Kankesanthurai (, , lit. ''Port Kankesan''), colloquially known as KKS, is a port suburb, fishing division and resort hub of the Jaffna District,

Northern Province, Sri Lanka The Northern Province ( ta, வட மாகாணம் ''Vaṭa Mākāṇam''; si, උතුරු පළාත ''Uturu Paḷāta'') is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinc ...

. Formerly an

electoral district An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

, Kankesanthurai is home to the Kankesanthurai beach, Keerimalai

Naguleswaram temple Keerimalai Naguleswaram temple ( ta, கீரிமலை நகுலேஸ்வரம் கோயில்), historically known also as the Thirutambaleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai, is a famous Hindu temple in Keerimalai, located north of Ja ...

(a Pancha Ishwaram) and the

Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple ( ta, மாவிட்டபுரம் கந்தசாமி கோவில்) is a Hindu temple in Maviddapuram in northern Sri Lanka. History According to legend Maviddapuram has had a Hindu shrine for ...

. The port's harbour has served as an arrival and departure point for pilgrims since

classical antiquity Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...

and is named after the Sri Lankan Tamil god

Murukan Kartikeya ( sa, कार्त्तिकेय, Kārttikeya), also known as Skanda, Subrahmanya, Shanmukha (), and Murugan ( ta, முருகன்), is the Hindu god of war. He is the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha ...

. Kankesanthurai suburb has many fishing villages and

Grama Niladhari ''Grama Niladhari'' (''village officers'') ( si, ග්‍රාම නිලධාරී) is a Sri Lankan public official appointed by the central government to carry out administrative duties in a ''grama niladhari'' division, which is a sub-un ...

(village officers) and is a northern part of Valikamam, one of the three regions of ancient habitation on the Jaffna peninsula, located on the peninsula's northern coast, 12 miles from Jaffna city, 85 miles from Mannar and 155 miles from

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

. A popular tourist destination for its temples, its

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...

palm tree The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm tr ...

filled coastal stretch of

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc s ...

and the Keerimalai Springs, other prominent

landmark A landmark is a recognizable natural or artificial feature used for navigation, a feature that stands out from its near environment and is often visible from long distances. In modern use, the term can also be applied to smaller structures or f ...

s in Kankesanthurai include the suburb's

natural harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...

, its

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

and

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses m ...

Etymology

During the 8th century renovation of the

by the Chola-Pandyan princess Mathurapuraveeravalli, the temple's statue of Kankesan (Murugan) was brought via the port of Gayathurai which was later renamed Kankesanthurai in his honour. Thurai means "port" in

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern P ...

.Thyiddy Ganesha Temple.

History

During the civil war, the port at Kankesanturai was closed by the Sri Lankan Navy. Between 1983 and 1993, the northern part of the Valikamam region were declared a High Security Zone (HSZ) by the armed forces, where 6000 acres of land was confiscated around Kankesanthurai and all the residents (25,000 Tamil families) expelled, without compensation or return. The temples were inside the HSZ and as a result its priests were evicted by the military. The temple's structures were bombed, most significantly Naguleswaram in 1990, and their contents looted. Between 2002-2005, US military intelligence and military personnel visited the security zone, including Jaffna Airport and KKS harbour to review and inspect basing opportunities. Following the end of the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

the military relaxed some restrictions on entering the HSZ, allowing priests and worshipers to return to the temples. The Maviddapuram Kandaswamy temple's 108-foot

gopuram A ''gopuram'' or ''gopura'' ( Tamil: கோபுரம், Malayalam: ഗോപുരം, Kannada: ಗೋಪುರ, Telugu: గోపురం) is a monumental entrance tower, usually ornate, at the entrance of a Hindu temple, in the Sout ...

has been re-built but much of its 17th century structural renovations were destroyed during the civil war.

Historical Sites

is a famous

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hin ...

of Kankesanthurai. One of the oldest shrines of the region, it is the northernmost shrine on the island of the

Pancha Ishwarams The Pancha Ishwarams (five abodes of Shiva) ( ta, பஞ்ச ஈஸ்வரங்கள், translit=Pancha Eeswarankal) are five coastal ancient kovils (temples) built in dedication to the Hindu supreme being Ishwara in the form of the god S ...

of Lord Siva, venerated by Hindus across the world from classical antiquity. Hindus believe its adjacent

water tank A water tank is a container for storing water. Water tanks are used to provide storage of water for use in many applications, drinking water, irrigation agriculture, fire suppression, agricultural farming, both for plants and livestock, chemi ...

