Vankalai
Encyclopedia
Mannar District
Mannar district is one of the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters is located in Mannar, Sri Lanka...
of the Northern Province
Northern Province, Sri Lanka
The Northern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was...
of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. It lies along the Naanaattan Road with the sea on its west connects to Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. The shores from Vankalai 20 km south to the ancient Tamil subsidiary port of Kudiramalai
Kudiramalai
Kudiramalai is a headland cape, point and ancient port town on the west coast of Sri Lanka. It was once a flourishing emporium of international trade and the capital of an ancient Kingdom based in Jaffna peninsula of the Naka, before the capital was moved to Nallur in the medieval period...
formed the world's most famous pearl
Pearl
A pearl is a hard object produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is made up of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other...
fishing banks in the classical and medieval periods. Its northern boundary is the historic Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
shrine of Thiru Ketheeswaram
Ketheeswaram temple
Ketheeswaram temple is an ancient Hindu temple in Mannar, Northern Province Sri Lanka. Overlooking the ancient period Tamil port towns of Manthai and Kudiramalai, the temple has lay in ruins, been restored, renovated and enlarged by various royals and devotees throughout its history...
.
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 become now one the largest village in Mannar. Currently its population figure is a little over 8,000. Vankalai is inhabited mainly by members of the Bharatha community.The Portuguese invasion and destruction of the Tamil territories between 1505–1658 caused most of Mannar including villages such as Vankalai to become Catholic villages.
In the center of this village there is a huge ancient Catholic church called Our Lady of St. Anne's Church.