Thampalakamam
Encyclopedia
Thampalakamam is a Town in the Trincomalee District
of Sri Lanka
and it is located about 20 km South-West of Trincomalee
. It is also known as Tampainakar in Tamil chronicles written during the 17th century. Portuguese colonial officers who came to the general area after 1622 with the destruction of the Koneswaram temple
, described the village as prosperous and large. It was the seat of government of medieval feudal lords of the area who had control over a region called Tampalakamam Pattu. It became the refuge of Hindus and their idols that were saved from the destruction of the temple of Koneswaram. Ati Konanayakar
a successor temple was constructed in Thampalakamam. During the Sri Lankan civil war
in the 1980s and 1990s the village and the surrounding area were severely affected, leading to massacres and depopulation. The village was resettled after 2002.
Trincomalee District
Trincomalee 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...
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...
and it is located about 20 km South-West of Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
. It is also known as Tampainakar in Tamil chronicles written during the 17th century. Portuguese colonial officers who came to the general area after 1622 with the destruction of the Koneswaram temple
Koneswaram temple
Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee is an Hindu temple in Trincomalee, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka venerated by Saivites throughout the continent...
, described the village as prosperous and large. It was the seat of government of medieval feudal lords of the area who had control over a region called Tampalakamam Pattu. It became the refuge of Hindus and their idols that were saved from the destruction of the temple of Koneswaram. Ati Konanayakar
Ati Konanayakar
Ati Konanayakar or Aathi Koneswaram is a regionally important Hindu temple in Tampalakamam village in the Trincomalee District of Sri Lanka, a predominantly Buddhist country. The name of the temple in Tamil means the "temple of the original lord of Koneswaram". It is situated from the port town...
a successor temple was constructed in Thampalakamam. During the Sri Lankan civil war
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
in the 1980s and 1990s the village and the surrounding area were severely affected, leading to massacres and depopulation. The village was resettled after 2002.