literature Tevaram in the late 6th century CE by Thirugnana Campantar.^[20] Along with Ketheeswaram temple in Mannar, Koneswaram temple is praised in the same literature canon by the 8th century CE Nayanar saint Sundarar in Tamilakkam.^[21] Koneswaram henceforth is glorified as one of 275 Shiva Sthalams (holy Shiva abodes glorified in the Tevarams) of the continent, part of the “Paadal Petra Sthalam” group. The only other holy temple from Eela Nādu (the country of the temple as named in the Tamil literature) is Ketheeswaram.^[22][23] During this period, the temple saw structural development in the style of Dravidian rock temples by the Tamil Pallava Dynasty.^[24][25] This occurred during the era of Pallava King Narasimhavarman I (630 – 668 CE) and the conquest and rule of the island by his grandfather King Simhavishnu (537 – 590 CE), when many Pallava-built rock temples were erected in the region and this style of architecture remained popular in the next few centuries.^[26][27] The 8th-10th century CE Kanda Puranam (a Puranic Tamil literature epic and translation of the Skanda Puranam) authored by Kachiyappa Sivachariar of Kanchipuram describes the Koneswaram shrine as one of the three foremost Shiva abodes in the world, alongside Chidambaram temple in Tamil Nadu and Mount Kailash of Tibet.^[1] Koneswaram temple is mentioned in the 10th century CE Tamil Nilaveli inscriptions as having received a land grant in the Tamil country of one thousand seven hundred and ten acres (two hundred and fifty four vèli) of dry and wet land to meet its daily expenses – revealing the temple’s role in providing various services to the local community by 900-1000 CE.^[28][29]

10th-12th century CE Chola empire

Trincomalee figured prominently during the medieval golden age of the Tamil Chola Dynasty, due to the proximity of the Trincomalee bay harbour with the rest of the continent and its benefits for the Chola’s maritime empire. The Koneswaram temple and the adjacent region formed a great Saiva Tamil principality.^[8] Residents in this collective community were allotted services, which they had to perform at the Koneswaram temple.^[8] The 1033-1047 CE Tamil inscriptions of the nearby Choleeswaram temple ruins of Peraru, Kantalai and the Manankerni inscriptions reveal the administrative practices of the Chola King Ilankeshvarar Devar (Sri Cankavanamar) with the Koneswaram shrine and the Trincomalee region at the time.^[30][31] The Palamottai inscription from the Trincomalee district, found amongst the inscriptions in nearby Kantalai, records a monetary endowment to the “Siva temple of Then Kailasam (Kailash of the South)” by a Tamil widow for the merit of her husband. This was administered by a member of the Tamil military caste – the Velaikkarar, troops deployed to protect shrines in the state that were closely associated to King Ilankeshvarar Devar.^[31][32] King Gajabahu II who ruled Polonnaruwa from 1131-1153 CE is described in the Konesar Kalvettu as a devout worshipper of Lord Shiva and a benefactor of the temple of Konamamalai.^[33][34]

Pandyan dynasty (1263 CE)

In 1263 CE, the Tamil Pandyan Dynasty king Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan intervened on the island to defeat a usurper of the northern Tamil throne; he proceeded to implant the Pandyan insignia of a “Double Fish” emblem at Kona-ma-malai.^[1] Historically, the Pandyans were known to have sculpted two fishes facing each other on the ceilings of their multi-storey temple gopurams once they were completed (and left it with one fish in case it was incomplete). Swami Rock at this time is described as “Kona ma-malai, around which the ocean waves swept pearls, gold, precious stones, and shells from the depth of the ocean and heaped them along the shore.” Local residents contributed to the wealth of the temple under the Pandyan’s rule of the north of the island.^[1] The 13th century CE Tamil stone inscription in Kankuveli village records the assignment by Vanniar chief Malaiyil Vanniyanar and Eluril Atappar of income and other contributions from the rice fields and meadows of the village to the Koneswaram shrine.^[35]

Jaffna kings (1215 – 1620 CE)

The Tamil Aryacakravarti dynasty kings of the Jaffna kingdom paid homage to the Koneswaram shrine, offering gifts of gold and silver. Among the visitors were King Singai Pararasasegaram and his successor King Cankili I.^[36] King Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan (1380-1410 CE) had the traditional history of the temple compiled as a chronicle in verse, entitled Dakshina Kailasa Puranam, known today as the Sthala Puranam of Koneshwaram Temple.^[24] Saint Arunagirinathar Swamikal, in circa 1468 CE, paid homage at Koneswaram on his way to Kadirkamam.^[24][34] At Koneshwaram, he offered a garland of Thiruppugazh verses in praise of the Sthalam. “The population” he stated, “at Koneshwaram, where the deep ocean rolled its furious waves, was vast, the temple well organised and the priests well versed in the Four Vedas.“^[24] A rich collection of local texts written since the 14th century CE record the traditions pertaining to the shrine, including Konamamalai temple’s use of the alternate name “Maccakeswaram”.^[30] A temple of a thousand columns, during this medieval period, Koneswaram attracted pilgrims from around the Coylot Wanees Country and across Asia, becoming one of the most visited and richest temples on the continent. Portuguese Catholic priest and author De Quieroz described it as the “Rome of the Hindus of the Orient more frequented by pilgrims than Rameshwaram, Tirumalai, Kanchipuram or Jagannath in Orissa.” Furthermore, he described the splendor of the famous temple of Tenavarai at its zenith as similar in its greatness on the island to Koneswaram.^[37]

