Vankalai or Vangalai or Vangkaalai ( ta, வங்காலை vaṅkālai) is a predominantly fishing and farming village situated in
Mannar District
Mannar District ( ta, மன்னார் மாவட்டம் ''Maṉṉār Māvaṭṭam''; si, මන්නාරම දිස්ත්රික්කය) is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative divisi ...
of the
Northern Province of
Sri Lanka. It lies along the Naanaattan Road with the sea on its west connecting to the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
. The shores from Vankalai 20 km south to the ancient Tamil subsidiary port of
Kudiramalai formed the world's most famous
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pearl is composed of calcium carb ...
fishing banks in the classical and medieval periods. Its northern boundary is the historic
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
shrine of
Thiru Ketheeswaram.
Geography
Vankalai is a blend of sandy and agrarian lands. Apart from fisheries and farming, there is also an educational and professional tradition. There are a number of teachers, government officials, clergymen, nuns and professionals from the area.
Demography
Vankalai is a Christian village with
Roman Catholics being more than 99% and Protestant groups comprising the remainder. Vankalai has now become one of the largest villages in Mannar. Currently, its population figure is a little over 8,000. Vankalai is inhabited mainly by members of the
Bharatha
Bharatha People (, ) also known as Bharatakula and Paravar, is an ethnicity in the island of Sri Lanka. Earlier considered a caste of the Sri Lankan Tamils, they got classified as separate ethnic group in the 2001 census. They are descendant o ...
community.
The Portuguese invasion and destruction of the Tamil territories between 1505–1658 caused most of Mannar including villages such as Vankalai to become Catholic villages.
In the centre of this village, there is a huge ancient Catholic church called Our Lady of St. Anne's Church.
The Morning Leader: Woman's Page
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See also
* Vankalai massacre
The Vankalai massacre was a massacre of a family of four minority Sri Lankan Tamils at the hands of the Sri Lankan military personnel from the village of Vankalai in Mannar District, Sri Lanka on June 8, 2006. The victims were tortured and the m ...
References
External links
Vankalai community portal
{{Authority control
Villages in Mannar District
Nanaddan DS Division