Trincomalee attractions - Hindu temples, colonial forts, beaches
Thiru Konesvaram Kovil on Trincomalee's Swami Rock
Trincomalee, the capital of Sri Lanka’s Eastern Province, is a coastal town partly situated on a 6 km (4 miles) long peninsula, which is less than one kilometer wide in the area of the town center. The population of Trincomalee is mainly Tamil.
Trincomalee is famous for at least two reasons. On the righthand side (on an eastern spit of the penisula), it’s the location of one of the most venerated - if not THE most venerated - Hindu shrines on the island, namely Thiru Konesvaram Kovil. Apart from that Shiva shrine, Trincomalee houses several more large Tamil Kovils. On the lefthand side (to the west of the peninsula), Trincomalee borders one of the largest and best natural harbours of the world. From a touristical perspective, Trincomalee attracts beach holiday makers, because the islands longest sandy beaches are found close to the town.
Trincomalee is famous for at least two reasons. On the righthand side (on an eastern spit of the penisula), it’s the location of one of the most venerated - if not THE most venerated - Hindu shrines on the island, namely Thiru Konesvaram Kovil. Apart from that Shiva shrine, Trincomalee houses several more large Tamil Kovils. On the lefthand side (to the west of the peninsula), Trincomalee borders one of the largest and best natural harbours of the world. From a touristical perspective, Trincomalee attracts beach holiday makers, because the islands longest sandy beaches are found close to the town.
Content
of our comprehensive Trincomalee article
of our comprehensive Trincomalee article
Location
Trincomalee is located 266 km (165 miles) northeast of Colombo and 235 km ( 146 miles) southeast from Jaffna by road. The driving distance from Sigiriya is 85 km (53 miles). The suburb of Uppuveli is a beach holiday destination. The even more famous and much longer Nilaweli Beach is 13 km (8 miles) further north.
Kali Temple
History of Gokanna and Trincomalee
The ancient Sinhalese name of the area of Trincomalee is Gokanna, it was one of the first places where Sinhalese settled and and the most important eastern harbour of the ancient kingdoms of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. In the same period, it was a major temple town, too. In the colonial period the ancient temples were destroyed and the great natural harbour was much contested. After Sri Lanka's independence, Trincomalee suffered much in the civil war decades and was heavily affected by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami, too. But it has developed into a major Hindu pilgrimage and an excellent beach holiday destination afterwards
Prehistoric legends & beginnings of the Sinhalese era
The historical name of Trincomalee in the Buddhist historical chronicles written in Pali is Gokanna, which corresponds the Sanskrit term Gokarna. Even in pre-Christian times, Gokanna was one of the preferred natural landing places for traders and settlers from the Bay of Bengal. And it may have played an important role in the immigration of the Sinhalese in the middle of the first millennium BC. There was almost certainly a Shiva shrine here in the Anuradhapura period.
for more information about the earliest known period of Gokanna ... please click here
The legends surrounding the Sinhalese arrival, as told in the Buddhist chronicles, are mainly located in the northwest of the island, near Mannar (the old Mantota) and its hinterland, to which Anuradhapura belongs. Mannar was the natural landing place for traders from Gujarat in northwest India, it also attracted traders from the Bengal region. But Trincomalee was attractive for the latter as much as Mannar. And it's in the hinterland of Trincomalee, where Polonnaruwa, the second most important city of the ancient Sinhalese civilisation. Polonnaruwa became the capital only 1,500 years after the arrival of Sinhalese as recorded in the chronicles, but in the area of Polonnaruwa traces of earliest Sinhalese settlements have been found, too.
There are at least two lines of evidence that some of the earliest Sinhalese immigrants also set foot on Sri Lankan soil in Trincomalee. One clue might be the very nature of the Sinhalese language. It is definitely of North Indian origin, but cannot clearly be assigned to the West or East (Gujarat or Bengal), though the similarities with the Bengali language are closer. There are words like “Ganga” for river that reveal Bengali origins. Sinhala probably arose from the closely related languages of both of the said distant regions. In addition, both the Bengal region and the Gujarat region appear almost equally in the Sinhalese origin myth. The immigrant leader and first Sinhalese king of Sri Lanka named Vijaya and his companions come from the Indian west coast on the Arabian Sea. But his grandfather was the lion “Singha”, the ancestor and heraldic animal of the Sinhalese. And the chronicles set the story of how this lion impregnated a princess and thus fathered the first Sinhalese in Bengal on the east coast of the subcontinent. But admittedly, this is not clear evidence of a contribution of Trincomalee to the beginnings of the Sinhalese civilisation, because Bengali settlers could well have landed in Mannar.
But secondly, another clear reminder of Trincomalee's contribution to the early Sinhalese settlement history is also reflected in the origin legends themselves. Vijaya did not have a son to be his successor and therefore invited his brother from India to Sri Lanka. But the brother had already become king in his West Indian homeland. He therefore sent his son Panduvasudeva to the island. According to the report in the Mahavansa Chronicle, this nephew, the successor of Vijaya on the Sinhalese throne, is said to have landed in Gokanna, i.e. in today's Trincomalee.
There are at least two lines of evidence that some of the earliest Sinhalese immigrants also set foot on Sri Lankan soil in Trincomalee. One clue might be the very nature of the Sinhalese language. It is definitely of North Indian origin, but cannot clearly be assigned to the West or East (Gujarat or Bengal), though the similarities with the Bengali language are closer. There are words like “Ganga” for river that reveal Bengali origins. Sinhala probably arose from the closely related languages of both of the said distant regions. In addition, both the Bengal region and the Gujarat region appear almost equally in the Sinhalese origin myth. The immigrant leader and first Sinhalese king of Sri Lanka named Vijaya and his companions come from the Indian west coast on the Arabian Sea. But his grandfather was the lion “Singha”, the ancestor and heraldic animal of the Sinhalese. And the chronicles set the story of how this lion impregnated a princess and thus fathered the first Sinhalese in Bengal on the east coast of the subcontinent. But admittedly, this is not clear evidence of a contribution of Trincomalee to the beginnings of the Sinhalese civilisation, because Bengali settlers could well have landed in Mannar.
But secondly, another clear reminder of Trincomalee's contribution to the early Sinhalese settlement history is also reflected in the origin legends themselves. Vijaya did not have a son to be his successor and therefore invited his brother from India to Sri Lanka. But the brother had already become king in his West Indian homeland. He therefore sent his son Panduvasudeva to the island. According to the report in the Mahavansa Chronicle, this nephew, the successor of Vijaya on the Sinhalese throne, is said to have landed in Gokanna, i.e. in today's Trincomalee.
Trincomalee in the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods
Regarding the historical era, Gokanna is mentioned in Chapter 37,41 of the Mahavansa as a Brahmin god's temple that King Mahasena tore down to build a Buddhist sanctuary. This was meant as a kind of atonement for all the outrages committed by this "heretic king" against the oldest Buddhist monastery, the Mahavihara in Anuradhapura. There is archaeological evidence that a Buddhist sanctuary existed at Swami Rock in Trincomalee indeed. What is interesting, however, is that the very same information in the Mahavansa indirectly confirms the existence of a Hindu temple in Trincomalee as early as the third century.
for more information about the precolonial ancient periods of Gokanna ... please click here
Although an earlier Shva temple was destroyed by King Mahasena, the Shivaite Vayu Purana, written in India in the 4th or 5th century, again reports in chapter 48 of a "Shiva temple on the Trikuta mountain on the east coast of Lanka". Tamils identify the Trikuta mountain with the Koneschwaram Temple of Trincomalee.
In the 7th century, the South Indian poet Tirugnana Sambandar (also transliterated "Thirujnana Champantar") praised the magnificence of this Shiva temple in one of his poems. Sambandar's hymns belong to the classic canon of Tamil poetry, the Tevaram. He is one of the most prominent of the 63 Nayanars. The songs of these Shivaite saints about the mystical love of God and the grace emanating from God form the early main sources of Hindu Bhakti religiosity.
A 10th-century inscription in Nilaveli mentions a donation of land to the temple in Trincomalee. From all this it can be concluded that even after Mahasena's misdeed, the site of the Shiva shrine once destroyed by King Mahasena must have regained fame as a Shiva shrine soon afterwards.
Later texts such as Tirukonesala Purana and Konesar Kalvettu report that the temple was rebuilt by a South Indian Chola king named Kulakkottan. “Kulakkottan” means “tank builder”. This king is a mythical or legendary hero, not known from early historical aources. The said local Tamil chronicle in poem form was probably only engraved on a stone in the temple in the 17th century. By the way, it gives the original founding date of the temple as 1580 BC. Other myths mention even earlier years of founding, such as 2588 BC.
Be that as it may, the Pali toponym “Gokanna” itself is reminiscent of Hindu origins. Translated, it means “cow’s ear”. “Go” is a common prefix in Indian place names (e.g. in “Goa”), it means the animal that is sacred to Shiva, the “holy cow”. Places with the Sanskrit name “Gokarna” in India and Nepal have a large number of Shiva shrines. So Sri Lanka's Gokanna fas probably been a holy place of Shiva since time immemorial.
This does not exclude the possibility that Sinhalese kings often controlled this area and made use of its natural harbor. It can even be assumed that the gradual shift of the Sinhalese power center from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa over many centuries is also related to Polonnaruwa's better connections to the port of Trincomalee. In any case, for Polonnaruwa's most famous king, Parakramabahu the Great, the east coast ports of Trincomalee and Batticaloa were his naval bases for expeditions to Southeast Asia.
After the fall of Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee came under the control of Jaffna, the first historical principality or regional kingdom on the island that was both predominantly populated by Tamil and ruled by Tamils.
In the 7th century, the South Indian poet Tirugnana Sambandar (also transliterated "Thirujnana Champantar") praised the magnificence of this Shiva temple in one of his poems. Sambandar's hymns belong to the classic canon of Tamil poetry, the Tevaram. He is one of the most prominent of the 63 Nayanars. The songs of these Shivaite saints about the mystical love of God and the grace emanating from God form the early main sources of Hindu Bhakti religiosity.
A 10th-century inscription in Nilaveli mentions a donation of land to the temple in Trincomalee. From all this it can be concluded that even after Mahasena's misdeed, the site of the Shiva shrine once destroyed by King Mahasena must have regained fame as a Shiva shrine soon afterwards.
Later texts such as Tirukonesala Purana and Konesar Kalvettu report that the temple was rebuilt by a South Indian Chola king named Kulakkottan. “Kulakkottan” means “tank builder”. This king is a mythical or legendary hero, not known from early historical aources. The said local Tamil chronicle in poem form was probably only engraved on a stone in the temple in the 17th century. By the way, it gives the original founding date of the temple as 1580 BC. Other myths mention even earlier years of founding, such as 2588 BC.
