Chilaw
Encyclopedia
Chilaw is a western seaboard town on the island of Sri Lanka
.It is a bustling town with a famous fishmarket and beach. In the last few years several hotel developments have emerged in order to cater to the needs of tourists.
, situated in the historic Demala Pattuva
("Tamil division") region in the Puttalam District
. Every year people flock to Chilaw to observe the Munneswaram Festival. Traders sell various hand painted animals made out of clay such as the deer, money box tills and 'raban' (traditional hand drums) from stalls all over the town, during the Munneswaram Festival.
The main festivals celebrated at the temple include Navarathri
and Sivarathri. The former is a nine-day long festival in honour of the presiding Goddess, while the latter is an over-night observation in honour of Lord Shiva. In addition to these two Hindu festivals, the temple has a festival of its own, the Munneswaram festival, a four-week long event attended by Hindus, Buddhists, Catholics, and Muslims.
and his brother Victor Corea
who lived in the town, the brothers founded the Chilaw Association and the Ceylon National Congress and campaigned hard for the independence of Ceylon. The Corea Family have had a strong link with Chilaw. There is a saying in Sri Lanka that Chilaw is well known for the three 'C's' - Crabs, Coconuts and Coreas.
Sri Lankan author Kumari Jayawardena, writing about the Coreas said: 'Unconnected to the liquor trade but making their money on plantation ventures was the Corea Family of Chilaw, an influential goyigama group with a history going back to Portuguese rule when they were warriors to Sinhala kings. During Dutch and British rule, members of the family were officials serving the state in various ways and rewarded with titles.Some members of the family took to the legal and medical professions, most notably the sons of Charles Edward Corea (a solicitor), who were active in local politics and in the Chilaw Association which campaigned against British land policies - especially the Waste Lands Ordinance, and for political reforms. The most active of Corea's sons was C.E.(Charles Edgar) who spoke up for peasant rights and was militant in his stand against the government. He was President of the Ceylon National Congress in 1924. C.E.Corea's brother, Alfred Ernest, was a doctor and the youngest Victor Corea was a lawyer who achieved fame for leading a campaign (and going to jail) in 1922 to protest the Poll Tax on all males; he was the first President of the Ceylon Labour Union led by A.E.Goonesinha and was active in th Ceylon Labour Party. While being professionals and political activists, the Coreas were also important landowners. '
During his visit to Chilaw, Mahatma Gandhi was accorded a warm welcome by the people of Chilaw. He stayed for several days in a Corea home called 'Sigiriya,' the house was situated in the town and it was the central hub of the key visit. According to an article in the 'Sunday Observer' in Sri Lanka: 'When Mahatma Gandhi came to Ceylon he visited Chilaw to attend a banquet that was hosted by the Coreas at "Sigiriya" the house that belonged to Victor Corea's sister and husband. Here, Mahatma Gandhi presented a colour poster under the headline Fighters for Swaraj that featured all the national heroes of India each in oval shaped bust size photographs to Victor Corea as his photograph too was included in the poster amongst the political giants of India. This alone was a glowing tribute to the campaign for freedom, initiated by Victor Corea that was somewhat similar to the campaign conducted in India. '
of the House of Representatives of Ceylon from 1967-1970. Harindra Corea
was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister
of the Government of Sri Lanka in the 1990s and was also the member of parliament for Chilaw.
A well known son of Chilaw, Dr.Granville Fernando in his article 'Hail Chilaw, my Home town!' noted: 'Chilaw is known as 'Halawatha' in Sinhala.Chilaw in early times was not only a reputed sea port it was also famous for its pearl
fisheries. According to some writers like Donald Ferguson, Chilaw is connected with the Tamil
term 'Salapam' which means diving
. '
The writer, poet and musician, Herschel Pandithasekera who also went under the name of 'Gallinago
,' lived in Chilaw .He was well known for a song he had composed titled: 'I Love Chilaw.' Pandithasekera always played the ukelele instrument when he sang his composition.
club in Sri Lanka called the 'Marians Cricket Club.' They play their home games at Colombo Cricket Club Ground
. The club has won the one day Tournament in 2005 Sri Lankan first class competition. They have been successful in limited overs cricket, Chilaw reached the final of the International 20:20 Club Championship in 2005.
of Chilaw. St.Mary’s College was handed over to the Government of Sri Lanka on 8 October 1962. On 1 January 1963 the entire property of Mr.Henry de Costa’s donation, together with annexed land and the Brothers’ building was vested in the Government.
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 is a bustling town with a famous fishmarket and beach. In the last few years several hotel developments have emerged in order to cater to the needs of tourists.
Munneswaram Temple
Tourists visit the well known Hindu temple located in MunneswaramMunneswaram
*Munneswaram temple - The Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva*Munneswaram - The village in which the Munneswaram temple is situated...
