Jaffna
Jaffna or Yazhpanam (Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாணம் meaning யாழ் = Harp, பாணம்= Town and therefore Town of (the) Harper) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Most of the residents of Jaffna are Sri Lankan Tamils with a presence of Sri Lankan Moors (Muslims) and Portuguese Burghers (Roman Catholics). Almost all Sri Lankan Muslims were driven off from Jaffna by the LTTE in the 1990s, as a result of the ethnic conflict which started in the 1970s[1] which leaves Jaffna exclusively Tamil, apart from the military personnel. It was the largest city in the country for several decades, until the recent civil conflict.
Culture
Most Jaffna Tamils belong to the Dravidian culture, and the Pongal, the Hindu New Year in April, Christmas, Deepavali, Navaratri and Shivaratri are some of the religious festivals celebrated, see Culture of Sri Lanka. Jaffna was known as perhaps the most important cultural center of Sri Lanka.
- Arts
The traditional dance of the Sri Lankan Tamils is called Kooththu. These are a variety of stage dramas. Karthavarayan Kooththu, Sangiliyan Kooththu and Poothaththambi Kooththu are some of the famous Kooththus in Jaffna. The Poothaththambi Kooththu has been staged from the Dutch era. These arts are mainly focused on the historical values of the community and to entertain the people. The villuppattu is one of the famous arts of the tamils. Oyilaattam is a notable variety of dance in the Jaffna peninsula. The South Indian dance and music is also indigenous to Jaffna. Noteworthy here would be Bharata Natyam and Carnatic music - the classical high traditions of Hinduism.
- Literature
A poet called Eelattu Poothanthevanar is mentioned in the ancient Tamil Sangam in Madurai. He was most probably from the North of Sri lanka. The Chief Nalliyakodan of Mantai in what is today Mannar sponsored several Sangam era poets in the Tamil land. Kumanan, another chief from Kudiramalai, also sponsored poets. However, the precise identity of Nalliyakodan and Kumanan is under doubt. This is discussed in Mudaliyar C. Rasanayagam's "Ancient Jaffna".
The medieval Tamil court in Jaffna had produced some rare manuscripts on astronomy or ayurveda.
Turning to modern times, Arumuga Navalar was born in Nallur in December 1822. He died in 1879. He helped develop modern Tamil prose and freed the language from what had become the stilted classicism of the past with his freer use of words. He translated the Bible into Tamil and then researched Hindu doctrine. Navalar wrote many Hindu religious books and was an outstanding orator. He was the pioneer of religious reforms in the Jaffna Hindu society. C.W Thamotheram pillai, another native of Jaffna, was one of the first two graduates in the Madras Presidency. He obtained his degree from the University of Madras in 1858 and contributed to Tamil studies. Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy contributed extensively to the study of Indian art in its social context. He was born in 1877.
Mallikai, Sudar, Samar, Siriththiran, Alai and Kathambam were some of the Tamil magazines published in the 1970s. Many of them disappeared after the ethnic tension in the late 1980s.
The term Pulampeyar Ilakkiyam refers to the literature of the Tamil speaking people who migrated away from their native region. Viduthalai Ilakkiyam is the literature of various Tamil nationalist organizations.
- Media
The first newspaper in Jaffna, Uthayatharakai (Morning Star) was published in 1841 by C.W. Thamotharampillai[1] Today it has number of newspapers including Eelamurasu and Uthayan.
