Sammanthurai ( ta, சம்மாந்துறை, translit=Cam'māntuṟai; si, සමන්තර, translit=Samantara, si, සම්මාන්තුරේ , translit=Sammānturē), is a town in Ampara District of Eastern Province of

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 ...

. Sammanthurai situated at , is 4.8 km west of 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 ...

coast. It lies between the towns of

Ampara Ampara ( si, අම්පාර, ta, அம்பாறை) is the main town of Ampara District, governed by an Urban Council. It is located in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, about east of Colombo and approximately south of Batticaloa. H ...

and Karaitivu along the

A31 road The A31 is a major trunk road in southern England that runs from Guildford in Surrey to Bere Regis in Dorset. Route of road The road begins in Guildford at the start of Farnham Road near Guildford Station, coming out of the town and pass ...

. It is surrounded by

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-A ...

s and it is renowned for its rice paddies and its inner harbour from ancient times. Sammanthurai is the birthplace of

M. H. M. Ashraff Mohammed Hussain Mohammed Ashraff ( ta, முகம்மது ஹுசைன் முகம்மது அஷ்ரப்; 23 October 1948 – 16 September 2000 ) was a Sri Lankan lawyer, politician, government minister and founder/lea ...

, known as "The

Kingmaker A kingmaker is a person or group that has great influence on a royal or political succession, without themselves being a viable candidate. Kingmakers may use political, monetary, religious and military means to influence the succession. Origina ...

" and the founder of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress political party.

History

Sammanthurai is an important and historical place of

. It was the first place where Dutch people arrived in Sri Lanka. Sammanthurai derives its name from ‘

Sampan A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like ...

,’ the vessel, Thurai , the Harbor or port and the sailor of Sampan called as 'Hambankaraya' (Sinhala) or ‘Sammankaran’(Tamil) who were Muslims from India who came for the trade.

Demographics

Sammanthurai has a population of 77,284 (2021), Islam is the dominant religion in the town. There is a small

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

minority, particularly in the Veeramunai area, Small number of Christian and Buddhist are also there. The majority are Tamil speaking Muslims and a few speak Sinhala and English. Sammanthurai is home to many victims of the Tsunami of 2004. ''Sourc
statistics.gov.lk
'

Climate

Being close to the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can also ...

, Sammanthurai enjoys a tropical wet and dry climate. Summer prevails in the months of May, June, July, and August. Days in June are the hottest period, with temperatures regularly reaching 30 °C.

Monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

s occur in November, December and January. Sammanthurai receives most of its rainfall from the Northeast Monsoon.

Education

Sammanthurai has a number of post-secondary institutions. In addition to the Faculty of

Applied Science Applied science is the use of the scientific method and knowledge obtained via conclusions from the method to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted ...

campus of the South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, there are two colleges granting diplomas and certificates in Sammanthurai:

Technical College An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

and

Vocational Training Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an in ...

Center. The town is also home to two

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

colleges: Sammanthurai Thableekul Islam and Markaz Darul Iman. The Sammanthurai Zonal Education Office (STRZEO) operates 70 public schools in an area of 257 km² and there are 26,039 students attending school the Sammanthurai sub zone have 36 Schools and there are two 1 AB Schools in Sammanthurai. Str/ Sammanthurai Muslim Madya Maha Vidyalaya, STR/Al -Marjan Muslim Ladies College, STR/ Dharussalam Maha Vidyalaya and STR/Al-Arsath Maha Vidyalaya are the four major School where the students populations is over 1000. There are four public libraries are running under the local government. Main Amir Ali Public Library has more than 10,000 books and journals.

Economy

Paddy field in Sammanthurai, Ampara, Sri Lanka

Traditionally Sammanthuraiyans (natives of Sammanthurai) rely on

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

is the most important source of income and

paddy Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon * Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species *Black-faced s ...

is the major crop cultivated in 55,000 acres. Other sources of revenue include the

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

and small businesses.

Culture

Sammanthurai culture is strongly influenced by Islamic thoughts. Life in Sammanthurai revolves around the prayer calls (

Adhan Adhan ( ar, أَذَان ; also variously transliterated as athan, adhane (in French), azan/azaan (in South Asia), adzan (in Southeast Asia), and ezan (in Turkish), among other languages) is the Islamic call to public prayer ( salah) in a mo ...