Be that as it may, the Pali toponym “Gokanna” itself is reminiscent of Hindu origins. Translated, it means “cow’s ear”. “Go” is a common prefix in Indian place names (e.g. in “Goa”), it means the animal that is sacred to Shiva, the “holy cow”. Places with the Sanskrit name “Gokarna” in India and Nepal have a large number of Shiva shrines. So Sri Lanka's Gokanna fas probably been a holy place of Shiva since time immemorial.
This does not exclude the possibility that Sinhalese kings often controlled this area and made use of its natural harbor. It can even be assumed that the gradual shift of the Sinhalese power center from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa over many centuries is also related to Polonnaruwa's better connections to the port of Trincomalee. In any case, for Polonnaruwa's most famous king, Parakramabahu the Great, the east coast ports of Trincomalee and Batticaloa were his naval bases for expeditions to Southeast Asia.
After the fall of Polonnaruwa, Trincomalee came under the control of Jaffna, the first historical principality or regional kingdom on the island that was both predominantly populated by Tamil and ruled by Tamils.
Portuguese and Dutch Colonial History of Harbour & Fort
Trincomalee’s great natural harbour attracted several competing European colonial powers. In the first half of the 17the the century, the Portuguese were the first to erect a fort. The Dutch first destroyed it and then built today’s Fort Frederick on the same spot at Swami Rock in the second half of the 17th century. Also Danish and French and British naval forces fought successfull campaigns to conquer Trincomalee, but each rule was short-termed, till Trincomalee fell into British hands another time, then for more than 150 years to come.
for more information about the early modern colonial period of Trincomalee ... please click here
Trincomalee's port is primarily associated with Sri Lanka's colonial history. In the 16th century, the east coast port largely escaped the control of the Portuguese, whose bases were in the west and south of the island. During that period, Trincomalee was still one of the many small so-called Vanni principalities under the rule of local warrior nobility that had formed after the fall of Polonnaruwa. The Vanni principalities had by then entered into more or less solid alliances with the larger empires of the Tamils in the north or the Sinhalese in the southwest. By and large, Trincomalee was under the dominance of the Tamil kingdom of Jaffna in the late Middle Ages and in the 16th century. Nontheless, the arm of the new Portuguese lords in the southwest reached so far as to temporarily collect taxes from the Vanni princes of Trincomalee.
The arch-rivals of the Portuguese colonial empire at the time, the Dutch, started to make contact with the Kandyan kings at the beginning of the 17th century. They had already wrested control of the southeastasian Strait of Malacca from the Portuguese and were the rising power in the Indian Ocean. But the Dutch alliance with the Kandyan king initially collapsed due to awkward diplomatic mishandlings.
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Later on, another colonial power came to the fore of Trincomalee. The Dutch envoy Marcellus de Boschouwer had returned from Kandy to Holland in 1616, where he fell out with the responsible Dutch East India Company (VOC). That's why he turned to Denmark, where another East India Company had been founded, which earned its profits in the Indian Ocean primarily through piracy of other European ships. De Boschouwer was able to persuade King Christian of Denmark to contact the King of Kandy. De Boschouwer himself took part in the Danish expedition to Sri Lanka, but died during the sea voyage before the small Danish fleet arrived in Trincomalee. After their arrival in 1620, however, the Danes learned that the document with which de Boschouwer had identified himself as an emissary of the Kandyan king was a forgery. But King Senarath, who initially behaved in hostile way, soon recognized the advantage that the Danes could bring in the fight against the Portuguese. So he conveyed Trincomalee to Danish disposal including permission to build a fort there. However, this never fort never materialized, because the Danes were soon driven out again by the Portuguese.
Now the King of Kandy, in his search for allies, turned again to the Dutch. They disappointed him again, this time with a lack of maritime support. The Dutch, although the largest naval power at the time, simply did not have enough ships to attack the Portuguese on all fronts at the same time. They initially focused on the Moluccas and later attempted an attack on the center of the Portuguese Empire in Asia, namely Goa.
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The Portuguese had succeeded in taking Jaffna in 1619, thus putting an end to the Tamil rule there. Jaffna's royal family was baptized and sent to a convent in Goa. Arriving from Jaffna, the Portuguese also conquered Trincomalee in 1624, where they completely demolished the Hindu temple and built their first fort. Five years later, with the conquest of Batticaloa, they even cut off the Sinhalese Kandyan kingdom from the coast entirely, at least for a few years. In this situation, the Sinhalese ruler now played the Dutch card more emphatically and successfully. And Rajasingha II, Senarat's successor since 1635, was successful, at least in terms of driving out the Portuguese.
The Portuguese fort at Trincomalee was a rather modest structure consisting of three bastions, whose armament consisted of the cannons from the Danish wrecks. This fort was captured by the Dutch immediately following their unsuccessful siege of Goa in 1639. The Dutch colonial history of Sri Lanka begins with this move into Trincomalee. As agreed, the conquerors initially handed the fort over to the Kandyan King Rajasingha II, their ally. He paid for it with 10 elephants. But because the king was unable to pay off his additional debts, which had been overstated by the Dutch, and became increasingly suspicious of his supposed or putative allies. The forts conquered by the Dutch from then on were no longer handed over to the Sinhalese king. Colombo in particular passed directly from Portuguese hands into Dutch hands. Trincomalee too was later retaken by the Dutch East India Company, which then expanded Fort Frederick to its current size.
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The Dutch dominated Sri Lanka for 150 years until another colonial power took over hegemony and also set foot on the island's soil for the first time in Trincomalee: the British. The British developed a true love affair with Trincomalee, because it has the by far best harbour on the Bay of Bengal, their paramount sphere of interest in Asia. But British rule had some welcome side effects for the local Tamil community of Trincomalee (as an exception from the mostly devastating effects of colonial rule). It was only the British who once again allowed the locals to perform their rituals at the site of the temple that had once been destroyed by the Portuguese.
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As early as 1659, two British ships appeared with embassies to the Kandyan king, but the emissaries were captured by him. Among them was Robert Knox, who had to stay in Kandy for many years. He has become famous for his insightful novel-like account of his years in Kandy. He not only describes the courtly life there, in which he took part as a noble hostage, but also closely observes the everyday life of the Sinhalese. To this day, his travel report remains an invaluable source. Knox also became the first European to see Anuradhapura, or at least the ruins of that ancient metropolis. But the inception of his expedition, which then failed so dramatically, was no coincidence. The British East India Company, which had already gained a foothold in Madras in southern India, sought contact with the Sinhalese king for two reasons and was particularly interested in a base in Trincomalee. Firstly, like all European colonial powers in the East, the British were interested in profiting from intra-Asian trade, which had turned out to be even more lucrative than the intercontinental trade. The British East India Company simply intended to take over the flow of goods between India and Sri Lanka. Secondly, they wanted to break the Dutch cinnamon monopoly, justfied by their motto of “freedom of the seas”.
However, such smart British efforts did not go unnoticed by the Dutch. In order to detain the British from having a gateway into the lucrative cinnamon trade and to thwart their opportunity to form an alliance with Kandy, the Dutch East India Company VOC took advantage of King Rajasingha's request for help against an internal Sinhalese revolt in 1664. The Dutch intervened. And a price for their support was that they gained, as already mentioned, the Kandyan kingdom's main port, Trincomalee, and in 1668 also Batticaloa, the last remaining port of the Sinhalese, so that the Dutch - like the Portuguese one generation before - now controlled all of Sri Lanka's coasts and thus completely enclosed the Kingdom of Kandy, cutting it off from overseas contacts.
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Yet another ambitious European colonial power left its footprint in Trincomalee during this turbulent time of the 17th century. In 1672, the Kandyan king, in his search for allies against the Dutch, transferred to the French Admiral de la Haye an abandoned bases in the Bay of Kottiyar near Trincomalee. De la Haye had been sent to the Indian Ocean with 12 ships by France's "Sun King" Louis XIV. But in those days France had not yet formally declared war on the Dutch. That's why Admiral de la Haye did not attack Trincomalee despite the Sinhalese king's insistence zo do so. The Dutch, howeverm had fewer scruples; they saw the French naval bases near Trincomalee as a breach of the peace. Because of the impending danger of an alliance between King Rajasingha II, who then was successful militarily on land, and a competing fleet of European adversaries, the Dutch drove the French out of the Bay off Trincomalee with the help of new ships from Battavia and then crushed them decisively in a sea battle off the southeast Indian Coromandel Coast. At that point in time, the British had been reluctant to help their then ally, because they already recognized France as a potential rival in India.
But the French were not finally out of the race for Trincomalee. In course of the 18th century, as Dutch naval power increasingly weakened and was surpassed by the British royal navy, the French seized power in southern India. During this period of the European Seven Years' War 1756-63, the British were the only allies of Frederick II of Prussia in Europe, precisely because they aimed at weakening their rival France, which had become a dangerous adversary not only in Europe, but also in America, Africa, and India. At the same time, the British fought the so-called Third Carnatic War with the French in southern India. And soon afterwards the British hero of Arcot and crook of Bengal, Robert Clive, achieved the decisive victory in Bengal against potentially powerful Indian allies of the French in the famous Battle of Plassey in 1757.
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At this time, the Kingdom of Kandy was very favourable to the British. The Sri Lankan Kings, now from the South Indian Nayakkar Dynasty, tried to win them over as partners in the fight against the Dutch. Initially, the British were reluctant to risk an expensive conflict with the Dutch. And there was no urgent need for the British to fight for a base on Ceylon, because the Dutch had so far granted them safe anchorage in Trincomalee. And the British had to avoid to make more enemies, bexause they had to fight the French and the Indian armies. Trincomalee was of crucial strategic importance in this struggle between the two world powers for India, as it is not only an excellent natural harbour, but the only really good one in the entire Bay of Bengal, capable of receiving even very large fleets. The British were then allowed to repair their ships in peace in Trincomalee or bring them into the then Dutch-controlled harbour to safety from storms.
