Trincomalee திருக்கோணமலை ත්රිකුණාමලය | |
|---|---|
| City of Trincomalee | |
 View ofTrincomalee Bay | |
 | |
  Trincomalee | |
| Coordinates:8°34′0″N81°14′0″E / 8.56667°N 81.23333°E /8.56667; 81.23333 | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | Eastern |
| District | Trincomalee |
| DS Division | Trincomalee Town & Gravets |
| Government | |
| • Type | Urban Council |
| Area | |
• Total | 7.5 km2 (2.9 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 8 m (26 ft) |
| Population (2012) | |
• Total | 99,135 |
| • Density | 13,000/km2 (34,000/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Trincomalians |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+6 |
Trincomalee (English:/ˌtrɪŋkoʊməˈliː/;Tamil:திருக்கோணமலை,romanized: Tirukkōṇamalai,IPA:[t̪iɾukːoːɳɐmɐlɛi̯];Sinhala:ත්රිකුණාමළය,romanized: Trikuṇāmaḷaya,IPA:[t̪rikunaːmələjə]), also known historically asGokanna andGokarna,[1] is the administrative headquarters of theTrincomalee District and major resort port city ofEastern Province,Sri Lanka. Located on the east coast of the island overlooking theTrincomalee Harbour, Trincomalee has been one of the main centres ofSri Lankan Tamil speaking culture on the island for nearly a millennium.[2] With a population of 99,135,[3] the city is built on apeninsula of the same name, which divides its inner and outer harbours. It is home to the famousKoneswaram temple from where it developed and earned its historic Tamil nameThirukonamalai. The town is home to other historical monuments such as theBhadrakali Amman Temple, Trincomalee, the Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall and, opened in 1897, theTrincomalee Hindu College. Trincomalee is also the site of theTrincomalee railway station and an ancient ferry service to Jaffna and the south side of the harbour atMuttur.
Trincomalee was made into a fortified port town following thePortuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom, changing hands between theDanish in 1620, theDutch, theFrench following abattle of theAmerican Revolutionary War and theBritish in 1795, being absorbed into theBritish Ceylon state in 1815. The city's architecture shows some of the best examples of interaction between native and European styles. Attacked by theJapanese as part of theIndian Ocean raid duringWorld War II in 1942, the city and district were affected after Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, when the political relationship between Tamil and Sinhalese peopledeteriorated, erupting into civil war. It is home to major naval and air force bases at theTrincomalee Garrison. The city also has the largest Dutchfort on the island.
TheTrincomalee Bay, bridged by theMahavilli Ganga River to the south, the historical "Gokarna" in Sanskrit, means "Cow's Ear", akin to other sites ofSiva worship across the Indian subcontinent. Uniquely, Trincomalee is aPancha Ishwaram, aPaadal Petra Sthalam, aMaha Shakta pitha and Murugan Tiruppadai of Sri Lanka; its sacred status to the Hindus has led to it being declared "Dakshina-Then Kailasam" or "Mount Kailash of the South" and the "Rome of the Pagans of the Orient". The harbour is renowned for its large size and security; unlike any other in theIndian Ocean, it is accessible in all weathers to all craft. It has been described as the "finest harbour in the world" and by the British, "the most valuable colonial possession on the globe, as giving to our Indian Empire a security which it had not enjoyed from elsewhere".[citation needed]
The city has developed from a village settlement on the promontory dedicated to theHindu shrine. The origin of the termKo,Kone andKonatha lies in theOld Tamil word for the terms "Lord", "King" or "Chief", which allude to the deity that presides here; this term appears in severalTamil Brahmi inscriptions of the 6th century BCE — 2nd century CE. Trincomalee, the coastal peninsula town where Koneswaram is located is an anglicized form of the old Tamil word "Thiru-kona-malai" (Tamil:திருக்கோணமலை), meaning "Lord of the Sacred Hill", its earliest reference in this form found in theTevaram of the 7th century bySambandhar.Thiru is a generally used epithet denoting a "sacred" temple site whileMalai means mountain or hill;Middle Tamil manuscripts and inscriptions mention the monumental compound shrine as theThirukonamalai Konesar Kovil.[4][5][6][7]Kona (Tamil:கோண) has other meanings in Old Tamil such aspeak, while another origin for the termKoneswaram could come from the Tamil termKuna (East). Therefore, other translators suggest definitions of Trincomalee such as "sacred angular/peaked hill", "sacred eastern hill" or "three peaked hill".[8][9][10] The temple was constructed atop Swami Rock, also called Swami Malai or Kona-ma-malai, a cliff on the peninsula that drops 400 feet (120 metres) directly into the sea.[4][11][12]
TheTrincomalee Harbour, a circular natural harbour which the temple crowns towards the north, is referred to asKo-Kannam or "Lord's Cheek", alluding to the cheek shape of Shiva's bullNandi. TheSanskrit equivalent of the port town's harbour bay isGo-Karna, meaning "Cow's Ear" orGokarna Pattana and the deity's nameGokarneswara orGo—Natha in Sanskrit.Pathmanathan offers the etymological linkThiru-Gokarna-Malai orThiru-Gona-Malai based on this connection.[13]