Location of Koneswaram temple on Swami Rock

17th century destruction

The shrine was demolished on April 14, 1624 CE, the Tamil New Years Day, by the Portuguese general Constantino de Sá (who called it the Temple of a Thousand Pillars).^[1] The main statue was taken out to town in a procession during the festive occasion, during which time Portuguese soldiers entered the temple dressed as Brahmin priests and began robbing it. In an act of religious zeal, the temple was then levered over the edge into the sea. Fleeing priests buried some of the temple’s statues in the surrounding area. Temple stones and its carved pillars were used to construct Fort Fredrick to strengthen the colonists’ influence over the eastern seaboard of the island. The Koneswaram temple had been paying protection fees of 1280 fanams a year to the Portuguese.^[38] Between 1639–1689 CE, the Ati Konanayakar temple was built in nearby Thampalakamam to house the idols on procession that survived.^[39][40] The destruction of the Konesar temple is historically viewed as the biggest loot of one of the richest temples of Asia. Gold, pearls, precious stones and silks collected for more than 1000 years were robbed within a few hours.^[41] A site plan by De Quieroz states: “On the first rise to the summit of the rock was a Pagoda, another at mid-ascent, and the principal one of them all at the highest eminence, visited by a concourse of Hindus from the whole of India.”^[10] In his dispatch to the King of Portugal, Constantine described: “The land of the Pagoda is 600 fathoms long and 80 feet at its broadest, narrowing to 30 feet. Regarding a prophetic inscription he found at the site, he added. “When I went there to make this Fort, I found engraved on the Pagoda, among many other inscriptions, one that ran thus: Kulakottan has built this pagoda…”^[42]

Swami Rock (18th – 20th century CE)

Swami rock in 1870, prior to the reconstruction of the temple. Local residents used to offer services to a pillar in memory of the destroyed temple

No ceremonies were permitted to take place on Swami Rock until British rule of the island, when pilgrims were permitted to return and worship Shiva at the fortressed sacred site.^[41][43] By the mid 19th century, sailors and other pilgrims visited the rock, broke a coconut and said prayers, performing sacred rites every January. Fruits and other offerings were often cast over the edge of the cliff, falling to the ruins below.^[44][45] The Tamil Thirukonasala Vaipavam on Koneswaram was written by V. Akilesapillai in 1889, and published in 1952, sixty years later.

Idol recovery and 20th century reconstruction

Lovers’ leap at Swami rock. It is 350 feet above the sea level and looks straight down into the ocean below.

In 1950, the original shrine’s gold and copper alloy bronze statues from the 10th century CE of a seated figure of Shiva (in the form of Somaskanda), Shiva as Chandrasekhar, his consort goddess, another statue of the goddess Parvati and later Lord Ganesh were found by the Urban Council of Trincomalee buried 500 yards from the Koneswaram site.^[12][34][46] They were taken in procession around the region before being reinstalled at Koneswaram. Other Koneswaram statues that survived remain at the Ati Konanayakar temple.^[39][40] A pillar from the original temple stands under a decorated tree on Swami Rock. In 1956, while scuba diving, photographer Mike Wilson and author Arthur C. Clarke uncovered ruined masonry, architecture and idol images of the sunken original temple — including carved columns with flower insignias, and stones in the form of elephant heads — spread on the shallow surrounding seabed.^[6][47] The pillar as well as the ruins display Tamil Pallava architectural influence of the 3rd-9th century era, corroborated by the discovery of Pallava Grantha script inscriptions in the area that suggest the Pallava dynasty took a keen interest in the temple.^[24] The divers retrieved the legendary Swayambhu lingam from the ocean floor, a large natural stone obelisk that, according to legend, was one of 69 naturally occurring lingams from time immemorial originally found on Mount Kailash of Tibet and housed in Koneswaram by King Raavan – his most sacred power object from mythological times. This lingam was reinstalled at the Koneswaram site. Publishing their findings in the 1957 book The Reefs of Taprobane, Clarke expresses admiration for Swami rock’s three thousand year veneration by Hindus.^[12] Identifying at least three Hindu temples as having been built on and around Swami rock, Clarke describes the 10th century CE Koneswaram idols as “among the finest examples of Hindu bronze sculpture known to exist”, the seated Shiva Chola bronze “a masterpiece” and the battered stone work at the foot of Swami Rock as “probably the most photographed underwater ruins in the world.”^[12] 450 years after its destruction, Sri Lankan Tamil Hindu people of Trincomalee rebuilt the Koneswaram temple in its present form in 1952.

