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Click here for more information." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/94/Symbol_support_vote.svg/19px-Symbol_support_vote.svg.png" decoding="async" width="19" height="20" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/94/Symbol_support_vote.svg/29px-Symbol_support_vote.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/94/Symbol_support_vote.svg/39px-Symbol_support_vote.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></a></span></div></div> </div> <div id="siteSub" class="noprint">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</div> </div> <div id="contentSub"><div id="mw-content-subtitle"></div></div> <div id="mw-content-text" class="mw-body-content"><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Social group within the minority Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic group</div> <div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none">Ethnic group</div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><table class="infobox vcard"><caption class="infobox-title fn org">Coast Vedda</caption><tbody><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Coast_Veddas_of_Vakarai.jpeg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Coast_Veddas_of_Vakarai.jpeg/300px-Coast_Veddas_of_Vakarai.jpeg" decoding="async" width="300" height="181" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Coast_Veddas_of_Vakarai.jpeg 1.5x" data-file-width="400" data-file-height="241" /></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">Team of Vedars preparing for the <i>Sadangu</i> ceremony in <a href="/wiki/Vaharai" class="mw-redirect" title="Vaharai">Vaharai</a> in 1900s</div></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background-color:#b0c4de;">Total population</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data">ca. 8,000 (1983)<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart83_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart83-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background-color:#b0c4de;">Regions with significant populations</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><a href="/wiki/Eastern_Province,_Sri_Lanka" title="Eastern Province, Sri Lanka">Eastern Province</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background-color:#b0c4de;">Languages</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Sri Lankan Tamil dialect">Sri Lankan Tamil</a><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><i><a href="/wiki/Vedda_language" title="Vedda language">Vedda language</a> also used for religious purposes</i></span></td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background-color:#b0c4de;">Related ethnic groups</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-full-data"><a href="/wiki/Vedda_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Vedda people">Vedda people</a>, <a href="/wiki/Anuradhapura_Veddas" title="Anuradhapura Veddas">Anuradhapura Veddas</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Sri Lankan Tamil people">Sri Lankan Tamil people</a> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The <b>Coast Veddas</b> (<a href="/wiki/Tamil_language" title="Tamil language">Tamil</a>: <span lang="ta">கரையோர வேடர்கள்</span>, <small>romanized: </small><span title="Tamil-language romanization"><i lang="ta-Latn">Karaiyōra Vēṭarkaḷ</i></span>, <a href="/wiki/Sinhala_language" title="Sinhala language">Sinhala</a>: <span lang="si">වෙරළේ වැද්දන්</span>, <small>romanized: </small><span title="Sinhala-language romanization"><i lang="si-Latn">Veraḷē Væddan</i></span>), by self-designation, form a social group within the minority <a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil" class="mw-redirect" title="Sri Lankan Tamil">Sri Lankan Tamil</a> ethnic group of the <a href="/wiki/Eastern_Province,_Sri_Lanka" title="Eastern Province, Sri Lanka">Eastern province</a> of <a href="/wiki/Sri_Lanka" title="Sri Lanka">Sri Lanka</a>. They are primarily found in small coastal villages from the eastern township of <a href="/wiki/Trincomalee" title="Trincomalee">Trincomalee</a> to <a href="/wiki/Batticalao" class="mw-redirect" title="Batticalao">Batticalao</a>. Nevertheless, they also inhabit a few villages south of Batticalao as well. They make a living by <a href="/wiki/Fishing" title="Fishing">fishing</a>, <a href="/wiki/Slash_and_burn" class="mw-redirect" title="Slash and burn">slash and burn</a> agriculture, <a href="/wiki/Paddy_cultivation" class="mw-redirect" title="Paddy cultivation">paddy cultivation</a> of rice, <a href="/wiki/Basket_weaving" title="Basket weaving">basket weaving</a> for market and occasional wage labor. Anthropologists consider them to be partly descended from the <a href="/wiki/Indigenous_peoples" title="Indigenous peoples">indigenous</a> <a href="/wiki/Vedda_people" class="mw-redirect" title="Vedda people">Vedda</a> people, as well as local Tamils. Residents of