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Vankalai
Vankalai or Vangalai or Vangkaalai ( vaṅkālai) is a predominantly fishing and farming village situated in Mannar District of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It lies along the Naanaattan Road with the sea on its west connecting to the Indian Ocean. The shores from Vankalai 20 km south to the ancient Tamil subsidiary port of Kudiramalai formed the world's most famous pearl fishing banks in the classical and medieval periods. Its northern boundary is the historic Hindu shrine of Thiru Ketheeswaram. Geography Vankalai is a blend of sandy and agrarian lands. Apart from fisheries and farming, there is also an educational and professional tradition. There are a number of teachers, government officials, clergymen, nuns and professionals from the area. Demography Vankalai is a Christian village with Roman Catholics being more than 99% and Protestant groups comprising the remainder. Vankalai has now become one of the largest villages in Mannar. Currently, its population figur ...
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Vankalai Massacre
Vankalai or Vangalai or Vangkaalai ( vaṅkālai) is a predominantly fishing and farming village situated in Mannar District of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It lies along the Naanaattan Road with the sea on its west connecting to the Indian Ocean. The shores from Vankalai 20 km south to the ancient Tamil subsidiary port of Kudiramalai formed the world's most famous pearl fishing banks in the classical and medieval periods. Its northern boundary is the historic Hindu shrine of Ketheeswaram temple, Thiru Ketheeswaram. Geography Vankalai is a blend of sandy and agrarian lands. Apart from fisheries and farming, there is also an educational and professional tradition. There are a number of teachers, government officials, clergymen, nuns and professionals from the area. Demography Vankalai is a Christian village with Roman Catholics being more than 99% and Protestant groups comprising the remainder. Vankalai has now become one of the largest vi ...
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Paravar
Paravar (also known as Bharathar or Bharathakula Kshatriyar) is a predominantly Catholic Tamil maritime community, mainly living in the state of Tamil Nadu, and in Sri Lanka. Historically, they were inhabitants of the ''Neithal'' (coastal) lands of Tamil Nadu, and find mention in various ancient Tamil literary works. In modern India, Paravars are concentrated along the coastal belt extending along the Gulf of Mannar, from Kilakarai to Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin). They also live in some pockets along the Arabian Sea coast in Kanyakumari District as well as central Kerala. Paravars have been significant among the population of the port city of Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram, since the 1580s. Apart from Thoothukudi and Ramanathapuram, Paravars also live in many of the big cities and towns in South Tamilnadu like Tuticorin, Nagercoil, Tirunelveli, Rameshwaram, Thiruchendur and Madurai where they are into diverse professions. In Sri Lanka, the Paravas (called Bharathas in Sri Lan ...
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Mannar District
Mannar District ( ''Maṉṉār Māvaṭṭam''; ) is one of the 25 Districts of Sri Lanka, districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a Government Agent (Sri Lanka), District Secretary (previously known as a Government Agent (Sri Lanka), Government Agent) appointed by the Government of Sri Lanka, central government of Sri Lanka. The Capital city, capital of the district is Mannar, Sri Lanka, Mannar, which is located on Mannar Island. History Between the 5th century BC and 13th century AD, what is now Mannar District was part of Rajarata. Parts Mannar District were thereafter part of the pre-colonial Jaffna kingdom. The district then came under Portuguese Ceylon, Portuguese, Dutch period in Ceylon, Dutch and British Ceylon, British control. In 1815 the British gained control of the entire island of Ceylon. They divided the island into three ethnic based administrative structures: ...
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Village
A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighborhoods. Villages are normally permanent, with fixed dwellings; however, transient villages can occur. Further, the dwellings of a village are fairly close to one another, not scattered broadly over the landscape, as a dispersed settlement. In the past, villages were a usual form of community for societies that practice subsistence agriculture and also for some non-agricultural societies. In Great Britain, a hamlet earned the right to be called a village when it built a church.-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''village'', from Latin ''villāticus'', ultimately from Latin ''villa'' (English ''vi ...
