Subhas Hotel (Subash Hotel, Subhash Hotel) is a hotel in the city of

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

in northern

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 ...

. The 36 room hotel is located in the heart of the city on Victoria Road, opposite

Jaffna Hospital Jaffna Teaching Hospital is a government hospital in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It is the leading hospital in the Northern Province and the only hospital in the province controlled by the central government in Colombo. The hospital is the only teaching ...

. Built in 1970, the hotel had a monopoly on the Jaffna peninsula for two decades. During the

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

the hotel was occupied by the

Sri Lankan military The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (Sri Lank ...

for 16 years. The hotel was handed back to the owners in 2011 and re-opened in 2012.

History

The hotel was built in 1970 by Ayappan Sangaran, an Indian who had moved to

Ceylon 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 ...

in 1928. The hotel was named after

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperia ...

, the Indian nationalist whom Sangaran admired. Sangaran owned several businesses in the Jaffna including Subhas Café and Ice-cream which had a virtual monopoly on ice cream in the 1970s. The 30 room hotel was certified by the Ministry of Tourism and served as the only tourist hotel in the Jaffna peninsula for two decades. 15 more rooms were added to the hotel later. In October 1995, as the

launched a military offensive to recapture the Jaffna peninsula from the rebel

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

. The hotel, like many public buildings in Jaffna, became a shelter for refugees fleeing the fighting. After recapturing Jaffna the Sri Lankan military declared the centre of the city, which included Subhas Hotel, as a High Security Zone (HSZ). In December 1995 the Sri Lankan military occupied the hotel, like they did to many buildings in the city. The hotel was the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Army's 51-2 Brigade. Sangaran, who moved to India with his family, died three years after the army took over the hotel. During the Norwegian mediated peace process the Sri Lankan military claimed it would hand the hotel back to the owners by mid-2003 but this never happened. In March 2011, two years after the civil war ended, the military handed the hotel back to the family. The refurbished hotel re-opened for business on 14 December 2012 under the management of S. Hariharan and S. Nimalaharan, Sangaran's sons and managing directors of Subhas Tourist Hotel (Private) Limited.

References

1970 establishments in Ceylon Buildings and structures in Jaffna Hotels in Jaffna {{SriLanka-struct-stub