dimanche 8 juin 2014

N-54. Pungudutivu

Northern Jaffna region

Latitude and longitude:   9.587689 ; 79.831514°
(modified by RB from Wikipedia)

Surface: 22.56 km2
Distance from mainland: 3.80 km

Interest for tourism: ++
Interest for Polymotu project: 0
Other conservation interest: unknown

Pungudutivu is a small island composed of number villages that is just west of the Jaffna Peninsula in Northern Province. It is divided into 12 wards internally, each corresponding a major settlement. Most of the residents of the Island are Tamils with majority are being Hindus and a minority Christians. There are lot of Hindu temples in this region along with some Christian churches. Nearly 15 Tamil schools exist there for the benefits of the place. Government hospital and some private clinics are available.
Pungudutivu is connected by road with the main town Jaffna. SLTB and private buses are traveling through this place as the main route is Jaffna - Kurikattuvan. Kurikattuvan is the place to get your boat service to reach Nainativu an island popular for the religious place. Nainativu is called as Nagadeepa by the Sinhalese people in Sinhala.
The civil war has also led a large number of people to migrate out of the Island throughout the world.

Sinhala name (Pali):Punguthdeepa
Other names: Middleburg by the Dutch colonial rulers