, situated in the historic Demala Pattuva
Demala Pattuva
Demala Hatpattu 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. Demela Hatpattu was named as such because at its time of creation, it was...
("Tamil division") region in the Puttalam District
Puttalam District
Puttalam is a district situated near to the west coast of Sri Lanka. It has an area of . Along with the Kurunegala District, it formulates the North Western Province of Sri Lanka. The district capital is Puttalam, which borders the Kala Oya and Modaragam Aru in the north, Anuradhapura District and...
. Every year people flock to Chilaw to observe the Munneswaram Festival. Traders sell various hand painted animals made out of clay such as the deer, money box tills and 'raban' (traditional hand drums) from stalls all over the town, during the Munneswaram Festival.
The main festivals celebrated at the temple include Navarathri
Navarathri
Navratri, Navaratri, or Navarathri is a Hindu festival of worship of Shakti and dance & festivities. The word Navaratri literally means nine nights in Sanskrit, nava meaning nine and ratri meaning nights. During these nine nights and ten days, nine forms of Shakti/Devi are worshiped...
and Sivarathri. The former is a nine-day long festival in honour of the presiding Goddess, while the latter is an over-night observation in honour of Lord Shiva. In addition to these two Hindu festivals, the temple has a festival of its own, the Munneswaram festival, a four-week long event attended by Hindus, Buddhists, Catholics, and Muslims.
The visit of Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi, the 'Father of India,' visited Chilaw in November 1927 on his first and only journey to Ceylon. This was a historic visit - Gandhi was invited to Chilaw by the famed freedom fighters, Charles Edgar CoreaCharles Edgar Corea
-Early life:C.E.Corea was born in the west coast town of Chilaw, in Sri Lanka. His parents were Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea, a leading lawyer from Chilaw and Henritta Seneviratne. He was educated at the premier institution, Royal College Colombo where he excelled in his studies. He earned a...
and his brother Victor Corea
Victor Corea
Charles Edward Victor Seneviratne Corea was born in Chilaw, Sri Lanka on 29 January 1871 to Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea, a famous lawyer, and Henrietta Seneviratne. He was the youngest out of five children, three boys and two girls, Charles Edgar Corea, James Alfred Ernest Corea, Agnes Corea...
who lived in the town, the brothers founded the Chilaw Association and the Ceylon National Congress and campaigned hard for the independence of Ceylon. The Corea Family have had a strong link with Chilaw. There is a saying in Sri Lanka that Chilaw is well known for the three 'C's' - Crabs, Coconuts and Coreas.
Sri Lankan author Kumari Jayawardena, writing about the Coreas said: 'Unconnected to the liquor trade but making their money on plantation ventures was the Corea Family of Chilaw, an influential goyigama group with a history going back to Portuguese rule when they were warriors to Sinhala kings. During Dutch and British rule, members of the family were officials serving the state in various ways and rewarded with titles.Some members of the family took to the legal and medical professions, most notably the sons of Charles Edward Corea (a solicitor), who were active in local politics and in the Chilaw Association which campaigned against British land policies - especially the Waste Lands Ordinance, and for political reforms. The most active of Corea's sons was C.E.(Charles Edgar) who spoke up for peasant rights and was militant in his stand against the government. He was President of the Ceylon National Congress in 1924. C.E.Corea's brother, Alfred Ernest, was a doctor and the youngest Victor Corea was a lawyer who achieved fame for leading a campaign (and going to jail) in 1922 to protest the Poll Tax on all males; he was the first President of the Ceylon Labour Union led by A.E.Goonesinha and was active in th Ceylon Labour Party. While being professionals and political activists, the Coreas were also important landowners. '
During his visit to Chilaw, Mahatma Gandhi was accorded a warm welcome by the people of Chilaw. He stayed for several days in a Corea home called 'Sigiriya,' the house was situated in the town and it was the central hub of the key visit. According to an article in the 'Sunday Observer' in Sri Lanka: 'When Mahatma Gandhi came to Ceylon he visited Chilaw to attend a banquet that was hosted by the Coreas at "Sigiriya" the house that belonged to Victor Corea's sister and husband. Here, Mahatma Gandhi presented a colour poster under the headline Fighters for Swaraj that featured all the national heroes of India each in oval shaped bust size photographs to Victor Corea as his photograph too was included in the poster amongst the political giants of India. This alone was a glowing tribute to the campaign for freedom, initiated by Victor Corea that was somewhat similar to the campaign conducted in India. '
Famous sons of Chilaw
Some of the sons of Chilaw have gone on to represent the town with distinction in the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Srikuradas Charles Shirley Corea was a distinguished parliamentarian, MP for Chilaw and SpeakerSpeaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the House of Representatives of Ceylon from 1967-1970. Harindra Corea
Harindra Corea
Harindra Corea Barrister-at-Law, Attorney-at-Law, was a prominent Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament, who represented Chilaw, he was member of the United National Party of Sri Lanka. Harindra Corea was born in Colombo. His father was the illustrious politician and diplomat, Sir Claude...
was appointed Deputy Foreign Minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
of the Government of Sri Lanka in the 1990s and was also the member of parliament for Chilaw.