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Kudiramalai
Kudiramalai (, ) is a cape and ancient port town on the west coast of Sri Lanka. On the Gulf of Mannar near Silavaturai, the town shares a history with nearby Karaitivu Island, the ancient port town of Mannar and the Ketheeswaram temple. Kudiramalai is the northernmost point of Puttalam District and was a southern port of Mannar during the classical period, serving the northern kingdoms of the Jaffna Peninsula and Vanni country as one of their southernmost border towns. It is west of Vanni from Trincomalee, home of Koneswaram temple. Rulers included Alli Raani, Korran, his father (Pittan) and contemporaries, Athiyamān Nedumān Añci and his son Kumanan. Traders brought several horses on watercraft to the island during the Sangam period. The port was known as ''Hippuros'' by Pliny (Nat. Hist. Book 6, 24). Archaeological excavations have found that Kudiramalai was inhabited from the first century BCE to the seventh century CE. History Classical period Kudiramalai shares th ...
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Roman Catholics
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 ''sui iuris'' (autonomous) churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies around the world, each overseen by one or more bishops. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The Catholic Church teaches that it is the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church founded by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission, that its bishops are the successors of Christ's apostles, and that the pope is the successor of Saint Peter, upon whom ...
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Ketheeswaram Temple
Ketheeswaram temple ( Thirukketheeswaram) is an ancient Hindu temple in Mannar, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Overlooking the ancient Tamil port towns of Manthai and Kudiramalai, the temple has lain in ruins, been restored, renovated and enlarged by various royals and devotees throughout its history. Thirukketheeswaram is one of the Pancha Ishwarams dedicated to the Hindu deity Shiva and is venerated by Shaivas throughout the continent. Throughout its history, the temple has been administered and frequented by Sri Lankan Hindu Tamils. Its famous tank, the Palavi tank, is of ancient antiquity and was restored from the ruins. Thirukketheeswaram is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams of Shiva glorified in the poems of the ''Tevaram''. Literary and inscriptional evidence of the post classical period (300BC-1500AD) attests to the upkeep of the temple during the ancient period by kings of the Pallava, Pandyan Dynasty and Chola dynasties who contributed to its development u ...
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Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent. It is assumed that the term ''"Hindu"'' traces back to Avestan scripture Vendidad which refers to land of seven rivers as Hapta Hendu which itself is a cognate to Sanskrit term ''Sapta Sindhuḥ''. (The term ''Sapta Sindhuḥ'' is mentioned in Rig Veda and refers to a North western Indian region of seven rivers and to India as a whole.) The Greek cognates of the same terms are "''Indus''" (for the river) and "''India''" (for the land of the river). Likewise the Hebrew cognate ''hōd-dū'' refers to India mentioned in Hebrew BibleEsther 1:1. The term "''Hindu''" also implied a geographic, ethnic or cultural identifier for ...
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Pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carbonate (mainly aragonite or a mixture of aragonite and calcite) in minute crystalline form, which has deposited in concentric layers. More commercially valuable pearls are perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes, known as baroque pearls, can occur. The finest quality of natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries. Because of this, ''pearl'' has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, admirable, and valuable. The most valuable pearls occur spontaneously in the wild but are extremely rare. These wild pearls are referred to as ''natural'' pearls. ''Cultured'' or ''farmed'' pearls from Pinctada, pearl oysters and freshwater mussels make up the majority o ...
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Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by the Southern Ocean or Antarctica, depending on the definition in use. The Indian Ocean has large marginal or regional seas, including the Andaman Sea, the Arabian Sea, the Bay of Bengal, and the Laccadive Sea. Geologically, the Indian Ocean is the youngest of the oceans, and it has distinct features such as narrow continental shelf, continental shelves. Its average depth is 3,741 m. It is the warmest ocean, with a significant impact on global climate due to its interaction with the atmosphere. Its waters are affected by the Indian Ocean Walker circulation, resulting in unique oceanic currents and upwelling patterns. The Indian Ocean is ecologically diverse, with important ecosystems such ...
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List Of Sovereign States
The following is a list providing an overview of sovereign states around the world with information on their status and recognition of their sovereignty. The 205 listed states can be divided into three categories based on membership within the United Nations System: 193 member states of the United Nations, UN member states, two United Nations General Assembly observers#Current non-member observers, UN General Assembly non-member observer states, and ten other states. The ''sovereignty dispute'' column indicates states having undisputed sovereignty (188 states, of which there are 187 UN member states and one UN General Assembly non-member observer state), states having disputed sovereignty (15 states, of which there are six UN member states, one UN General Assembly non-member observer state, and eight de facto states), and states having a political status of the Cook Islands and Niue, special political status (two states, both in associated state, free association with New ...
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