The ethnographerMegasthenes writing in hisIndica from 350 — 290 BCE, describes the island as being divided by a long river, productive of a large number of gold and pearls in one half and that the inhabitants of this country are calledPaleogoni, meaningOld Goni in Tamil andGreek, whoPliny adds worshippedHercules andDionysus (Bacchus) like the Pandyans of Tamilakam. TheVayu Purana, written in 300 CE specifically mentions the tallest mountain peak of the great gold and silver rich mountain rangeMalaya on the island, and that "to the east of this island at the shore of the sea lies a great Siva temple in a holy place calledGokarna."[14] The bay is also referred to asGokaranna according to a Sanskrit inscription in Grantha script excavated on a doorjamb at the Hindu temple dated toTamil New Years Day 1223 CE.[15]Gokarna is also a place namein Karnataka, India,Kalinga,Tamil Nadu andNepal all associated with ancient Shiva temples. The associatedBhadrakali Amman Temple of Trincomalee, significantly expanded byRajendra Chola I, stands on Konesar Road before the entrance to Swami Rock.[16]
Heralded as "Dakshina Kailasam"/"Then Kailasam" (Kailaas of the South) because it lies on exactly the same longitude as theTibetan mountainMount Kailash (the primary abode of Shiva), Trincomalee's traditional history and legends were compiled into the Sanskrit treatisesDakshina Kailasa Puranam — Sthala Puranam of Koneswaram, written in 1380 byJeyaveera Cinkaiariyan, and theDakshina Kailasa Manmiam — three chapters of theSkanda Puranam of unknown antiquity — manuscripts of which have been discovered and dated from the 5th — 7th century.[17][18] It was in thePuranas that the shrine first found reference asKoneiswara Parwatia, motivating Kullakottan Chola who learnt of its sanctity to sail to Trincomalee and develop the three Hindu temples of the Koneswaram compound.[19][20][21] The compiler of theYoga Sutras,Patañjali's place of birth at the temple corroboratesTirumular'sTirumandhiram, which describes him as hailing fromThen Kailasam and his self description as a "Gonardiya" fromGonarda, "a country in the southern and eastern division" of the Indian continent.[22][23] Both men were ardent disciples of Nandi.[24] TheKonesar Kalvettu uses the termTiri Kayilai, meaning "three Kailasams",Tiri Kutam andTiri Konam for Trincomalee, in a number of places, referring to the three pagodas on the promontory of Trincomalee.[25]
As per another legend, Vayu Bhaghvan and Adiseshan had a dispute to find out who is superior, to prove the superiority adiseshan encircled the Kailasam, Vayu tried to remove this encircle by creating santamarutham (Twister). Due to the santamarutham, eight (8) kodumudigal (parts) fell from kailasam into 8 different places: are Thirugonamalai (Trincomalee),Thirukalahasti,Thiruchiramalai,Thiruenkoimalai,Rajathagiri,Neerthagiri,Ratnagiri, and SuwethagiriThirupangeeli.[26]
Trincomalee which is a natural deep-water harbour has attracted seafarers, trader and pilgrims fromEurope,Middle East,Africa,China,East Asia andAustralasia since ancient times. Trinco, as it is commonly called, has been a seaport since 400 BCE. The earliestepigraphical inscriptions found in Trincomalee city are in theTamil language[citation needed]. The Tamil settlement at the port of Trincomalee was one of the oldest settlements on the island.[27] One inscription from 900 to 1000 CE belonging to theChola Dynasty excavated near where the promontory's first temple stood is from asluice and also concerns Koneswaram, as do the 10th centuryNilaveli inscriptions.[28][29][30]
Ancient texts, as well as an inscription unearthed by archeologists among itsHindu archaeological remains, call itGokarna in Sanskrit.[31] Over its long history, Trincomalee, and specifically the Swami Rock promontory, has housed several Kovil temples to deities of the Hindu pantheon, as well as aBuddhist vihara and a ChristianCatholic church, both introduced following invasions. A descendant ofEllalan of Anuradhapura,Kulakkottan, directed renovations of the Hindu temples and oversaw settlement of Tamils for their upkeep. Sacrificial and other cult practices at the Trincomalee promontory have been documented since theYakkha period, and were noted during the reigns ofPandukabhaya of Anuradhapura,Maha Naga of Anuradhapura andManavanna of Anuradhapura until the publication ofThe Life of Alexander Alexander in 1830. The worship of Eiswara is noted to have been the original worship of the island and the deity worshiped byKuveni, the ancient Yakkha queen; Charles Pridham, Jonathan Forbes andGeorge Turnour state that it is probable there is no more ancient form of worship existing than that ofEiswara upon his sacred promontory.[19][32][33]
In the earliest known literary reference to the Siva temple,Mahabharata, the Hindu epic written between 400 and 100 BCE, the temple of Gokarna Bay is in the middle of the ocean and is the island shrine ofUma's consort, known in the three worlds and worshiped by all natives of the island including the Nagas, Yakkhas, Siddhars and Devas, peoples from the subcontinent, the rivers, ocean and mountains.[34]Fasting there for three nights in worship of Siva asIshana, one acquireth the merit of the horse-sacrifice, and the status ofGanapatya. By staying there for twelve nights, one's soul is cleansed of all sins.Mahabharata continues that the shrine is the next pilgrimage spot for Hindus en route south followingKanyakumari of the early Pandyan kingdom andTamraparni island (Kudiramalai).[35] In the same time period, theRamayana in written form describes how KingRavana and his mother had worshipped Siva at the shrine, when the former wanted to remove the temple of Koneswaram when his mother was in ailing health around 2000 BCE. This literature continues that as the king was heaving the rock, Lord Siva made him drop hissword. As a result of this a cleft was created on the rock, today calledRavana Vettu – meaningRavana's Cleft. Upon her death, her last rites were performed at theKanniya Hot water springs in the Kanniya suburb of Trincomalee city.[5]