In the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, ending the Seven Years' War outside central Europe, the French also had to formally accept their defeat in India. But they still didn't give up. The American War of Independence from 1775 is also related to France's fight with Bitain over India. In 1778, France entered the War of the American Colonies to weaken her rival worldwide. In the same year 1778, the Kandyan King Kirti Sri Rajasingha offered the French to cede Trincomalee and Batticaloa to them in order to finally get rid of the Dutch and, at the same time, to prevent the increasingly powerful British forces from getting a stronghold on the island. In other words: From a Sri Lankan perspective, the French were the lesser of three evils, because they were less powerful and therefore less threatening independence. In India the British had now taken over most of the Dutch and French bases. France, however, massively supported the resistance of the general Haidar Ali against the British in the so-called Mysore Wars on land in southern India. At sea, the French, now allied with the Dutch, were then successful at Trincomalee in 1782:
The naval battle of Providia south of Trincomalee was canceled due to the onset of a storm and the onset of darkness. The British fleet withdrew to Trincomalee, which it had recently seized from the Dutch, and the French fleet withdrew to Batticaloa, where it was welcomed by the new Sinhalese king, Sri Rajadhi Rajasingha. After another indecisive battle off the Indian coast, the French Admiral Bailli des Suffren, shortly after meeting with Haidar Ali, decided to attack Trincomalee in order to gain a safe base for necessary repair work. Near Batticaloa he met reinforcements from France and, taking advantage of the absence of British ships, went ashore at Trincomalee to bombard the fort with artillery from the land side. After being assured of safe conduct, the British crew withdrew to Madras. On September 1, 1782, the French captured Trincomalee. Shortly afterwards the British fleet appeared, but was defeated by the French navy on September 3rd in the so-called Battle of Trincomalee. The British had to leave again.
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The French did not lose Trincomalee militarily on land or at sea, but rather they gave it up and left it back to the Dutch. After the British victory over Haidar Ali and his French helpers, the French naval presence in the Bay of Bengal became irrelevant. In 1783 the French ships simply left Trincomalee for home. Elsewhere in the world France was more successful. In the Peace of Paris in 1783, American independence was sealed in the interests of France. France also won Senegal. And despite the total British triumph in India, in 1788, on the eve of the revolution, French colonial trade worldwide was, astonishingly, even larger than that of Britain.
The French Revolution also meant a decisive change in the balance of power in Asia and - unintentionally, of course - Great Britain's decisive breakthrough into the largest imperial power of all time. In 1794, French troops invaded the Netherlands and founded the “Batavian Republic” as a kind of revolutionary export. The Dutch hereditary governour, Prince William V of Orange, fled to England. From his residence there, in Kew Palace, he immediately sent the so-called Kew Letters to all Dutch governours. He called on them to resist the French. In particular, he ordered the colonial troops to submit to his allies, the British. The commanders of the Dutch forts in Sri Lanka first decided to comply, because they saw the new “Batavian Republic” as a French puppet regime from which they would not accept orders. But this changed soon, after the Dutch commanders on Ceylon received news from their motherland that the Batavian Republic turned out to be more popular than the previous regime.
In order to get ahead of the French, the British landed at Trincomalee at the beginning of August 1795 and demanded the handover of the fort. The Dutch commander refused. The British initial reaction was waiting. But in the following days, the Dutch garrison at the main fort in Colombo decided to switch sides completely. As said, the Dutch governor had now noticed that the “Batavian Republic” had met with the approval of the majority of the Dutch population. The British were told by the Dutch administration of Ceylon that they intended to defend the Dutch forts to the utmost, resisting the orders from the Dutch government in British exile. When the British received this news off Trincomalee on August 15th, they immediately decided not to wait any longer, but to attack the fort at the harbour of Trincomalee and take it over by force. The Dutch crew surrendered after four days of resistance. Trincomalee became British again and from then on remained so for a century and a half. The British had first set foot on Sri Lanka's soil in Trincomalee. In 1795 it became their stepping stone to finally take over Ceylon completely. By the following year, all Dutch troops had been driven out off the island.
The arch-rivals of the Portuguese colonial empire at the time, the Dutch, started to make contact with the Kandyan kings at the beginning of the 17th century. They had already wrested control of the southeastasian Strait of Malacca from the Portuguese and were the rising power in the Indian Ocean. But the Dutch alliance with the Kandyan king initially collapsed due to awkward diplomatic mishandlings.
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Later on, another colonial power came to the fore of Trincomalee. The Dutch envoy Marcellus de Boschouwer had returned from Kandy to Holland in 1616, where he fell out with the responsible Dutch East India Company (VOC). That's why he turned to Denmark, where another East India Company had been founded, which earned its profits in the Indian Ocean primarily through piracy of other European ships. De Boschouwer was able to persuade King Christian of Denmark to contact the King of Kandy. De Boschouwer himself took part in the Danish expedition to Sri Lanka, but died during the sea voyage before the small Danish fleet arrived in Trincomalee. After their arrival in 1620, however, the Danes learned that the document with which de Boschouwer had identified himself as an emissary of the Kandyan king was a forgery. But King Senarath, who initially behaved in hostile way, soon recognized the advantage that the Danes could bring in the fight against the Portuguese. So he conveyed Trincomalee to Danish disposal including permission to build a fort there. However, this never fort never materialized, because the Danes were soon driven out again by the Portuguese.
Now the King of Kandy, in his search for allies, turned again to the Dutch. They disappointed him again, this time with a lack of maritime support. The Dutch, although the largest naval power at the time, simply did not have enough ships to attack the Portuguese on all fronts at the same time. They initially focused on the Moluccas and later attempted an attack on the center of the Portuguese Empire in Asia, namely Goa.
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The Portuguese had succeeded in taking Jaffna in 1619, thus putting an end to the Tamil rule there. Jaffna's royal family was baptized and sent to a convent in Goa. Arriving from Jaffna, the Portuguese also conquered Trincomalee in 1624, where they completely demolished the Hindu temple and built their first fort. Five years later, with the conquest of Batticaloa, they even cut off the Sinhalese Kandyan kingdom from the coast entirely, at least for a few years. In this situation, the Sinhalese ruler now played the Dutch card more emphatically and successfully. And Rajasingha II, Senarat's successor since 1635, was successful, at least in terms of driving out the Portuguese.
The Portuguese fort at Trincomalee was a rather modest structure consisting of three bastions, whose armament consisted of the cannons from the Danish wrecks. This fort was captured by the Dutch immediately following their unsuccessful siege of Goa in 1639. The Dutch colonial history of Sri Lanka begins with this move into Trincomalee. As agreed, the conquerors initially handed the fort over to the Kandyan King Rajasingha II, their ally. He paid for it with 10 elephants. But because the king was unable to pay off his additional debts, which had been overstated by the Dutch, and became increasingly suspicious of his supposed or putative allies. The forts conquered by the Dutch from then on were no longer handed over to the Sinhalese king. Colombo in particular passed directly from Portuguese hands into Dutch hands. Trincomalee too was later retaken by the Dutch East India Company, which then expanded Fort Frederick to its current size.
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The Dutch dominated Sri Lanka for 150 years until another colonial power took over hegemony and also set foot on the island's soil for the first time in Trincomalee: the British. The British developed a true love affair with Trincomalee, because it has the by far best harbour on the Bay of Bengal, their paramount sphere of interest in Asia. But British rule had some welcome side effects for the local Tamil community of Trincomalee (as an exception from the mostly devastating effects of colonial rule). It was only the British who once again allowed the locals to perform their rituals at the site of the temple that had once been destroyed by the Portuguese.
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As early as 1659, two British ships appeared with embassies to the Kandyan king, but the emissaries were captured by him. Among them was Robert Knox, who had to stay in Kandy for many years. He has become famous for his insightful novel-like account of his years in Kandy. He not only describes the courtly life there, in which he took part as a noble hostage, but also closely observes the everyday life of the Sinhalese. To this day, his travel report remains an invaluable source. Knox also became the first European to see Anuradhapura, or at least the ruins of that ancient metropolis. But the inception of his expedition, which then failed so dramatically, was no coincidence. The British East India Company, which had already gained a foothold in Madras in southern India, sought contact with the Sinhalese king for two reasons and was particularly interested in a base in Trincomalee. Firstly, like all European colonial powers in the East, the British were interested in profiting from intra-Asian trade, which had turned out to be even more lucrative than the intercontinental trade. The British East India Company simply intended to take over the flow of goods between India and Sri Lanka. Secondly, they wanted to break the Dutch cinnamon monopoly, justfied by their motto of “freedom of the seas”.
However, such smart British efforts did not go unnoticed by the Dutch. In order to detain the British from having a gateway into the lucrative cinnamon trade and to thwart their opportunity to form an alliance with Kandy, the Dutch East India Company VOC took advantage of King Rajasingha's request for help against an internal Sinhalese revolt in 1664. The Dutch intervened. And a price for their support was that they gained, as already mentioned, the Kandyan kingdom's main port, Trincomalee, and in 1668 also Batticaloa, the last remaining port of the Sinhalese, so that the Dutch - like the Portuguese one generation before - now controlled all of Sri Lanka's coasts and thus completely enclosed the Kingdom of Kandy, cutting it off from overseas contacts.
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Yet another ambitious European colonial power left its footprint in Trincomalee during this turbulent time of the 17th century. In 1672, the Kandyan king, in his search for allies against the Dutch, transferred to the French Admiral de la Haye an abandoned bases in the Bay of Kottiyar near Trincomalee. De la Haye had been sent to the Indian Ocean with 12 ships by France's "Sun King" Louis XIV. But in those days France had not yet formally declared war on the Dutch. That's why Admiral de la Haye did not attack Trincomalee despite the Sinhalese king's insistence zo do so. The Dutch, howeverm had fewer scruples; they saw the French naval bases near Trincomalee as a breach of the peace. Because of the impending danger of an alliance between King Rajasingha II, who then was successful militarily on land, and a competing fleet of European adversaries, the Dutch drove the French out of the Bay off Trincomalee with the help of new ships from Battavia and then crushed them decisively in a sea battle off the southeast Indian Coromandel Coast. At that point in time, the British had been reluctant to help their then ally, because they already recognized France as a potential rival in India.
But the French were not finally out of the race for Trincomalee. In course of the 18th century, as Dutch naval power increasingly weakened and was surpassed by the British royal navy, the French seized power in southern India. During this period of the European Seven Years' War 1756-63, the British were the only allies of Frederick II of Prussia in Europe, precisely because they aimed at weakening their rival France, which had become a dangerous adversary not only in Europe, but also in America, Africa, and India. At the same time, the British fought the so-called Third Carnatic War with the French in southern India. And soon afterwards the British hero of Arcot and crook of Bengal, Robert Clive, achieved the decisive victory in Bengal against potentially powerful Indian allies of the French in the famous Battle of Plassey in 1757.
