Vakarai or Vaharai ( si, වාකරේ, ta, வாகரை), The Sinhala name වාකර is pronounced 'vākara'.It is a town in the
Batticaloa District
Batticaloa District ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு மாவட்டம் ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu Māvaṭṭam''; si, මඩකලපුව දිස්ත්රික්කය ''maḍakalapūva distrikkaya'') is one of the 25 dist ...
of
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 about 65 km Northwest of
Batticaloa
Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...
. The Anglicization vākari should be preferred to vāhari.
This a predominant Tamil area, and headquarters the Koralai Pathu North Division with a population around 21,000. The residents are predominantly poor fishermen or farmers.
Civil War
Vakarai was the
LTTE
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
stronghold in the Eastern province and served as a strategically important city for the communication between the Eastern Province and the Northern Province. Since 1985 it has served as a major battleground with its control often shifting between the Sri Lankan government, the Indian Peace Keeping Forces and the LTTE. the Karuna faction broke from the LTTE here and the LTTE was pushed out in 2007.
See also
*
Vakarai Bombing
The Vaharai bombing is a disputed event in the Sri Lankan civil war. It occurred on November 7, 2006 when, according to survivors of the incident interviewed by Reuters, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fired artillery at Sri Lankan military ...
References
{{EasternLK-geo-stub
Towns in Batticaloa District
Koralaipattu North DS Division