The Siva-worshippingSiddhar Patanjali's birth at the city in 180 BCE and its connections to another SiddharAgastya from at least the 5th–4th century BCE suggests thatYogaSun Salutation originated on the promontory of Trincomalee.[18][36][37][38] One of Trincomalee's suburbs, Kankuveli is home to ruins of the Tamil Siddhar medical university established by Agastya, the "Agathiyar Thapanam", which alongside his other shrines atSivan Oli Padam Malai, helped spreadTamraparniyan science across the continent during the pre-classical era.[39][37] TheVayu Purana refers to theSiva temple onTrikuta hill on the eastern coast of Lanka once again in the 3rd century.[14]Another mention is found in the 5th century CEMahavamsa where KingVijaya brought his nephew Panduvasdeva to land at the bay in the 4th century BC. TheYalpana Vaipava Malai asserts that Vijaya restored the Koneswaram temple andthe other four Eswarams upon arrival.Mahasena of Anuradhapura, according to theMahavamsa and the laterCulavamsa, destroyed the devalaya temple compound in Trincomalee housing Siva lingas in it, and built aMahayana Buddhist edifice in its stead. He destroyed the Hindu temple to appease monks of theAnuradhapura Maha Viharaya who themselves had been antagonized by Mahasen. He worked under the tutelage of Sangamitta, theTamil Buddhist monk from theearly Chola country, who had intervened to avenge the persecution of Vetullavada adherents during the TamraparniyanAbhayagiri versus Maha Viharaya sectarianism in Anuradhapura.[40] This explains some of the Buddhist archeological remains in the region. By the reign ofSilakala Ambosamanera of Anuradhapura, Trincomalee bay again is mentioned as the furthest spot down the river Mahavalli Ganga which must be protected from "the enemy in Rohana"; and Trincomalee is noted as a theatre of magic, where Naga snakes were manifested to foretell the consecration of Maha Naga of Anuradhapura.[41] It was not long before the Siva temple's concurrent re-establishment on the promontory by the 6th century following the rise of the Pallava dynasty. TheMattakallappu Manmiyam ofBatticaloa confirms Trincomalee's sacred status for all Hindus.[42]
Early Tamil dynasties continued to employ the city as the prefectural capital of theTrincomalee District, allowing administrative duties to be handled by electedVanniar chiefs. Inscriptions ofKassapa IV,Udaya III andMahinda IV of Anuradhapura, reveal that lands and villages of Tamils in the island's northeast were prospering, particularly followingSrimara Srivallabha's intervention againstSena I of Anuradhapura.[43] ThePallava kings, includingSimhavishnu andNarasimhavarman I were important in the early history of Trincomalee because of the increased significance of the city to Hinduism and trade in the early centuries of the common era, making sure to contribute elements of their unique style ofDravidian architecture to the city.[44][45] During the reign ofMahendravarman I in 600, as oneAggabodhi II of Anuradhapura took steps to attack the Vanniar chiefs between Trincomalee and Mannar,Tevaram hymns were composed on the two holy cities, one of which, written bySambandar, lauded the deity of the temples in each and lamented the schemes of other heretical faiths encroaching on Trincomalee.[46][47][48] Mahendravarman I gave much assistance and military aid to his friend Manavanna of Anuradhapura, and he proceeded to build a twin temple calledKokarneswarar Temple, Thirukokarnam inPudukkottai, Tamil Nadu.[49]
Following the conquest ofParantaka I in 950,Rajaraja Chola I andRajendra Chola I oversaw the city's development when under their empire. A significant expansion of theBhadrakali Amman Temple, Trincomalee by Rajendra Chola I increased pilgrimage to the city. Trincomalee was used by Chola king Ilankesvarar Tevar as his eastern port in the 11th century and prospered under theVannimai chieftaincies of theJaffna kingdom.[50] Two powerful merchant guilds of the time – theManigramam and theFive Hundred Lords of Ayyavolu emerged in the region during Chola trade with the far east and the conquest ofSrivijaya of theMalay Archipelago.[51][52][53]
The Koneswaram temple compounds, the city and its adjacent region, from Periyakulam and Manankerni in the north,Kantalai and Pothankadu in the west, and Verugal in the south, formed a great Saiva Tamil principality of the island's state Mummudi Chola Mandalam.[51] Residents in this collective community were allotted services, which they had to perform at the Koneswaram temple.[51] AJain sect in Nilaveli had even complained toGajabahu II about the priests of Koneswaram. Following some benefaction of the shrine by Gajabahu II, his successor KingParakramabahu I used Trincomalee as his eastern port, to launch a successful invasion ofBurma in the 12th century.Kalinga Magha used the city as a garrison point during his rule. The city was governed byJatavarman Sundara Pandyan I and Jatavarman Veera Pandyan I of thePandyans in the 13th century, despite invasions from and the eventual subduing ofChandrabhanu andSavakanmaindan ofTambralinga ofThailand; it then remained in the Pandyan empire ofMaravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I and remnants of Pandyan art and architecture still stand in Trincomalee.[5]
