Survival of Tamil Heritage
Due to the bilingualism exhibited by some residents of both these districts especially those who are traditional fishers, Tamil language survives as a lingua franca amongst migrating fishers across the island. It is estimated that the Negombo dialect of Tamil language is perhaps spoken by 50,000 people who otherwise identify them as Sinhalese. This number does not include others who may speak various varieties of the Tamil language north of Negombo city towards Puttalam. Today most of those who cling to their Tamil identity are largely Hindus and mostly concentrated in a single coastal village called Udappu. This village has approximately 15,000 inhabitants and has become refuge for other Tamils displaced due to the Sri Lankan civil war from rest of the country. There are also some Tamil Christians belonging to various Christian sects (mostly Catholics) who maintain their Tamil heritage throughout both these districts in major cities such as Negombo, Chilaw, Puttalam and in villages such as Mampuri.
Tamil heritage is also maintained in place names in both these districts. Outside of the Tamil dominated North East, Puttalam district has the highest percentage of place names of Tamil origin in Sri Lanka. There are also composite or hybrid place names in both these districts. The juxtaposition of Sinhala and Tamil place names indicated the peaceful coexistence of people of both language groups as well as the gradual assimilation process. There are also numerous Hindu temples across the districts mostly dedicated Hindu village deities such as Ayyanar who is also worshiped as Ayyanayake by the Sinhalese people. Other deities are Kali, Kannaki and the famous temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, Munneswaram that was built by a Sinhalese King.
Read more about this topic: Negombo Tamils
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