Buddhist Ruins at Tikali in Pungudutivu Island in Jaffna

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PLATE V : Fragments of Large Buddha at Kantarodai
PLATE V : Fragments of Large Buddha at Kantarodai
source : Nagadipa and Buddhist Remains of Jaffna by P.E Pieris and D. Litt. in the “Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland” Vol. 26, No. 70, Part I. (1917), Published by: Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka (RASSL)

A limestone torso of Buddha found among a ancient pottery site at Tikali in Pungudutivu of Jaffna peninsula is reported by Dr. Ponnampalam Ragupathy in his PhD thesis and its publication as “Early settlements in Jaffna : An Archaeological Survey” in 1987. No photo is found on this site or the torso found by Dr Ponnampalam.

This site is on the eastern coast of Pungudutivu island. lt can be reached by moving towards the coast from the Tikali Kulam. The potsherds were found be e sparsely distributed in an area of 5-10 acres. Nothing could be determined about the nature of the site by the surface features. The only clue was provided by the presence of a torso of a limestone image which belongs to Buddhist iconography. This torso was placed in front of a folk temple for the ritual breaking of coconuts.

The coastline at Tikali directly faces the Ponnaveli coast of the mainland of Sri Lanka. Dr Ragupathy states that there were some ruins at the Ponnaveli coast of the mainland, which faces this site of Pungudutivu across the Pallikuta bay. A torso of an image very much identical with the torso he found at Pungudutivu was located in an Aiyanar Kovil there.

The location of this site is given as Latitude : 9° 34′ 50 N and Longitude : 79° 51′ 20 E. As directions he states the site is on the eastern coast of Pungudutivu island. lt can be reached by moving towards the coast from the Tikali Kulam.

Tikali, Pungudutivu site mop from Early settlements in Jaffna : An Archaeological Survey
Tikali, Pungudutivu site mop from Early settlements in Jaffna : An Archaeological Survey

References

  • Ragupathy, P., 1987. Early settlements in Jaffna : An Archaeological Survey. 1st ed. Madras: Sudarsan Graphics.

Also See

Map of Buddhist Ruins at Tikali in Pungudutivu Island in Jaffna

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Driving Directions to Buddhist Ruins at Tikali in Pungudutivu Island in Jaffna

Jaffna can be reached through 2 directions. The first one is over the Elephant Pass which is the normal route to Jaffna. The other entrance is from Pooneryn over the newly built Sangupiddi Bridge. This road connects to Mannar.

Route 01 from Colombo to Jaffna (Through Kurunegala)Route 02 from Colombo to Jaffna (Through Puttalam)
Through : Kurunegala – Dambulla – Anuradhapura – Vavuniya
Distance : 400 km
Travel Time : 7-8 hours
Driving Directions : see on Google map
Through : Puttalam – Anuradhapura – Vavuniya
Distance : 400 km
Travel Time : 7-8 hours
Driving Directions : see on Google maps
Jaffna town to Buddhist Ruins at Tikali in Pungudutivu Island
Through : Kytes
Distance : 26 km
Time to travel  : 45 mins
Driving Directions : click here for Google Map

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