Magha's reign oustedParakrama Pandyan II and re-consolidated Tamil sovereign power in the island's north, north west and north east in Trincomalee by 1215; during Magha's reign, the temple and city underwent rich development in the name of a Chodaganga Deva onPuthandu, 1223.[15] After the fall of the Pandyans ofTamilakam due to invasions byMuhammad bin Tughluq of theDelhi Sultanate, Trincomalee rose in status in the Jaffna kingdom, often visited by KingSingai Pararasasegaram and his successor KingCankili I in the following centuries.[54]
Trincomalee served a similar purpose to its west coast sister city,Mannar. KingJeyaveera Cinkaiariyan had the traditional history of the Koneswaram temple compiled as a chronicle in verse, titledDakshina Kailasa Puranam, known today as theSthala Puranam of Koneswaram Temple.[21] Mariners were particularly excited when observing the massive shrine from afar in the sea. Building blocks from the city were used to expand theKovil at Rameswaram under the patronage of kingGunaveera Cinkaiariyan.[55][56] At this time, Trincomalee was trading pearls, precious stones, vessels, elephants, muslins, baqam and cinnamon, and was passed by Chinese voyagerMa Huan by ship, eight days from theNicobar islands, on his way toTenavaram temple.[57][58] The Tamil country had established a strong alliance withYemen and the Delhi Sultinate underMartanda Cinkaiariyan which attracted seafaring merchants from East Africa and the Middle East to its ports.[59] An inlet of Trincomalee, Nicholson Cove became the site of a small Arab settlement by the 13th and 14th century. The Nicholson Cove Tombstone inscriptions at Trincomalee refer to the deceased as the daughter of the chief Badriddin Husain Bin Ali Al-Halabi, showing that her family hailed from Halab (Aleppo) inSyria.[60] TheTamil Bell ofNew Zealand assigned to the Pandyan era belonged to sea traders that likely originated from Trincomalee. The city even attractedArunagirinathar in 1468, who traversed thePada Yatra pilgrimage route fromNallur Kandaswamy temple toKatirkamam while stopping to pay homage to Koneswaram'sMurukan shrine.[8][21]
By the late 16th century,Portuguese Ceylon was beginning to influence the operations of the now princely Trincomalee district. Despite it being one of the smaller states of the island, given as an appenage to younger sons of royal houses and still being dependent on the Jaffna kingdom, the city had become one of the richest and the most visited place of Hindu worship in the world, declared the "Rome of the Pagans of the Orient" and "Rome of the Gentiles" by the Portuguese.[61][25] It hosted the Hindu funeral ofBhuvanekabahu VII of Kotte. The death of one of its kings, Vanniana Raja of Trincomalee, left his young son, the Prince of Trincomalee under the guardianship of his uncle. Trincomalee was annexed byCankili I to bring it back under Jaffna control, forcing the boy king into exile. He was eventually baptised as Raja Alphonsus of Trincomalee and taken under the wing of the missionaryFrancis Xavier.[61] The rise of Francis Xavier and the migration of Portuguese soldiers to Trincomalee, conversions to Christianity by some residents and royals in the 1500s saw the erection of churches in the city. Koneswaram is described by Jesuit priests at this time as being a "... massive structure, a singular work of art. It is of great height, constructed with wonderful skill in blackish granite, on a rock projecting into the sea, and occupies a large space on the summit".[62]
The Trincomalee and Batticaloa chiefdoms starting paying direct tributes to the Portuguese commander inMannar from 1582 as Portuguese influence over the entire North east gained momentum. An annual sum of 1280fanams was levied from the Koneswaram temple, and they collected a duty on areca nuts exported through the Trincomalee and Batticaloa ports.[63] Jaffna had given minimal logistical access to its Trincomalee and Batticaloa seaports to theKandyan kingdom to secure military advantages against its enemies; this was used by their influential European overlords to consolidate power in the region. In 1603, the first Dutch fleet arrives at Trincomalee and Batticaloa ports.[64]
In 1612, D. Hieronymo de Azevedo, after great difficulties due to torrential rains, arrived at Trincomalee with a Portuguese contingent from Kandy. Here de Azevedo "was keen on building a fort" to the scope; he called in aid from KingEthirimana Cinkam of Jaffna but not seeing him, he abandoned the enterprise and he marched towards Jaffna.[65][66] The early death ofCankili I brought upon by thePortuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom saw all the territory of the kingdom of Jaffna, comprising both Trincomalee andBatticaloa, assigned to the "spiritual cures of the Franciscans". The Jesuits followed the Portuguese soldiers to Trincomalee and Batticaloa when they occupied the two localities.[65][66][67]
The buildings of Trincomalee were of masonry, thatched with leaves of bamboo and rattan, although the Pagodas and the Palace of the King were covered with copper, silver and gold. The metropolis had grown with well-built houses and streets that were cleaned regularly and were well adorned. TheDanish arrived in Trincomalee at the end of 1619 with a first ship, called "Øresund" under the command of Roelant Crape. This small expedition was the vanguard of another Danish fleet, composed of four vessels and 300 soldiers, commanded byOve Giedde, that reached the island in May 1620. They wanted to try their fortune in the Asian seas; the Danish expedition occupied Koneswaram temple. It was here that the Danes began the works for the fortification of the peninsula.[68]
