Gurunagar () is a coastal village in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

city in northern

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. Gurunagar is also known as ''Karaiyur'' (). The suburb is divided into two village officer divisions (Gurunagar East and Gurunagar West) whose combined population was 3,520 at the 2012 census. The suburb is mainly populated by Catholic

Sri Lankan Tamils Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province, form the pluralit ...

, engaged in sea activities. The village is known in

due to its

maritime history Maritime history is the study of human interaction with and activity at sea. It covers a broad thematic element of history that often uses a global approach, although national and regional histories remain predominant. As an academic subject, it ...

and also served as the western sector of the

Jaffna Kingdom The Jaffna kingdom (, ; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally t ...

Etymology

Gurunagar, also spelled as ''Kurunagar'' derives its words from ''Kuru'' and ''Nagar'' (Urban centre in Tamil). The word ''Kuru'' is a clans name used by the

Karaiyar Karaiyar is a Sri Lankan Tamil caste found mainly on the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora. They are traditionally a seafaring community that is engaged in fishing, shipment and seaborn ...

s also known as ''Kurukulam,'' who make up majority of Gurunagar. Karaiyur, as it was earlier known as stems from the Tamil words ''Karai'' (coast) and Ur (village). Karaiyur was marked in the Dutch maps as ''Cereoer.''

History

The earliest settlers of

, were according to local legend, a musician and his kinsfolk. The surmised place they first settled is in the area surrounding Gurunagar and

Colombuthurai Colombuthurai (; ''Kolomtara'') is a suburb of the city of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. Colombuthurai means "the port at the bending point" in Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native t ...

. The Columbuthurai Commercial Harbor situated at

and the

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

known as ‘''Aluppanthy''’ situated previously at the Gurunagar area seem as its evidences. The navy of the

Aryacakravarti dynasty The Arya Chakravarti dynasty (, Sinhalese: ආර්ය චක්‍රවර්තී රාජවංශය) were kings of the Jaffna Kingdom in Sri Lanka. The earliest Sri Lankan sources, between 1277 and 1283, mention a military leader of ...

was crewed and officered by the people of Gurunagar. The ''Pattinathurai'' of Gurunagar was a

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

for foreign vessels. It is surmised that it was here the Moroccan explorer

Ibn Battuta Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn ...

, saw fleet of ships that belonged to the Aryacakravarti kings. The Maniagar and Adappans of Gurunagar served as one of the headmen of the Jaffna ports. The western section of the

was allotted by the

s of Gurunagar. There existed a smaller fort in

and one at ''Pannaithurai'' near Gurunagar. In 1560, the Portuguese forces with 77 ships arrived in Gurunagar and defeated the Tamil army governing there before proceeding further to Nallur. The Cathedral of Jaffna in Gurunagar was constructed over an already existing smaller chapel. The chapel was constructed as the place where the Jaffna king

Cankili I Cankili I () (died 1565), also known as Segarasasekaram (Jaga Rajasekharam), is the most remembered Jaffna kingdom king in the Sri Lankan Tamil history. He was active in resisting Portuguese colonial inroads into Sri Lanka. He inherited his throne ...

killed his own son for converting to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Starting from the early 1920s, was the Gurunagar

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

scheme started, starting from modern ''Beach Road'' to ''Reclamation Road.''

References

{{Northern Province, Sri Lanka topics Jaffna DS Division Suburbs of Jaffna

Etymology

History

See also

References