Varuthalaivilan (Varuththalaivilan or Varuthalaivillan) ( ta, வறுத்தலைவிளான் or வருத்தலைவிளான் or வர்த்தலைவிளான்) is a small town or village in the northern Jaffna District of Sri Lanka. It is situated along the Vallai–Tellippalai-Arali road between

Tellippalai Tellippalai or Thellippalai ( ta, தெல்லிப்பழை Tellippaḻai

and Kadduvan. The Varuththalaivilan village Grama Sevaka (GS) division J/241 is located in the Valikamam North Division. The village is close to the

Palaly Military Base Palaly Military Base is a military base located in Palaly, Northern Province of Sri Lanka, and the largest on the Jaffna Peninsula. The base houses the Security Forces Headquarters - Jaffna and is in close proximity to the naval base SLNS Uttar ...

adjoining

Jaffna Airport Jaffna International Airport ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாணம் சர்வதேச விமான நிலையம், translit=Yāḻppāṇam Carvatēca Vimāṉa Nilaiyam; si, යාපනය ජාත්‍යන්තර ගුව ...

at Palaly. During the Sri Lankan Civil War, since 1990 the village has come under the high security zone and in 1990 the village was completely evacuated by the army. The inhabitants were permitted to return to some areas in April 2015.

History

The village has a traceable history of about 300 years. Maruthadi Vinayagar temple in Varuththalaivilan is about 300 years old and an Amman temple further north of the Vinayagar temple said to be even older. A pond and a large

Terminalia arjuna ''Terminalia arjuna'' is a tree of the genus '' Terminalia''. It is commonly known as arjuna or arjun tree in English. Description ''T. arjuna'' grows to about 20–25 metres tall; usually has a buttressed trunk, and forms a wide canopy at the ...

tree (''Maruthamaram'') and a large

banyan tree A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a fig that develops accessory trunks from adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees with a strangler habit that begin life as a ...

near the temple make a good landmark. The temple is highly revered by not only the people from the village but also from the people from neighboring villages. According to word of mouth passed down by ancestors of the village, it was founded by few families about few hundred years ago and expanded into more than hundred families. Most of the families are interrelated and familiar with one another. The village has been mainly an agricultural village but due to modern education initiated by the

American Ceylon Mission The American Ceylon Mission (ACM) to Jaffna, Sri Lanka started with the arrival in 1813 of missionaries sponsored by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). Although they had originally planned to work in Galle, the Briti ...

in the early eighteen hundreds resulted in producing large number professionals. More details of American Ceylon mission is available at Yale University library web site. Varuthalaivilan American Mission Tamil mixed school was established by Vinasithampy Thamppipillai in 1866 and it was functioning at the village until June 1990. The school building was located in the middle part of the village. Varuthalaivilan youth league was kicked off in early 20th century. It owns a playground and Varuthalivilan community center which is located adjacent to cancer home but currently damaged By the late 1970s the village had become one of the largest agricultural villages in Jaffna District and produced

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

, chili,

manioc ''Manihot esculenta'', commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively cultivated a ...

eggplant Eggplant ( US, Canada), aubergine ( UK, Ireland) or brinjal (Indian subcontinent, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa) is a plant species in the nightshade family Solanaceae. ''Solanum melongena'' is grown worldwide for its edible fruit. Mos ...

tomato The tomato is the edible berry of the plant ''Solanum lycopersicum'', commonly known as the tomato plant. The species originated in western South America, Mexico, and Central America. The Mexican Nahuatl word gave rise to the Spanish word ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

etc. Large number of

Borassus ''Borassus'' (palmyra palm) is a genus of five species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and Papua New Guinea. Description These massive palms can grow up to high and have robust trunks with distinct leaf scars; in so ...

(Palmyra Palm) trees ( ta, பனை மரம்)found in the village enabled the villagers to produce toddy a beverage for the local population. A cancer home was built at the village in 1989 in the land donated by Thampimuthu Thampirasa. It is about one kilo-meter east of

Tellippalai Hospital Tellippalai Hospital is a government hospital in Tellippalai, Sri Lanka. It is controlled by the provincial government in Jaffna. As of 2010 it had 102 beds. The hospital is sometimes called Tellippalai Base Hospital or Tellippalai District Hospita ...

or Tellippalai Base Hospital. Being in the high security zone for 25 years, the village had become a jungle area, cancer home ruins and the pond near the temple were the only landmarks visible in the Google satellite map until it was released to the owners in April 2015. In March 2015

Cabinet of Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, the Cabinet of Ministers is the council of ministers that form the central government of Sri Lanka. The body of senior ministers responsible and answerable to the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The President is a member of the cabinet ...

decided to release 400 acres in Palai Veemankamam south and Varuthalaivilan, 300 acres in Kadduvan and Kurumbasiddy for re-settlement After about 25 years of abandonment, almost all the houses were damaged. Most houses were without any wooden fittings including the roof and some houses are totally ruined. The area was covered with bushes and trees. Since then the bushes are being cleared and the temple is being rebuilt. Some lands still contain

land mine A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automati ...

s and are being cleared slowly.