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At this time, the Kingdom of Kandy was very favourable to the British. The Sri Lankan Kings, now from the South Indian Nayakkar Dynasty, tried to win them over as partners in the fight against the Dutch. Initially, the British were reluctant to risk an expensive conflict with the Dutch. And there was no urgent need for the British to fight for a base on Ceylon, because the Dutch had so far granted them safe anchorage in Trincomalee. And the British had to avoid to make more enemies, bexause they had to fight the French and the Indian armies. Trincomalee was of crucial strategic importance in this struggle between the two world powers for India, as it is not only an excellent natural harbour, but the only really good one in the entire Bay of Bengal, capable of receiving even very large fleets. The British were then allowed to repair their ships in peace in Trincomalee or bring them into the then Dutch-controlled harbour to safety from storms.
In the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, ending the Seven Years' War outside central Europe, the French also had to formally accept their defeat in India. But they still didn't give up. The American War of Independence from 1775 is also related to France's fight with Bitain over India. In 1778, France entered the War of the American Colonies to weaken her rival worldwide. In the same year 1778, the Kandyan King Kirti Sri Rajasingha offered the French to cede Trincomalee and Batticaloa to them in order to finally get rid of the Dutch and, at the same time, to prevent the increasingly powerful British forces from getting a stronghold on the island. In other words: From a Sri Lankan perspective, the French were the lesser of three evils, because they were less powerful and therefore less threatening independence. In India the British had now taken over most of the Dutch and French bases. France, however, massively supported the resistance of the general Haidar Ali against the British in the so-called Mysore Wars on land in southern India. At sea, the French, now allied with the Dutch, were then successful at Trincomalee in 1782:
The naval battle of Providia south of Trincomalee was canceled due to the onset of a storm and the onset of darkness. The British fleet withdrew to Trincomalee, which it had recently seized from the Dutch, and the French fleet withdrew to Batticaloa, where it was welcomed by the new Sinhalese king, Sri Rajadhi Rajasingha. After another indecisive battle off the Indian coast, the French Admiral Bailli des Suffren, shortly after meeting with Haidar Ali, decided to attack Trincomalee in order to gain a safe base for necessary repair work. Near Batticaloa he met reinforcements from France and, taking advantage of the absence of British ships, went ashore at Trincomalee to bombard the fort with artillery from the land side. After being assured of safe conduct, the British crew withdrew to Madras. On September 1, 1782, the French captured Trincomalee. Shortly afterwards the British fleet appeared, but was defeated by the French navy on September 3rd in the so-called Battle of Trincomalee. The British had to leave again.
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The French did not lose Trincomalee militarily on land or at sea, but rather they gave it up and left it back to the Dutch. After the British victory over Haidar Ali and his French helpers, the French naval presence in the Bay of Bengal became irrelevant. In 1783 the French ships simply left Trincomalee for home. Elsewhere in the world France was more successful. In the Peace of Paris in 1783, American independence was sealed in the interests of France. France also won Senegal. And despite the total British triumph in India, in 1788, on the eve of the revolution, French colonial trade worldwide was, astonishingly, even larger than that of Britain.
The French Revolution also meant a decisive change in the balance of power in Asia and - unintentionally, of course - Great Britain's decisive breakthrough into the largest imperial power of all time. In 1794, French troops invaded the Netherlands and founded the “Batavian Republic” as a kind of revolutionary export. The Dutch hereditary governour, Prince William V of Orange, fled to England. From his residence there, in Kew Palace, he immediately sent the so-called Kew Letters to all Dutch governours. He called on them to resist the French. In particular, he ordered the colonial troops to submit to his allies, the British. The commanders of the Dutch forts in Sri Lanka first decided to comply, because they saw the new “Batavian Republic” as a French puppet regime from which they would not accept orders. But this changed soon, after the Dutch commanders on Ceylon received news from their motherland that the Batavian Republic turned out to be more popular than the previous regime.
In order to get ahead of the French, the British landed at Trincomalee at the beginning of August 1795 and demanded the handover of the fort. The Dutch commander refused. The British initial reaction was waiting. But in the following days, the Dutch garrison at the main fort in Colombo decided to switch sides completely. As said, the Dutch governor had now noticed that the “Batavian Republic” had met with the approval of the majority of the Dutch population. The British were told by the Dutch administration of Ceylon that they intended to defend the Dutch forts to the utmost, resisting the orders from the Dutch government in British exile. When the British received this news off Trincomalee on August 15th, they immediately decided not to wait any longer, but to attack the fort at the harbour of Trincomalee and take it over by force. The Dutch crew surrendered after four days of resistance. Trincomalee became British again and from then on remained so for a century and a half. The British had first set foot on Sri Lanka's soil in Trincomalee. In 1795 it became their stepping stone to finally take over Ceylon completely. By the following year, all Dutch troops had been driven out off the island.
British Colonial History of Trincomalee
The British set up their administrative headquarters for the east coast in Fort Frederick. The huge natural harbour became one of the main bases of the Royal Navy.
for more information about the British conial period of Trincomalee ... please click here
Trincomalee remained the main base in Sri Lanka for the British Royal Navy, even when Colombo's port was artificially expanded in the second hal of the 19th century. Colombo served primarily as a trading port.
In honor of the port city, or rather the naval battle there in 1782, a frigate completed for the Royal Navy in 1817 was christened HMS Trincomalee. There was a wood shortage in Great Britain due to shipbuilding for the Napoleonic Wars, so the ship was built in Bombay. After arriving in London, it was put into reserve and, after being converted into a corvette, it was not used in wars until 30 years later. When the HMS Trincomalee had served her time, she acquired a private name and was renamed HMS Foudroyant after one of Nelson's ships. After extensive renovations, the ship was given back its original name, HMS Trincomalee, in 2002. This museum ship in the historic docks of Hartlepool is, alongside the HMS Unicorn and the USS Constitution, the only surviving frigate from the age of sailing ships and the oldest still seaworthy ship in Great Britain. Today the HMS Trincomalee is the highlight of the museum complex on the North Sea coast of northern England, which is now called “Hartlepool’s Maritime Experience”.
In the mid-19th century, the British governor of Ceylon, Sir James Emerson Tennent, even proposed making Trincomalee the capital of the crown colony. As is well known today, nothing came of it. It was not because of this, but rather with their tax policy that Tennent and his Secretary of State in London, Earl Grey, triggered an uprising among the Sinhalese, the so-called Matale Rebellion in 1848.
During the Second World War, Ceylon, like India, declared unconditional support for the British, despite their desire for independence. Before the war, the Royal Air Force had already built a large air base on China Bay opposite the naval port, and also supply facilities for the navy were installed. After the fall of Singapore, the high command of the “Eastern Fleet”, i.e. the Asian units of the Royal Navy, was relocated to Trincomalee during the war, as was the submarine fleet of the Dutch Navy, which also had to withdraw from the Indonesian archipelago. When the expected Japanese air raids in the Indian Ocean were carried out in April 1942, Trincomalee was their main target. But the Japanese soon afterwards were not interested in preparing for an invasion any more, as was feared in Ceylon and London, but rather they had to focus on the Pacific War and in the Indian Ocean primarily aimed in weakening the supply to the Western allied naval forces in the Pacific War.
In honor of the port city, or rather the naval battle there in 1782, a frigate completed for the Royal Navy in 1817 was christened HMS Trincomalee. There was a wood shortage in Great Britain due to shipbuilding for the Napoleonic Wars, so the ship was built in Bombay. After arriving in London, it was put into reserve and, after being converted into a corvette, it was not used in wars until 30 years later. When the HMS Trincomalee had served her time, she acquired a private name and was renamed HMS Foudroyant after one of Nelson's ships. After extensive renovations, the ship was given back its original name, HMS Trincomalee, in 2002. This museum ship in the historic docks of Hartlepool is, alongside the HMS Unicorn and the USS Constitution, the only surviving frigate from the age of sailing ships and the oldest still seaworthy ship in Great Britain. Today the HMS Trincomalee is the highlight of the museum complex on the North Sea coast of northern England, which is now called “Hartlepool’s Maritime Experience”.
In the mid-19th century, the British governor of Ceylon, Sir James Emerson Tennent, even proposed making Trincomalee the capital of the crown colony. As is well known today, nothing came of it. It was not because of this, but rather with their tax policy that Tennent and his Secretary of State in London, Earl Grey, triggered an uprising among the Sinhalese, the so-called Matale Rebellion in 1848.
During the Second World War, Ceylon, like India, declared unconditional support for the British, despite their desire for independence. Before the war, the Royal Air Force had already built a large air base on China Bay opposite the naval port, and also supply facilities for the navy were installed. After the fall of Singapore, the high command of the “Eastern Fleet”, i.e. the Asian units of the Royal Navy, was relocated to Trincomalee during the war, as was the submarine fleet of the Dutch Navy, which also had to withdraw from the Indonesian archipelago. When the expected Japanese air raids in the Indian Ocean were carried out in April 1942, Trincomalee was their main target. But the Japanese soon afterwards were not interested in preparing for an invasion any more, as was feared in Ceylon and London, but rather they had to focus on the Pacific War and in the Indian Ocean primarily aimed in weakening the supply to the Western allied naval forces in the Pacific War.
Excurses: Two British National Heros who served in Trincomalee
Two of Britain's greatest national heroes, both exponents of the triumph over Napoleon, did some of their service on His Majesty's behalf at Fort Frederick in Trincomalee.
for more details about internationally famed 2 major historical figures connected to Trincomalee ... please click here
One of them is Arthur Wesley, who was born in Ireland and who called himself Wellesley since 1798. He gained his first war experience as a lieutenant colonel in a failed invasion by allied forces aiming to defeat the French revolutionary government. In 1794, Wellesley commanded the rear guard during the British retreat from Flanders, where they were defeated by the French revolutionary armies. He had observed the failure of the army command. The future master of logistical preparation and infantry positions learned a lesson from the failure: “At least I learned what not to do, and that is always a valuable lesson.”
In 1796 Wesley was transferred to India as a colonel with his regiment, where he arrived in Calcutta in 1797. In the same year, his elder brother Richard became Indian Governor General. Wesley alias Wellesley rose to become a division commander in India.