Following the destruction of the Koneswaram compound and theFort of Triquinimale built from its ruins, Trincomalee had a Portuguese force during the reign ofRajasinghe II ofKandy.Constantino de Sá de Noronha who destroyed one of the temples had a copy of the oldest inscription inTamil Brahmi sent to Portugal for the purpose of identification. The Tamil inscription contains a prophecy on the city and its temple, a copy of which was sent and is retained inThe Hague. In a 1638 letter to Dutch Colonial GovernorAnthony van Diemen, an officer mentions that Trincomalee is a "fort built rather strongly of hard stones from an old pagoda round the hillock. On each side there is a sandy and rocky bay and it is like a peninsula". Rajasinghe finally formed an alliance with theDutch, who captured the Fort of Triquinimale in 1639 and handed it to the Kandyans for destruction in 1643. In 1660, the Dutch built the presentFort Fredrick at the foot of the promontory which they called Pagoda Hill, and another fort at the mouth of the harbour home to Dutch officers,Fort Ostenburg.[4] An English sea captain and his son, the writer namedRobert Knox, came ashore by chance near Trincomalee and were captured and held in captivity by the Kandyan king in 1659. The Kandyans then pursued a scorched earth policy to try and oust the Dutch and take Trincomalee and Batticaloa on the east coast. TheFrench set up base in Trincomalee in the Spring of 1672, and tried to make overtures to the Kandyans, but an alliance was not sealed; by July 1672, Trincomalee was retaken by the Dutch fleet.[69]
The city had rejoined the Coylot Vanni Country by the start of the 18th century, with much of the city's population having moved across the district following the temple's destruction.[4] It was about three centuries after Norochcho and Knox that serious attempts at translating the temple's ancient writings were made. The Dutch ruled the Tamil country with increased focus on districts like the Vannimai, Trincomalee andBatticaloa; theVanniar chiefs of Trincomalee and the rest of the Vanni became subordinates and were put back under the commandment of Jaffna with a large degree ofautonomy, but forced to pay forty elephants a year to the Dutch company.[70] As tributaries, they recovered from Portuguese rule slowly under Dutch rule, and the Batticaloa district served as a dependency of the Fort of Trincomalee until 1782.[4][70] The state of the region and the Tamils fears for the town and theKantalai tank is described in considerable detail by the Dutch Governor of Trincomalee,J. F. Van Senden, in the diary of his visit in June 1786 with a view to revitalising agricultural production around the Trincomalee district. The population was a shadow of what it had been in times of prosperity.[70] What he saw were people who had lost much of their traditional skill and often living close to subsistence level. Van Senden made the first record of theKankuveli Tamil inscription dealing with a large field dedicated to Koneswaram temple. He was struck by the contrast between the prosperity signified by the inscription and what he then saw in the village. Trincomalee town remained underVanni administration.[70][71]
Jacob Burnand, aSwiss soldier in the service of the Dutch and the Governor of Batticaloa, composed a memoir on his administration there in 1794, noting Trincomalee to be an important fortified town in the Tamil nation.[72] Trincomalee's fort was occupied by the Dutch for most of the 18th century, and subsequently by the French who fought and won theBattle of Trincomalee as part of theAmerican Revolutionary War in 1782 at the city.[73]
On 8 January 1782, theBritish captured Trincomalee's forts from the Dutch, the first place on the island they captured. The French recaptured it on 29 August of the same year after the Battle of Trincomalee. In 1783 the French ceded it to the British and subsequently, Britain ceded Trincomalee back to theDutch Republic under the 1783Peace of Paris. In 1795 the Britishrecaptured the city and held it until Sri Lanka's independence in 1948, with a claimed aim of "preventingNapoleon invading the colony" if left under the Dutch. Their rule is sealed with theTreaty of Amiens, and the last Vanniar,Pandara Vannian is executed by the British – a pension is paid to his widow, the Vannichi, until the late 19th century. The British officerAlexander Johnston discovered a stone epigraph, the oldest of the province ofTrincomalee District, in ancient characters concerning the traditional founder of Trincomalee and the temple, Kullakottan Chola. The French admiralPierre André de Suffren de Saint Tropez, when with his fleet in the city in 1781 had sent a copy of the inscription toAbraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron of France for translation.[74]
