Iluppakadavai Padavuthurai Survey Tower Built by the Colonial Rulers

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ඉලුක්පකඩවයි පඩවුතුරේ පැරණි මිනින්දෝරු කුළුණ - Illuppaikadavai Padavuthurai Survey Tower

This old survey tower is located in Ilukpakadai, 04th Gramasewaka division of Manthai West Divisional Secretariat. To reach the tower, travel 30 km from Mannar on Poonareen Road, turn left at Ilukpakadawai junction, and travel 200 meters on Padauthura Road. This tower can be seen near a Hindu Kovil.

This tower is between 12 and 13 meters high. According to legend, it was built by the Portuguese. However, most of these survey towers found in the country were built during the British Era and this too by them. The first floor of this tower is 2.31 meters in length and width and consists of five equilateral floors that gradually get smaller.

This first floor was built using limestone blocks measuring 52 cm long and 18 cm wide, and burnt bricks were used to make the remaining floors. A 1.7 meter high and 78 cm wide arched entrance has been created on the west and east faces of the first part. After entering through this arch, a square horizontal opening is made from the centre point of the tower to the top, which is 21 cm in length and width.

The third floor is shorter than the first and second floors. The fourth and fifth floors are built taller than the first three floors. Locals say that there was a wall around this tower in the past, which has been destroyed. The tower was gazetted as an archaeological monument on 25 March 2016.

Another similar measuring tower can be seen after 4 km on this Mannar-Jaffna road after turning to Thiruketheeswaram Kovil. The tower consists of four floors.

References

අසංග, එම්. වී. පී. කේ. සහ නිශාන්ත, අයි. පී. ඇස්., 2018. මන්නාරම දිස්ත්‍රික්කය – පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව. 1වන සංස්කරණය. කොළඹ: රජයේ මුද්‍රණ දෙපාර්තුමේන්තුව,පිටු .113-114.

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Traveling Directions to Iluppakadavai Padavuthurai Survey Tower

From Mannar to Iluppakadavai Padavuthurai Survey Tower

Via : Punareen Road
Total distance : 30 km
Duration : 30 minutes
Time taken: About 30 minutes
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References

Also See

Map of Iluppakadavai Padavuthurai Survey Tower

Traveling Directions to Iluppakadavai Padavuthurai Survey Tower

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