As leader of the reinforcements, Wellesley was instrumental in Harris' capture of Seringapatanam on May 4, 1799, which ushered in British domination throughout southern India. Even if the idea of “decisive battles” won by strategic geniusses probably obscures the genuine causes of military success (especially through better technology and logistics), that battle is remarkable in many ways. The British did not cover themselves with the glory of civilization, rather there was widespread rape and looting. The brutally looted art treasures still adorn English private collections today. Wellesley himself, however, took the harshest disciplinary measures against acts of violence by his soldiers. Tipu Sultan, son and - actually more unlucky - successor of Haidar Ali in Mysore, used a newly developed weapon technology, rocket artillery. The fireworks rockets had metal projectiles with sabers at the tips. The British were so impressed by these projectiles that they used them in the siege of Fort Henry near Baltimore in 1812. But in theat battle the US flag at least remained standing, which the American national anthem still sings about today; a line of the first verse of the “Star-Spangled Banner” is reminiscent of that Indian invention: “and the rockets’ red glare”. With his death in the Battle of Seringapatanam, Tipu Sultan became a glorified hero later on, a kind of an Indian freedom fighter, though a Muslim one, by the way. He is said to have continued to fight, riddled with bullets, literally until his last breath. In any case, Arthur Wellesley was the first on site to feel the pulse of his opponent and to thus confirm the death of the British's great Indian archenemy. Actually, the British had decided on the final destruction of his empire, because Tipu Sultan pushed his efforts for an alliance with the French just when Napoleon invaded Egypt to disrupt British trade with India. But in India, at that time, it was about more than the final elimination of the French rival from South Asia. Governor General Richard Wellesley had no less a goal than British control of all of India rather than just over coastal bases. Tipu Sultan's request for assistance to France, with which England was officially at war, was interpreted by the British Governor General as an entry into the war and thus used as a cover for his own aggression. The victory over Tipu Sultan caused a real euphoria in England, because it was the first major success after a series of humiliations at the hands of the French revolutionary armies. The newspapers were full of the jubilant reports for days. Those involved in the Battle of Sringapatna were showered with promotions and titles. From then on, this “laying of the foundation stone of the Empire” was commemorated every year with a ceremony, a “second empire” now in India after the extensive loss of North America, a turning point in British history just at the beginning of the era of industrialization.
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In 1800, the war hero and British governor of Mysore, Arthur Wellesley, recovered in the Wellesley House, now named after him, in the Trincomalee Fort. He was seriously ill with malaria and was waiting here to return home. But because he was suffering from bouts of fever again, he missed the ship HMS Susannah for his journey home via Egypt. The illness turned out to be his good luck, because the Susannah sank in the Gulf of Aden on this voyage without any survivors.
In 1802 Arthur Wellesley was promoted to major general and was commander in chief of the British forces in the subsequent Second Maratha War for Central India. Under him, the entire Indian peninsula finally came under British control militarily. In 1804 he was knighted for this achievement. In 1805, Wellesley finally returned to Europe.
In September of that year he reported to the War Office in London on the situation in India and received his new operational orders. In the waiting room, he was approached by an admiral who was about 10 years older than him and who didn't yet recognize him by his face. Wellesley later recalled it this way: “He could not know who I was, but he entered at once into conversation with me, if I can call it conversation, for it was almost all on his side, and all about himself, and in really a style so vain and so silly as to surprise and almost disgust me." The very prominent admiral, named Nelson, then left the room and now found out who the younger officer was. On his return to the waiting room, Nelson spoke to Wellesley again, but this time in a very different tone. They now exchanged lively views on British politics. And 30 years later, Wellesley recalled this second part of his only encounter with Nelson: "I cannot remember ever having a conversation that was more interesting.” And "But certainly a more sudden and complete metamorphosis I never saw." It is not known whether they also exchanged memories of Trincomalee. But both knew the most strategically important port in the Indian Ocean quite welll. And they had both fallen victim to tropical fever, probably malaria, which was why Nelson had returned from India forever.
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Nelson made a statement that people in Sri Lanka are still proud of today and that is often used - including in this online article of Lanka Excursions Holiday - namely that Trincomalee is the best harbour in the world, the best natural harbour. Of course, there are much larger harbour bays such as San Francisco Bay and even more complex harbour basins with better natural mooring opportunities such as Sydney's Port Jackson or the Grand Harbor near Valetta on Malta - the latter well known to Nelson. But a sailing-era sailor like Nelson had many other things to consider, shoals, currents, space to maneuver in different winds, etc. What he particularly appreciated about Trincomalee's local conditions was that they allowed sailing in different wind directions and also to enter the port in adverse weather without great risks.
In the years after the Battle of Trafalgar, which would immortalize Nelson in history books as the founder of global British naval supremacy, General Wellesley married the woman he had loved a long-time in vain, because for her family he had once been unsuitable. The general was then sent to Denmark. He was then given supreme command of the British troops that landed in Portugal to protect it from a Napoleonic invasion - and from there, later on, to intervene in French-occupied Spain, where a popular uprising against the French occupation would soon break out. Wellesley's further career, however, took a hit when, after a victory, he gave the defeated French such advantageous options for withdrawal - transport on British ships, keeping the war chest - that he was summoned before a court-martial. But that relieved him. Wellesley returned to the Iberian Peninsula and later even became commander-in-chief of the Spanish army.
After a first decisive victory over the French troops of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, in the Battle of Talavera de la Reina, which secured Portugal's independence, Arthur Wellesley was ennobled in 1809, first to Viscount, and after further victories to Earl in 1812, 1814 to Duke. His brother Richard had suggested the name "Wellington" for the new aristocratic title because of its similarity to "Wellesley", with which the newly crowned Arthur Duke of Wellington was to go down in world history in 1815 as the winner of Waterloo. The Germans remember him because of a saying, which is not even guaranteed: “I wish it was night or the Prussians were coming.”
Later, Wellington alias Wellesley alias Wesley became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army for life and minister and twice Prime Minister. After his death in 1852 at the age of 83, Wellington, like Nelson, was honored with a state ceremony that was rarely celebrated on such a grand scale. It turned into a mass gathering in London, just like Churchill's funeral a hundred years later. The Duke of Wellington was buried in St Paul's Cathedral next to his former conversation partner Lord Nelson.
And all of this could only happen because he had once missed his ship in Trincomalee due to a delirium caused by a tropical disease.
In 1796 Wesley was transferred to India as a colonel with his regiment, where he arrived in Calcutta in 1797. In the same year, his elder brother Richard became Indian Governor General. Wesley alias Wellesley rose to become a division commander in India.
As leader of the reinforcements, Wellesley was instrumental in Harris' capture of Seringapatanam on May 4, 1799, which ushered in British domination throughout southern India. Even if the idea of “decisive battles” won by strategic geniusses probably obscures the genuine causes of military success (especially through better technology and logistics), that battle is remarkable in many ways. The British did not cover themselves with the glory of civilization, rather there was widespread rape and looting. The brutally looted art treasures still adorn English private collections today. Wellesley himself, however, took the harshest disciplinary measures against acts of violence by his soldiers. Tipu Sultan, son and - actually more unlucky - successor of Haidar Ali in Mysore, used a newly developed weapon technology, rocket artillery. The fireworks rockets had metal projectiles with sabers at the tips. The British were so impressed by these projectiles that they used them in the siege of Fort Henry near Baltimore in 1812. But in theat battle the US flag at least remained standing, which the American national anthem still sings about today; a line of the first verse of the “Star-Spangled Banner” is reminiscent of that Indian invention: “and the rockets’ red glare”. With his death in the Battle of Seringapatanam, Tipu Sultan became a glorified hero later on, a kind of an Indian freedom fighter, though a Muslim one, by the way. He is said to have continued to fight, riddled with bullets, literally until his last breath. In any case, Arthur Wellesley was the first on site to feel the pulse of his opponent and to thus confirm the death of the British's great Indian archenemy. Actually, the British had decided on the final destruction of his empire, because Tipu Sultan pushed his efforts for an alliance with the French just when Napoleon invaded Egypt to disrupt British trade with India. But in India, at that time, it was about more than the final elimination of the French rival from South Asia. Governor General Richard Wellesley had no less a goal than British control of all of India rather than just over coastal bases. Tipu Sultan's request for assistance to France, with which England was officially at war, was interpreted by the British Governor General as an entry into the war and thus used as a cover for his own aggression. The victory over Tipu Sultan caused a real euphoria in England, because it was the first major success after a series of humiliations at the hands of the French revolutionary armies. The newspapers were full of the jubilant reports for days. Those involved in the Battle of Sringapatna were showered with promotions and titles. From then on, this “laying of the foundation stone of the Empire” was commemorated every year with a ceremony, a “second empire” now in India after the extensive loss of North America, a turning point in British history just at the beginning of the era of industrialization.
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In 1800, the war hero and British governor of Mysore, Arthur Wellesley, recovered in the Wellesley House, now named after him, in the Trincomalee Fort. He was seriously ill with malaria and was waiting here to return home. But because he was suffering from bouts of fever again, he missed the ship HMS Susannah for his journey home via Egypt. The illness turned out to be his good luck, because the Susannah sank in the Gulf of Aden on this voyage without any survivors.
In 1802 Arthur Wellesley was promoted to major general and was commander in chief of the British forces in the subsequent Second Maratha War for Central India. Under him, the entire Indian peninsula finally came under British control militarily. In 1804 he was knighted for this achievement. In 1805, Wellesley finally returned to Europe.
In September of that year he reported to the War Office in London on the situation in India and received his new operational orders. In the waiting room, he was approached by an admiral who was about 10 years older than him and who didn't yet recognize him by his face. Wellesley later recalled it this way: “He could not know who I was, but he entered at once into conversation with me, if I can call it conversation, for it was almost all on his side, and all about himself, and in really a style so vain and so silly as to surprise and almost disgust me." The very prominent admiral, named Nelson, then left the room and now found out who the younger officer was. On his return to the waiting room, Nelson spoke to Wellesley again, but this time in a very different tone. They now exchanged lively views on British politics. And 30 years later, Wellesley recalled this second part of his only encounter with Nelson: "I cannot remember ever having a conversation that was more interesting.” And "But certainly a more sudden and complete metamorphosis I never saw." It is not known whether they also exchanged memories of Trincomalee. But both knew the most strategically important port in the Indian Ocean quite welll. And they had both fallen victim to tropical fever, probably malaria, which was why Nelson had returned from India forever.
---
Nelson made a statement that people in Sri Lanka are still proud of today and that is often used - including in this online article of Lanka Excursions Holiday - namely that Trincomalee is the best harbour in the world, the best natural harbour. Of course, there are much larger harbour bays such as San Francisco Bay and even more complex harbour basins with better natural mooring opportunities such as Sydney's Port Jackson or the Grand Harbor near Valetta on Malta - the latter well known to Nelson. But a sailing-era sailor like Nelson had many other things to consider, shoals, currents, space to maneuver in different winds, etc. What he particularly appreciated about Trincomalee's local conditions was that they allowed sailing in different wind directions and also to enter the port in adverse weather without great risks.