Sri Lankan Civil War

Key events of the Sri Lankan Civil War involving the village were, in reverse chronological order: April 2015, Part of the village was released to its original residents after 25 years. Oct 1990, all the people from the village got displaced as the

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

advanced from

and captured surrounding areas including Varuthalaivilan. Four women could not leave the village as they were too old. Two of the women died later in the village due to lack of medical facilities and two of them came out of the village with the help of ICRC. June 1990, hostilities broke out between

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 ...

(LTTE) and

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

. Intermittent shelling, firing and grenade dropping from helicopters against LTTE positions affected the village resulting in displacement of half the population. March 1990,

Indian Peace Keeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan ...

(IPKF) withdrew from the village as they withdrew from

North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka The North Eastern Province was one of the provinces of Sri Lanka. The province was created in September 1988 by merging the Northern and Eastern provinces. This merger was declared illegal by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 2006. The province w ...

. Oct 1987, hostilities broke out between IPKF and LTTE resulted in village came under IPKF control consequently the village was cut off from rest of the Jaffna peninsula. In the battle to take control 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 ...

town twelve people belonged to the village were killed elsewhere in Jaffna Peninsula. August 1987, IPKF lands in

at Palaly and moved into the village. July 1987,

Indo-Sri Lanka Accord The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene. The accord was expected to resolve the Sri Lankan Civil War by enabling th ...

was signed and

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

withdrew from the village and people from the village return to the village after about two month displacement. May–June 1987,

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

advanced from Palaly military base and captured the village resulting in total displacement of the villagers except one family. Early 1985, Sri Lanka Army tried to advance to

Tellippalai Tellippalai or Thellippalai ( ta, தெல்லிப்பழை Tellippaḻai

town from the Palaly military base resulting in three people shot and killed in the village. The army return to the base due to resistance from Tamil rebels. Nov 19 1984, Brigadier Ariyapperuma got killed in a mine explosion on the Vallai-Tellipalai-Araly road near the village resulting in five houses burnt down in the village in retaliation. July 1983,

Black July Black July ( ta, கறுப்பு யூலை, translit=Kaṟuppu Yūlai; si, කළු ජූලිය, Kalu Juliya) was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated,T. Sabaratnam, Pirapa ...

violence against Tamils resulted in number of families from the village who were living outside

lost their properties. One person died at

Colombo General Hospital The National Hospital of Sri Lanka (sometimes General Hospital) is a government hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1864 as the General Hospital, it is the leading hospital in Sri Lanka and is controlled by the central government. The hospi ...

. Oct 1981, after a bank robbery at

Killinochi Kilinochchi ( ta, கிளிநொச்சி, translit=Kiḷinocci; si, කිලිනොච්චි, translit=Girānika) is the main town of Kilinochchi District, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Kilinochchi is situated at the A9 road so ...

People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) is a former Tamil militant group that had become a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as the Democratic People's Liberation Front. Ori ...

(PLOTE), its leader

Uma Maheswaran Kadirgamapillai (Kathirkamar) Nallainathan ( ta, க. உமாமகேசுவரன்; 18 February 1945 – 16 July 1989; commonly known by the nom de guerre Uma Maheswaran) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and founder/leader of the People's ...

’s parents house at the village was burnt in retaliation.

Gallery

File:Vauthalivilan_Map_before_civil_war.jpg , Varuthalivilan map before civil war showing houses in one part of the village File: Varuthalaivilan maruthadi vinayagar temple in 1989.jpg , Varuthalaivilan maruthadi vinayagar temple in 1989 File: Varuthalaivilan Maruthadi Vinayagar Temple front between 2009 and 2015.png , Varuthalaivilan Maruthadi Vinayagar Temple front in 2009 File:Varuthalaivilan MARUTHADI VINAYAGAR KOVIL pond April 2015.jpg , Varuthalaivilan Maruthadi Vinayagar Temple Pond in April 2015 File:Varu_temple3.JPG, Rebuilt Varuthalaivilan Maruthadi Vinayagar Temple, April 2016 File:Varu_temple_pond.JPG, Varuthalaivilan Maruthadi Vinayagar Temple Pond view, April 2016

Notable people

Vidwa Siromani

C. Ganesha Iyer Vidhva Shiromani Brahma Sri C. Ganesha Iyer (1 April 1878 – 8 November 1958) was a Ceylonese Tamil philologist from Jaffna. Early years Iyer was the fifth son of Chinnaiyar and Chinnammal, born in the agricultural village of Punnalaikka ...

, a famous Tamil scholar served as the priest at the Maruthadi Vinayagar Temple during the middle part of the 20th century. One of his famous works is his interpretation of old

Tamil literature Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from T ...

. Prof. P. Selvanayagam First person from the village obtained PhD(Engineering). Dr S. Sivalingam Second person from the village obtained PhD (Fisheries).

References

{{reflist, 2 Villages in Jaffna District Valikamam North DS Division