The shipHMS Trincomalee was built during the early 19th century by Indian workers to aid them in theNapoleonic Wars, and named after the city. The importance of Fort Fredrick was due to Trincomalee's natural harbour. Through Trincomalee, it was believed a strong naval force could secure control of India'sCoromandel Coast and the rest of theIndian Ocean. The British admiralHoratio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson called Trincomalee "the finest harbour in the world", while the British Prime MinisterWilliam Pitt the Younger called the city "the most valuable colonial possession on the globe, as giving to our Indian Empire a security which it had not enjoyed from its establishment" and the harbour "the finest and most advantageous Bay in the whole of India". In the 19th century, theTrincomali Channel ofBritish Columbia,Canada was built and named after the city's name.[75] A Tamil press is established in Jaffna in 1820; a report on Trincomalee laments its sorry, poverty-stricken state and recommends 'colonization with intelligent settlers'. By 1827, TheReturn of the Population 1824 is published, giving the total population figures for Trincomalee as 19,158 – Tamils and among them 317 Sinhalese. The Vanni, counted under Mannar, has 22,536 inhabitants, among them 517 Sinhalese.[citation needed]
Before theSecond World War, the British built a large airfield to house theirRAF base, called theRAF China Bay and fuel storage and support facilities for the British fleets there. After the fall ofSingapore, Trincomalee became the home port of theEastern Fleet of theRoyal Navy, and submarines of theDutch Navy. Trincomalee harbour and airfield were attacked by a carrier fleet of theImperial Japanese Navy in April 1942 in theIndian Ocean Raid of the war. However, the installation later served as an important launching point for British naval operations in 1944 and 1945.[76]
One of the places inhabited by the British was Fort Fredrick, now controlled by theSri Lankan Army. Some of the old buildings in the fort were used as residences, including one previously occupied by theDuke of Wellington. In the early 1950s the British Government built groups of bungalows within the fort specifically for their employees. These bungalows today provide accommodation for the Sri Lankan Army. There was a large Naval Hospital which catered for sick and injured British naval personnel from all over the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.[citation needed]
With the turn of the modern era, English authors and poets used Trincomalee as inspiration for literature and poetry and became connected with the city.Arthur C. Clarke, who discovered the temple's underwater ruins with photographer Mike Wilson, described the city and the ruins inReefs of Taprobane and would go on to write2001: A Space Odyssey based on his experiences in the city. Trincomalee's Bhadrakali Amman temple provides a setting inWilbur Smith's novelBirds of Prey.Arthur Conan Doyle'sSherlock Holmes stories feature multiple settings in the city, including inA Scandal in Bohemia andA Singular Affair at Trincomalee.Jane Austen's younger brother,Charles, of the British Royal Navy is buried in Trincomalee.[citation needed]
In 1950, one of the original shrine'sgold andcopper alloybronze statues from the 10th century CE of a seated figure of Shiva (in the form ofSomaskanda), Shiva asChandrasekhar, his consort goddessParvati, a statue of the goddess Mathumai Ambal and later LordGanesh were found by theUrban Council of Trincomalee buried 500 yards from the promontory's end while digging for awater well.[8][77] They were taken in procession around the region before being reinstalled amid opening ceremonies in one of the newly restored shrines of the compound on 3 March 1963.[5] The naval and air bases were taken over by Sri Lanka in 1957. Following independence from Britain, the political relationship between Tamils and Sinhalese deteriorated across the island. Interest surrounding Trincomalee was increased due to its geostrategic position and the discovery of its underwater and land Hindu ruins. In 1968, the unity government of majority Sinhalese dominatedUnited National Party and the minority Tamil dominatedITAK Federal Party collapsed over disagreements about declaring the holy Hindu site a protected area. A committee appointed by a Federal Party Minister to study the viability of declaring the site protected was disbanded without consultation by theprime minister at the time,Dudley Senanayake. The Federal Party withdrew its support to the government following that action.[78][79][80][81] According to journalists like T. Sabaratnam, this incident had severe repercussions alongside thecontributing factors of the civil war. The city and its district were severely affected by the 30-yearcivil war that followed.
In the mid-1980s, India became concerned that the US Navy might gain access to Trincomalee. India was suspicious about goodwill visits by the US Navy to the port and Sri Lankan proposals to contract out the refurbishment of oil storage tanks and modernisation of port facilities at Trincomalee.[82] On 3 March 2023, President Ranil Wickremesinghe instructed the petroleum minister and officials to promptly implement a strategy to revitalize the Trincomalee oil tank farm and integrate it into the nation's economy.[83]
Today SLNS Tissa and SLN Dockyard are used by theSri Lankan Navy, while theSri Lanka Air Force is based atChina Bay Airport. TheSri Lanka Army has itsSecurity Forces Headquarters - East in Trincomalee. TheTrincomalee War Cemetery is one of the six commonwealth war cemeteries in Sri Lanka. It is maintained by Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence on behalf of theCommonwealth War Graves Commission. The base is home to a naval museum called theHoods Tower Museum. The name refers to a watchtower built on a hill commanding a 360-degree view of the harbor and the bay.