A well known son of Chilaw, Dr.Granville Fernando in his article 'Hail Chilaw, my Home town!' noted: 'Chilaw is known as 'Halawatha' in Sinhala.Chilaw in early times was not only a reputed sea port it was also famous for its 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...
fisheries. According to some writers like Donald Ferguson, Chilaw is connected with the Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
term 'Salapam' which means diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
. '
The writer, poet and musician, Herschel Pandithasekera who also went under the name of 'Gallinago
Gallinago
Gallinago is a genus of birds in the wader family Scolopacidae, containing 16 species. This genus contains the majority of the world's snipe species, the other three extant genera being Coenocorypha, with two species, and Lymnocryptes, the Jack Snipe. Morphologically, they are all similar, with a...
,' lived in Chilaw .He was well known for a song he had composed titled: 'I Love Chilaw.' Pandithasekera always played the ukelele instrument when he sang his composition.
Marians Cricket Club
Chilaw is the home of a well known cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
club in Sri Lanka called the 'Marians Cricket Club.' They play their home games at Colombo Cricket Club Ground
Colombo Cricket Club Ground
Colombo Cricket Club Ground is a multi-purpose stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is currently used mostly for domestic first-class cricket matches and for hosting warm up matches for touring teams. The stadium can hold 6,000 people and hosted its first Test match in 1984. It is one of the smallest...
. The club has won the one day Tournament in 2005 Sri Lankan first class competition. They have been successful in limited overs cricket, Chilaw reached the final of the International 20:20 Club Championship in 2005.
St.Mary's College
One of the oldest English educational institutions of Ceylon, the College was first established as St.Mary's English School in Jetty Street, Chilaw. It was situated in the premises of late G.S Perera. In 1905 St. Mary's English School was shifted to the Queen Victoria memorial hall which was situated near the Roman Catholic CathedralCathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
of Chilaw. St.Mary’s College was handed over to the Government of Sri Lanka on 8 October 1962. On 1 January 1963 the entire property of Mr.Henry de Costa’s donation, together with annexed land and the Brothers’ building was vested in the Government.
See also
- Charles Edgar CoreaCharles Edgar Corea-Early life:C.E.Corea was born in the west coast town of Chilaw, in Sri Lanka. His parents were Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea, a leading lawyer from Chilaw and Henritta Seneviratne. He was educated at the premier institution, Royal College Colombo where he excelled in his studies. He earned a...
- Victor CoreaVictor CoreaCharles Edward Victor Seneviratne Corea was born in Chilaw, Sri Lanka on 29 January 1871 to Charles Edward Bandaranaike Corea, a famous lawyer, and Henrietta Seneviratne. He was the youngest out of five children, three boys and two girls, Charles Edgar Corea, James Alfred Ernest Corea, Agnes Corea...
- Srikuradas Charles Shirley Corea
- Harindra CoreaHarindra CoreaHarindra Corea Barrister-at-Law, Attorney-at-Law, was a prominent Sri Lankan politician and Member of Parliament, who represented Chilaw, he was member of the United National Party of Sri Lanka. Harindra Corea was born in Colombo. His father was the illustrious politician and diplomat, Sir Claude...
- Mahatma Gandhi's visit to Chilaw, Sri LankaMahatma Gandhi's visit to Chilaw, Sri LankaMahatma Gandhi the 'Father of India,' paid a historic visit to Ceylon in 1927 on his first and only visit to the island. He was invited to Chilaw by the famed freedom fighters of Sri Lanka, Charles Edgar Corea and his brother Victor Corea....
- Munneswaram templeMunneswaram templeMunneswaram temple is an important regional Hindu temple complex in Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist country. 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-king Rama...
- Chilaw Marians Cricket ClubChilaw Marians Cricket ClubChilaw Marians Cricket Club are a first-class cricket team based in Colombo, Sri Lanka. They play their home games at Colombo Cricket Club Ground. The club has won the one day Tournament in 2005 Sri Lankan first class competition....
- List of political families in Sri Lanka
- Edirimanne Corea Family UnionEdirimanne Corea Family UnionThe Edirimanne Corea Family Union is a group set up to 'foster interaction' among the members of the powerful Corea familyin the island of Sri Lanka. The Corea family is one of the leading families of Sri Lanka...