). The people, particularly women, heavily depend on Adhan to keep their regular activities on track. The Adhan for early morning prayer well before sunrise acts as a wake-up alarm. It is followed by four prayer calls throughout the day. Friday is observed as spiritual day and the month of

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

(month of fasting) is observed as a spiritual month in Sammanthurai like in any Muslim country.

Eid Al-Fitr , nickname = Festival of Breaking the Fast, Lesser Eid, Sweet Eid, Sugar Feast , observedby = Muslims , type = Islamic , longtype = Islamic , significance = Commemoration to mark the end of fasting in Ramadan , date ...

and

Eid al-Adha Eid al-Adha () is the second and the larger of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam (the other being Eid al-Fitr). It honours the willingness of Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ismail (Ishmael) as an act of obedience to Allah's com ...

are the two festivals celebrated here.

Islam and the people

As many as 45

Masjid A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, i ...

s and 6 Shrines are in Sammanthurai. Sammanthurai houses two religious institutions: the Thablighul Islam

College,

Hifz Hafiz (; ar, حافظ, ḥāfiẓ, pl. ''ḥuffāẓ'' , f. ''ḥāfiẓa'' ), literally meaning "memorizer", depending on the context, is a term used by Muslims for someone who has completely memorized the Quran. Hafiza is the female equiva ...

Madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

and a Markaz Darul Iman (Arabic College)

Transport and communication

This town is well connected via road with major towns and cities in Sri Lanka.

runs through Sammanthurai. Bus service is available to the nearby cities of

Kalmunai Kalmunai ( ta, கல்முனை, translit=Kalmuṉai; si, කල්මුනේ, translit=Kalmunē) is a major city in Ampara District. It is the largest city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. It had a total population of 106,780 as of 2011. I ...

and

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

. The state-owned

Sri Lanka Transport Board The Sri Lanka Transport Board ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩලය ''Shri Lanka Gamanāgamana Mandalaya'')(formerly: Ceylon Transport Board, CTB) is a bus service provider in Sri Lanka. Between 1958 an ...

provides regular passenger services.

Approximate distance from other cities and towns

Infrastructure

Sammanthurai houses a

government hospital A public hospital, or government hospital, is a hospital which is government owned and is fully funded by the government and operates solely off the money that is collected from taxpayers to fund healthcare initiatives. In some countries, this typ ...

along with

private hospital A private hospital is a hospital not owned by the government, including for-profits and non-profits. Funding is by patients themselves ("self-pay"), by insurers, or by foreign embassies. Private hospitals are commonly part, albeit in varying de ...

s/clinics. The

police station A police station (sometimes called a "station house" or just "house") is a building which serves to accommodate police officers and other members of staff. These buildings often contain offices and accommodation for personnel and vehicles, a ...

serves the town as well as the surrounding villages. Government establishments like the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional se ...

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

s' court, Pradeshiya Shaba, Ceylon Electricity Board,

Bus Depot,

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

Research Station and

Divisional Secretariats of Sri Lanka The districts of Sri Lanka are divided into administrative sub-units known as ''divisional secretariats''. These were originally based on the feudal counties, the ''korale''s and ''rata''s. They were formerly known as 'D.R.O. Divisions' after t ...

are based in the town. In addition, Group Action For Social Order (GAFSO) and Centre for Peace Studies (CPS) Sri Lanka are the national

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in ...

(NGOs) headquartered in Sammanthurai.

Sports

Sammanthurai is home to a

sports complex A sports complex is a group of sports facilities. For example, there are track and field stadiums, football stadiums, baseball stadiums, swimming pools, and Indoor arenas. This area is a sports complex, for fitness. Olympic Park is also a kind ...

, a public playground and many public school playgrounds.

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

is the most popular sport as it is the most popular sport in the country.

Environmental issues

The post-tsunami and post-war development activities and subsequent resettlement programs have contributed to

air pollution Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...

in this area. In addition, solid waste generation, contaminated water and

mosquito Mosquitoes (or mosquitos) are members of a group of almost 3,600 species of small flies within the family Culicidae (from the Latin ''culex'' meaning " gnat"). The word "mosquito" (formed by ''mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish for "li ...

breeding, have caused much damage to peoples’ health. The dusty air with bad odour has become a major threat to the daily lives of inhabitants of Sammanthurai.An Evaluation of the Threats of a Dusty Environment on the Sustainability of Human Health: A Study of Sammanthurai
/ref>

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Towns in Ampara District Sammanthurai DS Division