In the aftermath of the2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, Trincomalee was a focal point for relief efforts on the eastern coast of Sri Lanka.[84]
Trincomalee is sacred toSri Lankan Tamils and Hindus around the world. The city has manyHindu sites of historical importance. These sites are sacred to the Hindus and some Buddhists also worship at these Hindu sites.
Prominent sites include the Koneswaram temple compound, itsBhadrakali temple on Konesar Road, and the Salli Muthumariamman Kovil of Uppuveli beach in the Trincomalee suburb of Sambalativu.[8]
The Koneswaram temple, with a recorded history from the 3rd century BCE and legends attesting toclassical antiquity attracted pilgrims from all parts of India. The shrine itself was demolished in 1622 by the Portuguese (who called it the Temple of a Thousand Columns), and who fortified the heights with the materials derived from its destruction. Some of the artifacts from the demolished temple were kept in the Lisbon Museum including the stone inscription by Kulakottan (Kunakottan). The site's ruins include an emblem including two fish and is engraved with a prophecy stating that, after the 16th century, westerners with different eye colours will rule the country for 500 years and, at the end of it, rule will revert to the northerners (Vadukkus. The Hindu temple was also documented in several medieval texts such as theKonesar Kalvettu[13] and theDakshina Kailasa Puranam.[85]
The entrance to the roadway leading to Koneswaram is actually the entrance to what used to beFort Fredrick. The fort was built in 1623 by the Portuguese and captured in 1639 by the Dutch. It then went through a phase of dismantling and reconstruction and was attacked and captured by the British in 1782, during theFourth Anglo-Dutch War. The French then took it from the British, and handed it back to the Dutch for a large sum of money. In 1795, when the French had occupied theDutch Republic during theWar of the First Coalition, it was again taken over by the British, who named it Fort Frederick.[86]
Trincomalee's strategic importance has shaped its recent history. The great European powers vied for mastery of the harbour. The Portuguese, the Dutch, the French, and the British, each held it in turn, and there have been many sea battles nearby.
The harbour, the fifth largest natural harbour in the world, is overlooked by terraced highlands, its entrance is guarded by two headlands, and there is a carriage road along its northern and eastern edges.
In 2015, India and Sri Lanka agreed to develop South Asia's largest oil depot at a port near Trincomalee.Indian Oil Corporation will work with the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation to develop the Upper Tank Farm at the abandoned World War II port, known as China Bay.[87]
Trincomalee has some of the most picturesque and scenic beaches found in Sri Lanka, relatively unspoilt and clean. The area is famous for bathing and swimming, owing to the relative shallowness of the sea, allowing one to walk out over a hundred meters into the sea without the water reaching the chest. Whale watching is a common pastime in the seas off Trincomalee, and successful sightings are on the rise with the increase of tourism in the area.[88]
Marble Beach is located 16 km (10 miles) from Trincomalee.[89]
There are the sevenhot springs of Kanniya (Kan = stone; niya = land), on the road to Trincomalee. A high wall bounds the rectangular enclosure which includes all seven springs. Each is in turn enclosed by a dwarf wall to form a well.
Trincomalee features atropical wet and dry climate (As) under theKöppen climate classification. The city features adry season from April through August and awet season for the remainder of the year. The city sees on average roughly 1,570 millimetres (62 in) of precipitation annually. Average temperatures in Trincomalee range from around 26 °C (79 °F) in December and January to approximately 30 °C (86 °F) during the warmest months of the year from April through September. Extreme temperatures in the city range from 16.5 °C (61.7 °F) on 9 December 2022 to 39.8 °C (103.6 °F) on 13 May 1890.[90]
| Climate data for Trincomalee (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 34.8 (94.6) | 35.4 (95.7) | 39.2 (102.6) | 39.0 (102.2) | 39.8 (103.6) | 39.5 (103.1) | 39.0 (102.2) | 39.4 (102.9) | 39.5 (103.1) | 38.7 (101.7) | 36.2 (97.2) | 33.4 (92.1) | 39.8 (103.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28.9 (84.0) | 30.1 (86.2) | 31.7 (89.1) | 33.4 (92.1) | 35.2 (95.4) | 35.4 (95.7) | 35.3 (95.5) | 35.3 (95.5) | 34.8 (94.6) | 32.4 (90.3) | 29.8 (85.6) | 28.8 (83.8) | 32.6 (90.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.5 (79.7) | 27.2 (81.0) | 28.2 (82.8) | 29.5 (85.1) | 30.6 (87.1) | 30.9 (87.6) | 30.6 (87.1) | 30.3 (86.5) | 30.1 (86.2) | 28.5 (83.3) | 26.9 (80.4) | 26.3 (79.3) | 28.8 (83.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 24.0 (75.2) | 24.3 (75.7) | 24.8 (76.6) | 25.5 (77.9) | 26.2 (79.2) | 26.3 (79.3) | 25.8 (78.4) | 25.5 (77.9) | 25.1 (77.2) | 24.5 (76.1) | 24.0 (75.2) | 23.8 (74.8) | 25.0 (77.