, the Keerimalai Springs, to have curative properties. Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple is towards the south of the harbour.

Freshwater at Keerimalai Springs is sourced from underground. "Maasi Magam" and “Aadi Amaavaasai” festival days, the latter falling during the Tamil month of “Aadi” (mid July-mid August) brings Hindu pilgrims to the town to carry out rituals for their forefathers and take a divine dip in the

natural spring A spring is a point of exit at which groundwater from an aquifer flows out on top of Earth's crust (pedosphere) and becomes surface water. It is a component of the hydrosphere. Springs have long been important for humans as a source of fres ...

s. These rituals are usually carried out by men. Keerimalai is particularly famous for this festival. Kankesanthurai fort was a small fort, built by the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

in the town. The fort was destroyed sometime after and there are no visible remains. Unlike other Dutch forts in Sri Lanka, there are no maps and little information remaining on the fort. Kankesanthurai Lighthouse, built in 1893, is tall and has an octagonal masonry tower with lantern and gallery. Located deep inside the Sri Lankan military's Valikamam North High Security Zone and next to the naval base, the lighthouse was heavily damaged during the Sri Lankan Civil War and is inactive. Kankesanthurai beach is acclaimed as one of the top two beaches of the Northern Province. A family-orientated sandy beach with palm trees and cool waters, the beach is non-crowded and natural from where views of the villagers'

fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, ...

at the harbour, medieval architecture and the lighthouse are possible.

Governance

Kankesanthurai was an

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka introduced the

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

electoral system for electing

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. The existing 160 mainly

single-member A single-member district is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. Single-member districts are also sometimes called single-winner v ...

electoral districts were replaced with 22

multi-member An electoral system or voting system is a set of rules that determine how elections and referendums are conducted and how their results are determined. Electoral systems are used in politics to elect governments, while non-political elections ma ...

s. Kankesanthurai electoral district was replaced by the Jaffna multi-member electoral district at the 1989 general elections, the first under the PR system, though Kankesanthurai continues to be a polling division of the multi-member electoral district. Prominent Ceylon Tamil lawyer and politician S. J. V. Chelvanayakam stood as the

All Ceylon Tamil Congress All Ceylon Tamil Congress ( ta, அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. History The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam as ...

(ACTC) candidate for Kankesanthurai at the 1947 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered

Economy and industry

Kankesanturai was the site of fishing and manufacture industry in the 1900s, with the establishment of a

cement factory A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

that served the country. The factory commenced operations in 1950 under the Department of Industries and was converted to a Public Corporation in 1956, being named the Kankesan Cement Works. The factory closed its productions in 1991 due to the raging Northern war. In 2016, MPs from the

Northern Provincial Council Northern Provincial Council ( ta, வட மாகாண சபை ''Vaṭa Mākāṇa Capai''; NPC) is the provincial council for the Northern Province in Sri Lanka. In accordance with the Sri Lankan constitution, NPC has legislative power ov ...

have expressed interest in reviving the plant with a green cement factory concept, using environmentally friendly cement technologies, with Sri Lanka Cement Corporation, the UAE-based Ras Al Khaimah and the

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n AFKO Group GMEX all linked to invest. Near the cement factory, the

Koolair Power Station The Kankesanthurai Power Station (also commonly referred to as the Koolair Power Station) was a fuel oil-run thermal power station which was commissioned as part of the urgent plan by the Ceylon Electricity Board to overcome the 1990s power crisis ...

, a pollutant fuel oil-run thermal power station that was moved to Kankesanthurai following noise complaints elsewhere, was similarly decommissioned following artillery damage during the war.

Banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", disting ...

production,

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

production at the

yoghurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bact ...

factory, chilli and

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

farming, market trade, hotel administration and boat journeys between Jaffna islets also generate income in the suburb but are all currently run as military businesses that have negatively impacted local enterprise through competitive pricing; The

Society for Threatened Peoples The Society for Threatened Peoples International STPI (german: Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker-International, GfbV-International) is an international NGO and human rights organization with its headquarters in Göttingen, Germany. Its aim ...

notes that profit is returned to the MoD in Sri Lanka which pays soldiers' salaries in KKS. Underwater

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

s have also impeded ship movements within the port's harbour. Under an agreement signed in 2011, India has assisted in dredging the Kankesanthurai harbour to deepen it, remove the wrecks and turn Kankesathurai harbour international. Maviddapuram Kandaswamy temple

Geography and climate

Kankesanthurai is on the north coast of the Jaffna Peninsula, near Point Pedro, the northernmost point in Sri Lanka. Its port is to the north, facing the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

. The climate of Jaffna peninsula is considered to be tropical monsoonal with a seasonal rhythm of rainfall. The temperature ranges from 26 C to 33 C. Annual precipitation ranges from 696 mm to 1125 mm. The north east monsoon rain (October to January) accounts for more than 90% of the annual rainfall.

Population

A 2007 Department of Census and Statistics government report on population figures in the Jaffna district notes that Kankesanthurai Centre, Kankesanthurai West and Kankesanthurai South, as well as Naguleswaram and Maviddapuram are "High Security Zones" where there are no civilians. By 2012, some return of internally displaced people and civilian life in the Valikamam North DS division was documented by the

in their statistics report, detailing dry ration issues, mine injuries and welfare centres in Kankesanthurai.

Transport

Rail

Kankesanthurai railway station is the terminus of the

Northern Line The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs from North London to South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. The Northern line is unique on the Underground network in having two different routes through central London, t ...

on the

Sri Lanka Railways The Sri Lanka Railway Department (more commonly known as Sri Lanka Railways (SLR)) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා දුම්රිය සේවය ''Śrī Laṃkā Dumriya Sēvaya''; Tamil: இலங்கை புகையிரத ...

network. Until 1990, Kankesanthurai was the terminus of the

Yal Devi ''Yal Devi'' ( ta, யாழ் தேவி; si, යාල් දේවී) is a major express train in Sri Lanka. Operated by Sri Lanka Railways, the Yal Devi connects Colombo, the nation's commercial hub, with the northern cities of Jaffna ...

service. During the war, trains terminated at

Vavuniya Vavuniya (, romanized: ''Vavuṉiyā'', , romanized: ''Vavuniyāva''). Vavuniya City is the capital of Vavuniya District in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka and the largest city in the Northern Province. The municipality is administered by Vav ...

, leaving Kankesanthurai isolated from the national railway network. Kankesanthurai railway station was re opened in early 2015 and is functioning at present.

Port

The Port at Kankesanturai was closed during the war. It is the nearest port for all eastern ports in India, as well as for Myanmar and Bangladesh. In 2011, India and Sri Lanka signed an agreement to revive the port by clearing sunken ships and deepening the harbour. The Port should significantly lower the transit time of goods to and from the east coast of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

, and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

, and propel economic activity in the north.

Air

Jaffna International Airport Jaffna International Airport ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணம் சர்வதேச விமான நிலையம், translit=Yāḻppāṇam Carvatēca Vimāṉa Nilaiyam; si, යාපනය ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුව ...

is an

air force base An air base (sometimes referred to as a military air base, military airfield, military airport, air station, naval air station, air force station, or air force base) is an aerodrome used as a military base by a military force for the operation ...

and

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer r ...

in Palaly in northern

near Kankesanthurai. Located approximately north of the city of Jaffna, the airport is also known as Palaly Airport and SLAF Palaly. Originally built by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, it served as the country's second

before being taken over by the

Sri Lanka Air Force The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) ( si, ශ්‍රි ලංකා ගුවන් හමුදාව, Śrī Laṃkā guwan hamudāva; ta, இலங்கை விமானப்படை, Ilaṅkai vimāṉappaṭai) is the air arm and the yo ...

is the 3rd international airport in

after

Bandaranaike International Airport Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) ( si, බණ්ඩාරනායක ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Bandāranāyaka Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; ta, பண்டாரநாயக்க � ...

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

and

Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) ( si, මත්තල රාජපක්ෂ ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුවන්තොටුපළ, translit=Mattala Rājapakṣa Jātyantara Guvantoṭupaḷa; ta, மத்தல ரா ...

Hambantota Hambantota ( si, හම්බන්තොට, ta, அம்பாந்தோட்டை) is the main town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri LankaThe prominent Malays (මැලේ) most part of the population is to be partly de ...

Education

* Kankesanthurai Nadeswara College

References

{{Ports of Sri Lanka Towns in Jaffna District Valikamam North DS Division