Thiriyai (, ) is a small

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 v ...

in the eastern

Trincomalee District Trincomalee District ( ; ) 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), D ...

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 situated about 25 miles north of

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; , ; , ), historically known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee District and major resort port city of Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast o ...

town through

Nilaveli Nilaveli (; ) is a coastal resort town and suburb of the Trincomalee District, Sri Lanka located 16 km northwest of the city of Trincomalee. A historically popular Tamil village and tourist destination of the district alongside the nearby ...

. The total population of the village is 640 at the 2012 census. Thiriyai was an international emporium with an old sea

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

which existed since at least 6th century BCE. Due to the ethnic conflict, most families fled the village and are now living elsewhere in the country or overseas. Several Tamil refugees returned to the village in the early 21st century during a ceasefire.

Etymology

The name ''Thiriyai'' is derived from the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

word ''thiri'', meaning

wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placenames ...

History

Thiriyai was populated by ancient Naga tribe. The place is referred to as ''Talacori Emporium'' in the 2nd century AD map of the Greek geographer

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, which was an old seaport that existed from at least 6th century BCE. The Buddhist temple Girihandu Seya, an almost complete example of

vatadage A vaṭadāge () is a type of Buddhist structure found in Sri Lanka. It also known as a ''dage'', ''thupagara'' and a ''cetiyagara''. Although it may have had some Indian influence, it is a structure that is more or less unique to the architecture ...

, is located close to this village. The temple is supposed to be the first Buddhist

Stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...

in Sri Lanka. Legends attribute the constructing of the temple by the

Trapusa and Bahalika Trapusa and Bahalika (alternatively Bhallika) are traditionally regarded as the first disciples of the Buddha. The first account of Trapusa and Bahalika appears in the Vinaya section of the Tripiṭaka where they offer the Buddha his first meal a ...

merchants of the 4th century BCE, bringing with them the hair relics of

Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),* * * was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...

. Scholars holds the view that

Mahayana Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...

influenced

seafaring Seamanship is the skill, art, competence (human resources), competence, and knowledge of operating a ship, boat or other craft on water. The'' Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford Dictionary'' states that seamanship is "The skill, techniques, o ...

merchants from the Pallava Kingdom were responsible for the construction of this temple. A 7th century AD inscription found in the Girihandu Seya temple, written in

Sanskrit language Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

with the South Indian

Pallava Grantha script The Pallava script, or Pallava Grantha, is a style of Grantha script named after the Pallava dynasty of South India, Southern India (Tamilakam) and is attested to since the 4th century CE. In India, the Pallava script evolved from Tamil-Brahmi. ...

, indicates the presence of the

Avalokiteśvara In Buddhism, Avalokiteśvara (meaning "the lord who looks down", International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ), also known as Lokeśvara ("Lord of the World") and Chenrezig (in Tibetan), is a Bodhisattva#Bhūmis (stages), tenth-level bodhisattva associ ...

cult in

. This inscription attributes with showing the influence of the

Pallava dynasty The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The Pallavas played a crucial role in shaping in particular southern Indian history and heritage. The dynasty ros ...

and on

Sinhala script The Sinhalese script (), also known as Sinhala script, is a writing system used by the Sinhalese people and most Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka and elsewhere to write the Sinhalese language as well as the liturgical languages Pali and Sanskr ...

. The Mahayana images and Pallava sculptural styles indicates on the presence of South Indian artists.

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 ...

refer to this place as ''Kandaswamy malai'' and venerate this place as the hill of

Murugan Kartikeya (/ kɑɾt̪ɪkejə/; ), also known as Skanda ( /skən̪d̪ə/), Subrahmanya (/ sʊbɾəɦməɲjə/, /ɕʊ-/), Shanmukha ( /ɕɑnmʊkʰə/) and Murugan (/ mʊɾʊgən/), is the Hindu god of war. He is generally described as the ...

. Thiriyai has traditionally been connected with the Koneswaram temple in

and the Kandaswamy malai hill is referred as ''Kanthathiri'' in the

text

Thiruppugazh The ''Tiruppugal'' (Tamil: , ''Thiruppugazh'', IPA/Tamil: , meaning 'Holy Praise' or 'Divine Glory'), sometimes spelled ''Thiruppugazh'', is a 14th-century anthology of Tamil religious songs dedicated to Murugan (Kartikeya), the son of Shiva, ...

. The ''Vaiya Paadal'', a 17th-century Tamil historical text, refers to ''Cupatittu'', a Brahmin, who ruled Thiriyai in the 15th century. Thiriyai was part of

Vanni Nadu The Vanni chieftaincies or Vanni tribes was a region between Anuradhapura and Jaffna, but also extending to along the eastern coast to Panama and Yala, during the Transitional and Kandyan periods of Sri Lanka. The heavily forested land was a co ...

and was once ruled by the Vanniar Chieftain, ''Neela Panikkan''. The hill known as ''Neelanpanikkan malai'' and the

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

known as ''Neelanpanikkan kulam'' was named after him. Ruins of his fortress is found on the hilltop. The area remained a

village, although experienced settling of 72 Sinhalese families north of Thiriyai in the 1960s. Killing of civilians in the 90s in Thiriyai attributed by the

Sri Lanka Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; ...

and other ethnic tension lead to most family fleeing the area to

India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

with boat, thereupon the area being nearly deserted.

References

{{Coord, 8, 52, 13.28, N, 81, 00, 26.74, E, display=title Buddhism amongst Tamils Villages in Trincomalee District Kuchchaveli DS Division

Etymology

History

See also

References