Some of the artefacts from the demolished temple, including the translation of Kullakoddan’s inscription, are kept in the Ajuda Library of Lisbon (Bibliotheca da Ajuda), along with a painting and map of the original shrine. The stone inscription discovered by the temple’s destroyer has a Double-Fish insignia and its engraved prophesy warns of the “coming of the Franks” after the 16th century. The prediction read “O King! The franks shall later break down the holy edifice built by Kulakoddan in ancient times; and it shall not be rebuilt nor will future kings think of doing so!.”^[12] Pandyan king Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan’s insignia of the old Koneswaram temple is seen today at the entrance to Fort Fredrick.

Legends

Iconography of Ravana, the mythical king of Lanka depicted on the temple walls

According to one Hindu legend, Shiva at Koneswaram was worshipped by Indra, king of the gods.

King Ravana of the epic Ramayana is believed to have worshiped Lord Shiva in the sacred lingam form at Koneswaram circa 2000 BCE; the cleft of Swami Rock is attributed to Ravana’s great strength.^[1][13] According to this tradition, his father-in-law Maya built the Ketheeswaram temple in Mannar. Ravana is believed to have brought the swayambhu lingam in the temple to Koneswaram, one of 69 such lingams he carried from Mount Kailash.

With the legend of the smiling infant, James Emerson Tennent describes “one of the most graceful” of the Tamil legends connected to the Temple of the Thousand Columns atop Swami Rock. An oracle had declared that over the dominions of one of the kings of the Deccan impended a great peril which could only be averted by the sacrifice of his infant daughter, who was committed to the sea on an ark of sandalwood, eventually reaching the island, just south of Trincomalee at a place that in the mid 19th century was still called Pannoa (smiling infant). After being adopted by the king of the district, she succeeded over his dominions. Meanwhile, a Hindu prince, having ascertained from the Puranas that the rock of Trincomalee was a holy fragment of the golden mountain of Meru, hurled there during a conflict between gods, arrived at Swami Rock and constructed a temple of Shiva. The princess, hearing of his arrival, initially dispatched an army to expel him, but ended up marrying the prince to end the war, and later attached vast rice fields of Thampalakamam and built the great Kantalai tank to endow the temple and irrigate the surrounding plain. Upon her death, the prince shut himself inside the pagoda of Swami rock, and was later found translated into a golden lotus on the Shiva altar.^[48]

Another tradition holds that during his rule in 113 CE, King Gajabahu I marched from his southern strongholds to the Konesar Kovil with the intention of demolishing it and converting it to a Buddhist temple. When nearing the Kantalai tank, he is believed to have been miraculously cured of his blindness by a Hindu, and henceforth converted to Hinduism. The tank is said to be named on this account Kandalai meaning “eye grows” in Tamil.^[34]

Buddhist claims and conflict

A temple dedicated to a deity in “Gokarna” city is mentioned in a 5th century CE religious and historical literary work called Mahavamsa. It mentions that Mahasena (334–361) a Mahayanist zealot known for his temple destructions, who ruled a central kingdom of the island from the southern city of Anuradhapura destroyed temples dedicated to a deity in Gokarna and built Buddhist Viharas in its place. A 12th century commentary on Mahavamsa indicates that the destroyed deity temple had a Lingam – a form of Shiva in it.^[9] The interpretation of deity temples into specifically a Siva temple by the commentary on Mahavamsa is disputed by Sinhalese writers such as Bandu De Silva.^[49]

Sri Lanka has had a history of conflict between its minority Hindu Tamils and majority Sinhalese Buddhists since its political independence from Great Britain in 1948 which led to the Sri Lankan Civil War. Since the 1950s Sinhalese Buddhists have claimed that the Tirukoneswaram temple was originally exclusively a Buddhist temple. They cite and interpret historical information of three Pagodas at the Koneswaram site as alluding to Buddhist temples.^[49] Buddhists have also claimed that the site was the location of the ancient Gokanna Vihara built by King Mahasena.^[50] It was also based on an assertion made by historian Senarath Paranavithana in reading a 12th century Sanskrit donative inscription made by a Chodaganga Deva found in the Hindu temple’s premises. The inscription reads that Deva visited Gokarna. No evidence, archaeological or otherwise, supports the claim the Vihara existed at the site.^[51] Other sources indicate that the complex may have had a Hindu and Buddhist sections prior to its destruction.^[52] In 1968, the unity government of majority Sinhalese dominated United National Party and the minority Tamil dominated Federal Party collapsed over disagreements about declaring the holy Hindu site a protected area. The Prime Minister at the time Dudley Senanayake, after receiving a letter of complaint from a prominent Buddhist monk about a committee appointed by a Federal Party Minister to study the viability of declaring the site protected, disbanded the committee. The Federal Party withdrew its support to the government following that action.According to journalists like K. T. Rajasingam and T. Sabaratnam, this incident had negative repercussions towards the future cooperation between Tamil and Sinhalese communities.