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 18.5 (65.3) | 18.2 (64.8) | 19.5 (67.1) | 19.0 (66.2) | 19.1 (66.4) | 20.6 (69.1) | 21.2 (70.2) | 20.2 (68.4) | 18.7 (65.7) | 18.7 (65.7) | 18.7 (65.7) | 16.5 (61.7) | 16.5 (61.7) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 152.4 (6.00) | 96.1 (3.78) | 71.8 (2.83) | 54.8 (2.16) | 48.1 (1.89) | 25.9 (1.02) | 51.0 (2.01) | 66.6 (2.62) | 112.6 (4.43) | 215.6 (8.49) | 375.6 (14.79) | 339.0 (13.35) | 1,609.3 (63.36) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 8.4 | 4.7 | 4.0 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 1.9 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 5.7 | 12.8 | 17.9 | 15.0 | 86.3 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%)(at Daytime) | 75 | 72 | 71 | 70 | 64 | 58 | 60 | 61 | 63 | 71 | 78 | 80 | 69 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 257.3 | 268.4 | 300.7 | 279.0 | 263.5 | 231.0 | 235.6 | 244.9 | 207.0 | 217.0 | 171.0 | 167.4 | 2,842.8 |
| Mean dailysunshine hours | 8.3 | 9.5 | 9.7 | 9.3 | 8.5 | 7.7 | 7.6 | 7.9 | 6.9 | 7.0 | 5.7 | 5.4 | 7.8 |
| Source 1:NOAA (humidity, 1961–1990)[91][92] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:Deutscher Wetterdienst (sun, 1975–1983),[93] Department of Meteorology (records up to 2007)[90] | |||||||||||||
Trincomalee is on the eastern end of theA6 andA12 highways in Sri Lanka, as well as the northern end of theA15.
The city is also served bySri Lanka Railways. Trincomalee Railway Station is the terminus of Trincomalee-bound rail services, the majority of which originate fromColombo Fort.[94] The station lies close to the northern coast and beaches of the city.
German broadcasterDeutsche Welle operated a shortwave and mediumwave relay station in Trincomalee, which was handed over to theSri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in 2013. It was not adversely affected by thetsunami of 2004 because of the sea terrain around Trincomalee.Deutsche Welle started broadcasting from Trincomalee Relay Station in 1984. Its transmitter were mostly used by theAdventist World Radio.
TheNaval and Maritime Academy of theSri Lanka Navy and theAir Force Academy of theSri Lanka Air Force is situated in Trincomalee. It was first established in 1967, and gained university status in 2001.[95] TheEastern University of Sri Lanka, which has its main campus inBatticaloa, also has a campus in Trincomalee.
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)Koneswaram temple. Tiru-Kona-malai, sacred mountain of Kona or Koneser, Iswara or Siva. The date of building the original temple is given as 1580, BCE. according to a Tamil poem by Kavi Raja Virothayan translated into English in 1831 by Simon Cassie Chitty...
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)The inscription, found in the Hindu temple premises dates the landing ofChodaganga Deva atGokaranna to Friday 14th April, 1223 CE (recorded asSaka Era Year 1145), and details donations this royal made to Konamamalai temple
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)The Malabars call it Tirukonathamalei, or "the mountain of the sacred Konatha," from the Hindoo god of that name, who had formerly a temple on the summit of one of the hills there, which was celebrated over the whole of India...
The districts at the southern extremity of Batticaloa,Pannoa andPannaham are so called from the two Tamil wordspalen-nagai, the smiling babe.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)Queyroz compares Konesvaram to the famous Hindu temples in Rameswaram,Kanchipuram,Tirupatti, Tirumalai, Jagannath and Vaijayanthi and concludes that while these latter temples were well visited by the Hindus, the former had surpassed all the latter temples.
The Nilaveli inscription describes the land grant of 250 velion the coast to the Maccakesvaram (another name for Koneswaram) temple of Konaparvatam, Konamamalai from the localities Urakirikamam, Kirikanta and Kirikamam to the shrine ofNilakanta Mahadeva
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)The Dakshina Kailasa Manmiam, a chronicle on the history of the temple, notes that the Sage Agastya proceeded fromVetharaniam in South India to the Parameswara Shiva temple at Tirukarasai — now in ruins — on the bank of the Mavilli Gangai before worshipping at Koneswaram; from there he went to Maha Tuvaddapuri to worship Lord Ketheeswarar and finally settled down on the Podiya Hills
Of particular importance are the references in two Sanskrit dramas of the 9th century to the abode of Agastya shrines on Sivan Oli Padam Malai called Akastiya Stapanam, Trikutakiri and Ilankaitturai in the Trincomalee District where Koneswaram is located
Aditya Hridayam is another ancient practice which involves a variation of Sūrya Namaskāra. It is a procedure of saluting The Sun, taught to SriRama by Sage Agastya, before his fight with Ravana. It is described in the "Yuddha Kaanda" Canto 107 ofValmiki'sRamayana
{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)The earliest mention of the shrine is in the hymns of Thirugnana sambandar who sings of "Konamamalai, and of the peerless God, who dwelled on Konamamalai, to the sound of roaring ocean, and rows of Kalal and the anklets, and half of whose body is shared by the Maid of the Mountains..."
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
8°34′N81°14′E / 8.567°N 81.233°E /8.567; 81.233
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