In the years after the Battle of Trafalgar, which would immortalize Nelson in history books as the founder of global British naval supremacy, General Wellesley married the woman he had loved a long-time in vain, because for her family he had once been unsuitable. The general was then sent to Denmark. He was then given supreme command of the British troops that landed in Portugal to protect it from a Napoleonic invasion - and from there, later on, to intervene in French-occupied Spain, where a popular uprising against the French occupation would soon break out. Wellesley's further career, however, took a hit when, after a victory, he gave the defeated French such advantageous options for withdrawal - transport on British ships, keeping the war chest - that he was summoned before a court-martial. But that relieved him. Wellesley returned to the Iberian Peninsula and later even became commander-in-chief of the Spanish army.
After a first decisive victory over the French troops of Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, in the Battle of Talavera de la Reina, which secured Portugal's independence, Arthur Wellesley was ennobled in 1809, first to Viscount, and after further victories to Earl in 1812, 1814 to Duke. His brother Richard had suggested the name "Wellington" for the new aristocratic title because of its similarity to "Wellesley", with which the newly crowned Arthur Duke of Wellington was to go down in world history in 1815 as the winner of Waterloo. The Germans remember him because of a saying, which is not even guaranteed: “I wish it was night or the Prussians were coming.”
Later, Wellington alias Wellesley alias Wesley became Commander-in-Chief of the British Army for life and minister and twice Prime Minister. After his death in 1852 at the age of 83, Wellington, like Nelson, was honored with a state ceremony that was rarely celebrated on such a grand scale. It turned into a mass gathering in London, just like Churchill's funeral a hundred years later. The Duke of Wellington was buried in St Paul's Cathedral next to his former conversation partner Lord Nelson.
And all of this could only happen because he had once missed his ship in Trincomalee due to a delirium caused by a tropical disease.
Recent History of Trincomalee
Even after Ceylon's independence in 1948, the Trincomalee naval base remained in British hands as one of the most important ports for the Royal Navy. Many of the bungalows on the grounds of Fort Frederick date from this last phase of the colonial period. In 1957, Ceylon, as Sri Lanka was then called, finally took over the naval and air base by contract.
for more information about Trincomalee since 1948 ... please click here
In 1968, a controversy over whether Trincomalee's Koneswaram Hindu temple should be listed as protected monument contributed to the Tamil Federal Party's departure from the coalition government of UNP Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake, of which it was a partner along with Sinhalese nationalists. The Prime Minister had received a letter of complaint from a prominent Buddhist monk that a Tamil minister had formed a committee to protect the famous Tamil temple od Trincomalee. The background was claims by Sinhalese nationalists that the Hindu temple was originally a Buddhist sanctuary, a popular topic of Sinhalese chauvinists. The Prime Minister dissolved the committee.
The real breaking point of the last Sinhala-Tamil unity coalition in 1968 was the question of regional self-government in the districts. In the ideology of Sinhalese nationalists, any tendency towards federalism has always been declared a betrayal of the unity of the fatherland. Violent protests erupted against reforms that would have facilitated more Tamil self-rule in Tamil majority areas. The reform was therefore revised by the government, whereupon the Federal Party, which was keen on greater Tamil autonomy, left the coalition. In 1970, Dudley Senanayake's UNP government was voted out and Widow Bandaranayake's left-leaning but even more nationalistic SLFP came to power.
In 1983, Deutsche Welle set up a relay station in Trincomalee and broadcasts from here on short and medium waves. However, they had to temporarily stop operations due to the civil war.
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In the 1980s, the LTTE rebel army, the most extremist group among Tamil secessionists, fighting with terror attacks and by recruiting child soldiers, was very powerful in the Eastern Province. Due to the civil war, the city was temporarily closed to tourists. Ethnic unrest occurred with regularity in Trincomalee, where a significant portion of the population had previously been Sinhalese. The LTTE sought to completely expel Sinhalese from Tamil areas, their policy of expulsion indeed succeeded in the north of the island.
There were plans in the LTTE to make Trincomalee the capital of the hoped-for independent Tamil state, instead of Jaffna, namely because of Trincomalee's central location at the junction between the Northern Province and the Eastern Province, i.e. the two parts of the island that were claimed by the separatists for their Tamil nation state. In addition, the port was expected to provide an economic boom and international connections for the imagined state of Tamil Eelam.
But in 1992 the government troops finally gained sole control of Trincomalee, which was strategically very relevant in the land and sea and air war against the LTTE guerilla forces. Since then, the city has been mostly accessible and free from military conflict. But the immediate surrounding area remained fiercely contested for a long time. There were repeated air strikes in the hinterland of Trincomalee. Many Tamils fled to relatives in the safer southwest of the island to escape attacks and bombings by government soldiers on the one hand and no less gruesome protection rackets and forced recruitment by LTTE gangs on the other.
Trincomalee was a naval base for government troops on the east coast throughout the civil war. However, it has largely lost its importance as a trading port in those tragic years. After all, Trincomalee remained the main import seaport for wheat, namely because of its flour mill, which was for a long time the largest in Asia and whose products formed a kind of monopoly in Sri Lanka. Later on the mill, called Prima Flour Mills, came into the ownership of a subsidiary of Prima Limited from Singapore.
Due to its location on a narrow sandbar, Trincomalee was severely affected by the 2004 tsunami triggered by an earthquake in the eastern region of the Indian Ocean. Large parts of the port area, which is behind the city, were also destroyed.
The traditional harbour of course has development potential for a peaceful future. But the massive Chinese investments in their “string of pearls” of seaports on the Indian Ocean - to secure raw material routes from Africa and the Middle East and to contain India - did not flow here. The Chinese financed a completely new artificial harbour basin at Hambantota, which was opened in 2010. Hambantota is on the south coast. In the age of globalization, that location is more interesting than that of Trincomalee, which is oriented towards Bengal, because goods traffic flows along the southern coast of Sri Lanka between Europe, Africa and the Persian Gulf on the one hand and Southeast Asia, the Far East and Australia on the other. However, if political and economic relations with India improve significantly, Trincomalee has a chance to become more interesting as an import port for Indian goods alongside Colombo.
The real breaking point of the last Sinhala-Tamil unity coalition in 1968 was the question of regional self-government in the districts. In the ideology of Sinhalese nationalists, any tendency towards federalism has always been declared a betrayal of the unity of the fatherland. Violent protests erupted against reforms that would have facilitated more Tamil self-rule in Tamil majority areas. The reform was therefore revised by the government, whereupon the Federal Party, which was keen on greater Tamil autonomy, left the coalition. In 1970, Dudley Senanayake's UNP government was voted out and Widow Bandaranayake's left-leaning but even more nationalistic SLFP came to power.
In 1983, Deutsche Welle set up a relay station in Trincomalee and broadcasts from here on short and medium waves. However, they had to temporarily stop operations due to the civil war.
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In the 1980s, the LTTE rebel army, the most extremist group among Tamil secessionists, fighting with terror attacks and by recruiting child soldiers, was very powerful in the Eastern Province. Due to the civil war, the city was temporarily closed to tourists. Ethnic unrest occurred with regularity in Trincomalee, where a significant portion of the population had previously been Sinhalese. The LTTE sought to completely expel Sinhalese from Tamil areas, their policy of expulsion indeed succeeded in the north of the island.
There were plans in the LTTE to make Trincomalee the capital of the hoped-for independent Tamil state, instead of Jaffna, namely because of Trincomalee's central location at the junction between the Northern Province and the Eastern Province, i.e. the two parts of the island that were claimed by the separatists for their Tamil nation state. In addition, the port was expected to provide an economic boom and international connections for the imagined state of Tamil Eelam.
But in 1992 the government troops finally gained sole control of Trincomalee, which was strategically very relevant in the land and sea and air war against the LTTE guerilla forces. Since then, the city has been mostly accessible and free from military conflict. But the immediate surrounding area remained fiercely contested for a long time. There were repeated air strikes in the hinterland of Trincomalee. Many Tamils fled to relatives in the safer southwest of the island to escape attacks and bombings by government soldiers on the one hand and no less gruesome protection rackets and forced recruitment by LTTE gangs on the other.
Trincomalee was a naval base for government troops on the east coast throughout the civil war. However, it has largely lost its importance as a trading port in those tragic years. After all, Trincomalee remained the main import seaport for wheat, namely because of its flour mill, which was for a long time the largest in Asia and whose products formed a kind of monopoly in Sri Lanka. Later on the mill, called Prima Flour Mills, came into the ownership of a subsidiary of Prima Limited from Singapore.
Due to its location on a narrow sandbar, Trincomalee was severely affected by the 2004 tsunami triggered by an earthquake in the eastern region of the Indian Ocean. Large parts of the port area, which is behind the city, were also destroyed.
The traditional harbour of course has development potential for a peaceful future. But the massive Chinese investments in their “string of pearls” of seaports on the Indian Ocean - to secure raw material routes from Africa and the Middle East and to contain India - did not flow here. The Chinese financed a completely new artificial harbour basin at Hambantota, which was opened in 2010. Hambantota is on the south coast. In the age of globalization, that location is more interesting than that of Trincomalee, which is oriented towards Bengal, because goods traffic flows along the southern coast of Sri Lanka between Europe, Africa and the Persian Gulf on the one hand and Southeast Asia, the Far East and Australia on the other. However, if political and economic relations with India improve significantly, Trincomalee has a chance to become more interesting as an import port for Indian goods alongside Colombo.
Gopurams of Pathirakali Amman Kovil
Attractions of Trincomalee
One major attraction of Trincomalee is the scenic beauty of the peninsula in itself, with large sandy beaches of coves on the ocean side that are protected by rocky promontories. From April to October, lovers of maritime wildlife travel to Trincomalee to enjoy a whale watching tour. Trincomalee’s large natural harbour in the back of the peninsula is of historical significance and has some charming natural shores, too. The main attractions, however, are the numerous sacred sites of the Tamil population. Trincomalee harbours the most renowned Shiva temple of Sri Lanka and several other large Hindu Kovils. The most noteworthy attractions from the colonial period are Fort Frederick and the luxuriant Dutch Naval Officer’s residence that now houses a maritime museum.
Thiru Konesvaram Kovil - Sri Lanka's most famous Shiva temple
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Thiru Koneshwaram on Trincomalee’s eastern promontory called Swami Rock is said to have been erected no less than Rishi Agastya on the instructions of Lord Shiva himsel. The supreme god of Tamil Hindus had been impressed by the devotion bestowed by Ravana, the legendary ruler of the island, that he rewarded him by donoting this temple to his devotee, not the other way around, as one might expect.
