Nilaveli ( ta, நிலாவெளி, translit=Nilāveḷi; si, නිල්වැල්ල, translit=Nilvælla) is a

coastal resort town A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...

and suburb of the

Trincomalee District Trincomalee District ( ta, திருக்கோணமலை மாவட்டம் ''Tirukōṇamalai Māvaṭṭam;'' si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය දිස්ත්‍රික්කය ''Trikuṇāmalaya distrikkaya'') is one ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

located 16 km northwest of the city of

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

. A historically popular Tamil village and tourist destination of the district alongside the nearby

Uppuveli Uppuveli () is a gold sand coastal resort town of the Trincomalee District, Sri Lanka located in the suburb of Sambalativu, 6 km northwest of the city of Trincomalee. A historically popular tourist destination of the island alongside the ...

, the numbers of visitors declined following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Sri Lankan Civil War, but have risen again since 2010.

Pigeon Island National Park Pigeon Island National Park is one of the two marine national parks of Sri Lanka. The national park is situated 1 km off the coast of Nilaveli, a coastal town in Eastern Province, encompassing a total area of 471.429 hectares. The island ...

, one of the two marine national parks of the region is situated 1 km off the coast of Nilaveli, its many species of vegetation, coral and reef fish contributing to Nilaveli's rich

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Etymology

Pronounced "Nilāveli", "Nilā" extolls the night's

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

-shine over the "vèli", a Sri Lankan Tamil language term for

land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various islan ...

or open-space.

History

10th century inscription

The 10th century CE Tamil Nilaveli inscriptions mention the Koneswaram temple as having received a land grant in the Tamil country of one thousand seven hundred and ten acres (two hundred and fifty four ''vèli'') of dry and wet land to meet its daily expenses - revealing the temple's role in providing various services to the local community by 900-1000 CE.

Etymology

History

10th century inscription

See also

References

Further reading