Located on the east coast of the island overlooking the Trincomalee Harbour, 113 miles south of Jaffna and 69 miles north of Batticaloa, Trincomalee has been one of the main centres of Tamil language speaking culture on the island for over two millennia. With a population of 99,135,
Trincomalee city is home to the famous Koneswaram temple alluded to in its historic Tamil name Thirukonamalai and is home to other historical monuments such as the Bhadrakali Amman Temple, Trincomalee, the Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall and, opened in 1897, the Trincomalee Hindu College,Trincomalee railway station and an ancient ferry service to Jaffna and the south side of the harbour at Muttur.
The city’s architecture shows some of the best examples of interaction between native and European styles. Attacked by the Japanese as part of the Indian Ocean raid during World War II in 1942,
It is home to major naval and air force bases at the Trincomalee Garrison. The city also has the largest Dutch fort on the island.
The Trincomalee Bay Harbour, bridged by the Mahavilli Ganga River to the south is referred to as “Gokarna” in Sanskrit,
It has been described as the “finest harbour in the world” and by the British, “the most valuable colonial possession on the globe, as giving to our Indian Empire a security which it had not enjoyed from elsewhere.” Popular tourist destinations include its beaches at Uppuveli, Salli and Nilaveli, used for temple visits, surfing, scuba diving, fishing and whale watching, and the Kanniya Hot Springs & Eastern University.