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Thiru Konesvaram is sacred site of Shaivites in the first place, but it’s held in high esteem by Vaishnavas and Shakteyas, too. Originally, the Swami Rock was crowned by three temples, one for Shiva, one for Vishnu, and one for Shakti. This is why Trincomalee was known as „Three Pagodas“ to the first European seafarers in the Indian Ocean. However, after the temple was destroyed by Portuguese armed forces in the early 17th century, only the Shiva temple was restored in the 19th century. A small Shakti shrine is erected only as an auxiliary building, whereas the precolonial Shakti Peetham had been renowned in India for its grandeur.
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For followers of Vishnu the Konshvaram Kovil today is sacred nontheless, because the temple is consdered the location of prayers of Lord Rama. After killing Ravana, who was a Brahmin by caste, Rama had to get rid of the malediction of having committed Brahmahasthi Dosham, the killing of a Brahmin, which is one of the worst crimes in Hinduism. Rama was instructed by Lord Shiva to erect Lingams as an expiation, one of them is said to have been placed at Thiru Konesvaram. This is why the Shiva temple is also a Ramayana pilgrimage site.
Apart from the colourful new buildings and statues, Swami Rock also gas ancient caves that might have been the original places of worship. They are now adorned with sculptures depicting episodes from Hindu mythology in general and Konesvaram folktales in particular. The escarpment at the very tip of the rock is known as Lover’s Leap, not to be confused with the waterfalls of the same name The cleft on the other site of the temple, close to the entrance, is called Ravana Vettu. It's the result of King Ravana’s attempt to remove the entire rock to bring this place of worship to his sick mother. But Ravana did not succeed, because Lord Shiva stopped him in his efforts. |
Ravana Vettu
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Fort Federick - embattled colonial power base
Fort Frederick is located at the foot of the peninsula of Swami Rock, at a distance of half a kilometer from Koneswaram Temple. When the Portuguese built the first fort, then called Triquillimale, to secure control of the Trincomalee peninsula and the large natural harbour behind it, they used debris of the Koneswaram temple they had destroyed. After Trincomalee had benn conquered by a fleet of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) under Admiral Antonie Caan in 1639, the Dutch dismantled the first fort, which had a triangular groundplan, but in 1665 they built the new and larger fort that can be seen today. When the British took it over in 1795, it was renamed Fort Frederick, also spelled Fort Fredrick. Famous guests of Fort Frederick were Horatio Nelson and Arthur Wellesley, the later Duke of Wellington. The latter visited Trincomalee a a colonel of the British East India Company on his return journey from India to Europe. The bungalow where Arthur Wellesley alias Wellington, due to a severe illness, had to reside longer than planned, is now known as Wellesley Lodge and serves as officer's mess. Fort Frederick today is the garrisson of the 2nd battalion of the Gajaba Regiment, an elite unit of the Sri Lankan Army.
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The fort, despite being an army camp, is passable for visitors, as the road crossing the fort is the only access to the Konesvaram Temple. The only gate is from the south. Though it carries the date 1675 from the Dutch period, the design is from the succeeding British period, as can be seen from the royal emblem above the passageway, which is the coat of arms of the United Kingdom. Not accessible are the main bastions, namely the North Dutch Gun Point in the north, protecting the large Back Bay and Trincomalee Town, and the pentagonal gun point protuding into Dutch Bay to the south.
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Within the precincts of Fort Frederick Buddhists built the Gokanna Rajamaha Viharaya, "Gokanna" being the old name of Trincomalee in the Pali chronicles. According to the Mahavamsa, a Gokanna Vihara was built by King Mahasena in the late 3rd century (275–301 AD) by destroying an earlier Shiva temple. Today's temple with a white stupa indicates that Swami Rock, which has remained to be a highly significant place of Shiva worship, is sacred to Buddhists, too.
Gokanna Rajamaha Viharaya in Fort Frederick, seen from Trincomalee's Back Bay
Dutch Bay - picturesque fishing port
Dutch Bay is the cove with 1.2 km (0.75 miles) long sandy beach stretching from Swami Rock, where Fort Frederick and the Konesvaram Temple are situated, to the Governor’s Rock further south, which is crowned by the District Secretary’s Bungalow. Dutch Bay harbours Trincomalee’s largest fleet of boats for coastal fishing. The sea is shallow close to the beach but not safe for swimming because of boat traffic. The southern part of the cove, however, is an excellent diving area, with Governor’s Rock Dive Site and Navy Cave Dive Site. At the opposite northen end of Dutch Bay, close to Swami Rock, is Trincomalee’s main starting point of touristical boat excursions.
Dutch Bay and Swami Rock
Whale watching - Trincomalee's maritime wildlife
After Mirissa on the south coast, Trincomalee is Sri Lanka's second location of whale watching. The boat tours start usually at 6.00 o'clock in the morning and take 2 to 4 hours. Starting point is at Dutch Bay near the entrance to Fort Frederick. Whale watching tours also start at the Nilaveli Diving Center. The whale watching area is around six to eight nautical miles (10-15 kme) ast of Trincomalee , which takes around half an hour by boat to go there.
Whale watching season in Trincomalee is from mid March to mid November. Chances to spot whales, however, are only very good between June and September, with the greatest numbers of whales in July. Several whales migrate from Mirissa to Trincomalee around April and May and then return to the south around November and December, with the winter months and April being the peak whale watching season in Mirissa at the opposite side of the island nation.
The highlight of whale watching tours in Trincomalee, of course, are blue whales, the world's largest animals. However, they are not easy to observe, as they tend to hide most of their body below the water surface. Sperm whales occur not in equally large numbers, but they are easier to zo spot. Brydes Whales, which are smaller, are quite a common sight, too, because they isually stay close to the surface. Dolphins, mainly Spinner, are also regularly sighted.
Whale watching season in Trincomalee is from mid March to mid November. Chances to spot whales, however, are only very good between June and September, with the greatest numbers of whales in July. Several whales migrate from Mirissa to Trincomalee around April and May and then return to the south around November and December, with the winter months and April being the peak whale watching season in Mirissa at the opposite side of the island nation.
The highlight of whale watching tours in Trincomalee, of course, are blue whales, the world's largest animals. However, they are not easy to observe, as they tend to hide most of their body below the water surface. Sperm whales occur not in equally large numbers, but they are easier to zo spot. Brydes Whales, which are smaller, are quite a common sight, too, because they isually stay close to the surface. Dolphins, mainly Spinner, are also regularly sighted.
Pathirakali Amman Kovil - most colourful temple in eastern Sri Lanka
One of the most eyecatching indu temples of Trincomalee is the Pathirakali Amman Kovil, also simply called the Kali Temple. The Trincomalee Hindu College is adjacent to the Pathirakali Kovil. It's located in the town center at New Moor Street, which leads from main street to the Christian cemetery of St. Stephen's and to the Maritime and Naval History Museum. New Moor Street is one of the two access roads to Dutch Bay and Fort Frederick and the Konesvaram Temple. This is to say, most visitors of Trincomalee travel along the colourful Kali Temple anyway.
Pathirakali is the Tamil name of the pan-Indian goddess known as Bhadrakali, an incarnation of a specific aspect of Kali that is terrifying and fortunate at the same time. According to ancient writings such as the Vayu Purana the creation of Bhadrakali was caused by the wrath of Devi, the universal goddess, when Daksha, the son of Lord Brahma, insulted Lord Shiva. Bhadrakali is represented with three eyes and four or twelve or sixteen or eighteen hands carrying weapons, flames flowing from her head and a demon-like tusk sticking out from her mouth. Though a genuinely awe-inspiring deity, Bhadrakali is a benevolent goddess when conciliated. Actually, her Sanskrit name Bhadrakali literally translates to "good Kali" or "auspicious Kali". The name given to her, however, is also meant to appease her. Though mainly associated with Shaiva mythology, Bhadrakali is also venerated by Vaishnavas in India, namely as a representation of Vishnu's powers of illusion, known as Vindhyavasini or Yogamaya. The name "Bhadrakali" however also signifies the energy to overcome illusion, as it can also be translated as "great-delusion Kali". In general, the sythesis of diametrically opposite aspects in one and the same devine form is very common in Hinduism.
Goddess Bhadrakali is worshiped in all parts of India and has significant temples also in Kathmandu and near Pokhara in Nepal. In East India, she is worshiped during Dusshera Festival in particular. However, by far the most temples dedicated to this goddess are found in the southernmost regions of India, in Tamil Nadu and even more in Kerala, where Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple dedicated to her is one of the most famous temples in the southwest of India. According to Kerala traditions, Bhadrakali's slaying of the demon Darika in order to liberate the universe from the evil rule took place in near Madayi in Kerala's Kannur District. Bhadrakali is also believed to protect the practitioners of Kalarippayattu, the traditional martial arts of Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, Bhadrakali is also known as Malayala Bhagavathy, a term referring to her Keralese origin. Malayala Bhagavathy is believed to provide blessings to her devotees irrespective of caste and religion. Actually, in the case of Trincomalee's Pathirakali Temple in partiular, non-Hindus are allowed to enter the shrine and to join ceremonies around midday.
Goddess Bhadrakali is worshiped in all parts of India and has significant temples also in Kathmandu and near Pokhara in Nepal. In East India, she is worshiped during Dusshera Festival in particular. However, by far the most temples dedicated to this goddess are found in the southernmost regions of India, in Tamil Nadu and even more in Kerala, where Kodungallur Bhagavathy Temple dedicated to her is one of the most famous temples in the southwest of India. According to Kerala traditions, Bhadrakali's slaying of the demon Darika in order to liberate the universe from the evil rule took place in near Madayi in Kerala's Kannur District. Bhadrakali is also believed to protect the practitioners of Kalarippayattu, the traditional martial arts of Kerala. In Tamil Nadu, Bhadrakali is also known as Malayala Bhagavathy, a term referring to her Keralese origin. Malayala Bhagavathy is believed to provide blessings to her devotees irrespective of caste and religion. Actually, in the case of Trincomalee's Pathirakali Temple in partiular, non-Hindus are allowed to enter the shrine and to join ceremonies around midday.
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In general, the temple is open from 6.30 am to 12.00 noon and again from 4.00 to 6.30 pm. Devotees should not consume meat before entering. The make a variety of offerings to Pathirakali, including flowers and fruits, but not animals. As at other Hindu shrines, breaking coconuts in front of the shrine is believed to be auspicious in fullfilling wishes.
