Maradankulama or Maradankulam is a village situated within the North Western Province of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. It is one of the oldest settlements within the geographic region that formed the medieval divisions of the country called

Demala Pattuva Demala Hatpattu (Tamil Seven Regions) or Demala Pattu or Demala Pattuva was a medieval and pre colonial division of Sri Lanka. It was a regional political division formed by royal land grants. There were number of such Pattus across the country. D ...

. Most villagers speak Sinhala language but unlike the majority of Sinhala language speakers who are

Buddhists Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century BCE. It is the world's fourth ...

, they are

Saivite Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the supreme being. It is the second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million Hindus, found widely across South Asia (predominantly in ...

Hindus 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 be ...

like the minority

Sri Lankan Tamils 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, Sri Lanka, Northern Province, form the pluralit ...

.Bastin, '' The Domain of Constant Excess: Plural Worship at the Munnesvaram Temples in Sri Lanka Short history of Ceylon'', p.152 The village hosts an important festival dedicated to

Ayyanar Aiyanar (, ) is a Village deities of South India, Tamil folk deity venerated in South India and Sri Lanka. His worship is prevalent amongst rural Tamils, Tamil people. Some studies suggest that Ayyanar may have also been worshipped in Southeast ...

who is a popular village guardian deity. The village along with another predominantly Hindu village

Udappu Udappu or Udappuwa is a traditional Tamil fishing, goldsmithing and shrimp farming village, situated north of Colombo the capital of Sri Lanka in the North Western Province.(English) It is situated few miles north of Chilaw city and Munneswar ...

also sponsors a day in the annual chariot festival of the

Munneswaram temple Munneswaram temple (, ) is an important regional Hindu temple complex in Sri Lanka. It has been in existence at least since 1000 CE although myths surrounding the temple associate it with the popular Indian epic Ramayana, and its legendary hero-k ...

situated nearby.

Notes

3. Mr Bastin has given some wrong information about the village.

References

* {{coord, 7, 33, N, 79, 50, E, display=title, region:LK_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in North Western Province, Sri Lanka Populated places in Puttalam District