Though situated in almost 2 km or around 1 mile distance fromthe Konesvaram Kovil on Swami Rock (Konamalai), the Pathirakali Amman Temple of Trincomalee belongs to the spiritual complex of Konesvaram. The Kali Kovil one of the several temples dedicated to other deities which are visited by Konesvaram pilgrims before worshiping Lord Shiva in the main temple. Usually, the ritual observances of Konesvaram pilgrims start at the Kali Temple. In particular, both temples share functions during the 22-day long Trincomalee's Chariot Festival knowns as Ther Thiruvillah (Ther Thiruvazha), with final processions celebrated in the month of April. The Kali temple own 10-days festival called Mahotsavam, held in the last days of March, marks the first phase of Trincomalee's main festival period. Other annual festivals celebrated on a large scale in the Kali Temple of Trincomalee are Navaratri in October and Diwali in November.
The Pathirakali Amman Kovil of Trincomalee is said to have attracted pilgrims already during the Anuradhapura period. In the subsequent period of South Indian Chola rule over the northern half of Sri Lanka, King Rajendra Chola I, who reigned from 1014 and 1044 AD, expanded the temple on a large scale according to an inscription he left on the sacred premises. According to a legend, Goddess Pathirakali appeared to a Tamil woman in a dream and instructed her to rebuild the temple in the 17th century, after it had been destroyed by Portuguese soldiers. The same Tamil woman is believed to have later on reconstructed the Thirukonesvaram Temple, too.
Though situated in almost 2 km or around 1 mile distance fromthe Konesvaram Kovil on Swami Rock (Konamalai), the Pathirakali Amman Temple of Trincomalee belongs to the spiritual complex of Konesvaram. The Kali Kovil one of the several temples dedicated to other deities which are visited by Konesvaram pilgrims before worshiping Lord Shiva in the main temple. Usually, the ritual observances of Konesvaram pilgrims start at the Kali Temple. In particular, both temples share functions during the 22-day long Trincomalee's Chariot Festival knowns as Ther Thiruvillah (Ther Thiruvazha), with final processions celebrated in the month of April. The Kali temple own 10-days festival called Mahotsavam, held in the last days of March, marks the first phase of Trincomalee's main festival period. Other annual festivals celebrated on a large scale in the Kali Temple of Trincomalee are Navaratri in October and Diwali in November.
The Pathirakali Amman Kovil of Trincomalee is said to have attracted pilgrims already during the Anuradhapura period. In the subsequent period of South Indian Chola rule over the northern half of Sri Lanka, King Rajendra Chola I, who reigned from 1014 and 1044 AD, expanded the temple on a large scale according to an inscription he left on the sacred premises. According to a legend, Goddess Pathirakali appeared to a Tamil woman in a dream and instructed her to rebuild the temple in the 17th century, after it had been destroyed by Portuguese soldiers. The same Tamil woman is believed to have later on reconstructed the Thirukonesvaram Temple, too.
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The most prominent architectural features of the Pathirakali Temple are the tall Gopuram gateway towers, characteristic of the Drawidian temple style of South India and Sri Lanka, and the myriads of sculptures in vibrant colours depicting various scenes from Hindu mythology.
Along with the main statue depicting Pathirakali, consort of Shiva, idols of Mahalakshmi and Mahasaraswati, the consorts of Vishnu resp. Brahma, are placed in the main shrine. |
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Vilundri Kandaswami Kovil - Trinco's 2nd Ramayana Site
The Kandaswami Temple of the Trincomalee’s Vilundri neighbourhood is situated 2.3 km (1.4 miles) south of the Konesvaram Temple, not far from the harbour bay. The design is typical of the Drawidian style. As indicated by the name Kandaswami, the temple is one of the numerous Tamil shrines dedicated to Lord Murugan, who is known as Kataragama to Sinhalese people and identified with the deity known from north Indian mythology as Skanda or Kanda. The Vilundri Kandaswamy temple is the most important intermediate station of Sri Lanka’s longest annual pilgrimage, the Pada Yathra from Nallur Kandaswam near Jaffna in the very north along the eastern coast to Kataragama in the south of the island. The Padra Yathra ends with the world-famous Kataragama festival. Pilgrims from Trincomalee use to join the Pada Yathra at Vilundri. Besides the Konesvaram Temple, the Vilundri Kandaswami Temple is Trincomalee’s second Ramayana site, This is to say, the location is associated with episodes of the Ramayana epic or legends surrounding it. The name „Vilundri“ in itself is said to indicate that Lord Rama rested on his bow here when advancing the Konesvaram Shrine to worship Lord Shiva.
Trincomalee Harbour - best natural harbour of the subcontinent
Covering around 16 square kilometers (4,000 acres) the basin of the seaport, protected by the peninsula of Trincomalee and surprisingly deep due to underwater canyons, is one of the world's largest and best natural deep-water harbours. In the sail-ship era, in which favourable winds and absence of cliffs and shoals counted most, Trincomalee was considered the world's best navigationable and safest all-season harbour at all, at least in the opinion of Admiral Nelson. The enormous strategic importance of Trincomalee in the midst of the Indian Ocean and at the western access point to the Bay of Bengal was the reason why it was embattled throughout history. Among those who attacked Trincomalee to gain control of the harbour are the Portuguese, the Danish, the Dutch, the French, the British, and the Japanese. Even after then Ceylon gained independence, the British continued to use Trincomalee as a naval base for almost one more decade.
The inner harbour basin is surrounded by several smaller coves, namely Malay Cove in the southwest, China Bay in the west, Cod Bay in the north, and Yard Cove in the northeast. The latter has the elongated rectangular form of a dockayrd. The peninsula separating Yard Cove from the inner harbour basin is Orr's Hill, the most noble neighbourhood of Trincomalee. The opening of the inner harbour to Koddiyar Bay in the south is 500 meters wide between Ostenburg Ridge and Sobber Island.
Maritime and Naval History Museum - in a Dutch colonial residence
The Maritime and Naval History Museum of Trincomalee, located close to Dutch Bay in around 1.5 km distance from the town center, was opened on 3 February 2013 by then president Mahinda Rajapakse in connection with the 65th anniversay of Sri Lanka's Independence Day on 4 February.
The museum is established in a 17th-century colonial building with two-storey porticos on all sides. This arguably most impressive secular building of Trincomalle once served as residence of the Dutch Naval Commissioner in the 17th and 18th century. During the succeeding British colonial period it was the Urban Commissioner's residence. The renovation of the building in order to house the museum was supported by the Netherlands and supervised by the Archaeology Department of Sri Lanka and executed by the Museums Department.
The collection of the Maritime and Naval History Museum comprises exhibits of marine flora and fauna on the first floor as well as information about naval history on the ground floor. The museum is opened from Wednesday to Monday, 8.30 am to 4.30 pm.
The museum is established in a 17th-century colonial building with two-storey porticos on all sides. This arguably most impressive secular building of Trincomalle once served as residence of the Dutch Naval Commissioner in the 17th and 18th century. During the succeeding British colonial period it was the Urban Commissioner's residence. The renovation of the building in order to house the museum was supported by the Netherlands and supervised by the Archaeology Department of Sri Lanka and executed by the Museums Department.
The collection of the Maritime and Naval History Museum comprises exhibits of marine flora and fauna on the first floor as well as information about naval history on the ground floor. The museum is opened from Wednesday to Monday, 8.30 am to 4.30 pm.
Saneesvaran Kovil - Sri Lanka's only saturn and crow temple
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This inconspicuous Tamil temple close to the town center of Trincomalee is unique in being the island’s only place of worship dedicated to Lord Sanneesvaran, which is the deified planat Saturnius. Saneesvaran’s Vahana, the animal serving as the vehicle of the god, is the crow. Crow sculptures are found at several places in the compound. Depictions of crows as sacred animals are also extremely rare in Hindu art. Not surprisingly, the Saneeswaran Kovil is locally also known as the „crow temple“.
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Commonwealth War Cemetery - Trinco's World War II Memorial
Situated 5 km north of the Trincomalee Railway Station, the one hectare large Trincomalee British War Cemetery is the resting place of 364 Commenwealth soldiers from then Ceylon and numerous other countries, who died in the course of World War II. It’s one one of six Commonwealth war cemeteries in Sri Lanka.
Several of the soldieres buried here fell victim to the Indian Ocean raids of the Japanese armed forces that attacked then Ceylon in the first days of April 1942. The main targets on the island were Colombo and Trincomalee, the two most significant harbour towns. The British warship Hermes, that had anchored in Trincomalee Harbour and tried to flee south just prior to the air raids, was destroyed during on 9 April, 368 sailors died and many more were injured. Some of the victims are laid to rest on the British War Cemetery of Trincomalee. Today, the cemetery is maintained by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense on behalf of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Salli Muthumariyamman Kovil - beach temples
This colourful temple dedicated to the popular Mithumariyamman form of the Tamil mother goddess (Amman) is located in Trincomalee’s suburb of Salli, which is just north of Uppuveli. What’s special about Salli Muthumariyamman Kovil is that it is situated directly on a sandy beach, which makes it delightful and scenic sacred site. The one mile long main part of Salli Beach, however, is not the beach directly at the Kovil, but starts one kilometer further north. Salli beach, in between Uppuveli Brach and Nilaveli Beach, is the smallest of the three long sandy beaches north of Trincomalee town.
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In very only 50 m dsitance from the seashore temple of Muthumariyamman is one more Hindu temple dedicated to another form of the goddess, the Salli Amman Annathaana Madam. It’s located at the lagoon or fishing harbour side of the same sandy spit. A very small temple dedicated to another goddess (but sometimes identified with Amman) is only 650 m (2000 feet) north of the Salli Muthumariyamman Kovil. This small temple, called Salli Kali Kovil, is at the beachfront.
Lakshmi Narayana Perumal Kovil - Trinco's large Vishnu shrine
Situated halfway between the Koneswaram Temple and Nilaveli Beach, 6 km (4 miles) north of Trincomalee Railway Station, the Lakshmi Narayana Perumal Kovil is one of the comparatively few Tamil temples in Sri Lanka dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The large temple, measuring 100 m by 50 m, is garishly coloured in blue and gold. It’s a new construction from the 21st century, built with the support of craftsmen from India.
Vishnu, the Supreme Preserver, is venerated in this temple together with his consort, Lakshmi, the beautiful goddess od wealth and fortune. In the style of South Indian temples, a flag hoisting mast called Dhwaja Stambha stands in front of the main shrine and outside this large temple building is an open pavilion housing the statue of Garuda, the sun eagle and king of the birds serving as vehicle of Lord Vishnu. Narayana is often considered to be synonymous with Vishnu, though the name can also refer to Lord Krishna, one of the human incarnations of Vishnu. Perumal is the Tamil name of Vishnu. „Perumal“ literally means „great person“ and was originally a title of a human ruler but now mainly refers to the deity.