the Eastern province consider their Vedar (Tamil for "hunter")<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> neighbors to have been part of the local social structure from earliest times, whereas some Vedar elders believe that their ancestors may have migrated from the interior at some time in the past. </p><p>They speak a <a href="/wiki/Dialect" title="Dialect">dialect</a> of <a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_dialect" class="mw-redirect" title="Sri Lankan Tamil dialect">Sri Lankan Tamil</a> that is used in the region. During religious festivals, people who enter a <a href="/wiki/Trance" title="Trance">trance</a> or <a href="/wiki/Spirit_possession" title="Spirit possession">spirit possession</a> sometimes use a mixed language that contains words from the <a href="/wiki/Vedda_language" title="Vedda language">Vedda language</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart73_3-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart73-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Most Vedar are <a href="/wiki/Hindu" class="mw-redirect" title="Hindu">Hindu</a> <a href="/wiki/Saivites" class="mw-redirect" title="Saivites">Saivites</a> and worship a plethora of <a href="/wiki/Village_deities_of_Tamils_of_Sri_Lanka" class="mw-redirect" title="Village deities of Tamils of Sri Lanka">folk deities</a>, as well as the main Hindu deities such as <a href="/wiki/Murugan" class="mw-redirect" title="Murugan">Murugan</a>, <a href="/wiki/Ganesha" title="Ganesha">Pillaiyar</a> and <a href="/wiki/Mariamman" title="Mariamman">Amman</a>. They also maintain the <a href="/wiki/Ancestor_worship" class="mw-redirect" title="Ancestor worship">ancestor worship</a> tradition of the interior Veddas. Clan divisions, if they still exist, do not play an important role in choosing of marriage partners or place of domicile. Most identify themselves as a <a href="/wiki/Caste" title="Caste">caste</a> among the Tamils as opposed to a separate ethnic group.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart70_4-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart70-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Their economic conditions have been impacted by the <a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_war" title="Sri Lankan civil war">Sri Lankan civil war</a>. </p> <meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Identity">Identity</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Identity"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Western observers such as <a href="/wiki/James_Emerson_Tennent" title="James Emerson Tennent">James Emerson Tennent</a> (1858) and <a href="/wiki/Charles_Gabriel_Seligman" title="Charles Gabriel Seligman">Charles Gabriel Seligman</a> (1911) have termed the social group Coast Veddahs, Coast Verdas or East Coast Veddas.<sup id="cite_ref-Tennent_5-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tennent-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Tennent448_6-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tennent448-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Anthropologists have considered them to be at least partly descended from the Veddas of the interior of the island who had migrated at some unknown period in the past to the east coast, intermarrying with the local Tamils.<sup id="cite_ref-Seligman330-331_7-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman330-331-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Interior Veddas clans themselves have a number of divisions, each claiming either Sinhalese, Tamil, mixed, or pure Vedda lineages. Vedda identity also depends on whether these clans are <a href="/wiki/Hunter-gatherers" class="mw-redirect" title="Hunter-gatherers">hunter-gatherers</a> or settled agriculturalists. Settled Veddas have tended over a period of time to assume Sinhalese or Tamil identity based on the area of residence. If considered a subdivision of Veddas, then they are by far the largest sub-group amongst the Vedda people.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart68_9-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart68-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Residents of Eastern Province consider those who maintain a primitive life style, or are partly dependent on hunting and gathering, as Vedar without any connotations of ethnic origins. </p><p>Vedar are not designated as an indigenous community of Sri Lanka. They are placed within the Sri Lankan caste system. Vedar sometimes refer to themselves as "Veda Vellalar", thus claiming a high caste ranking (the <a href="/wiki/Vellalar_of_Sri_Lanka" class="mw-redirect" title="Vellalar of Sri Lanka">Vellalar</a> are given the highest ritual position within the caste structure of Sri Lankan Tamils in many regions). They also claim to marry into the higher castes of the neighboring region, such as <a href="/wiki/Karaiyar" title="Karaiyar">Karaiyar</a>. But some higher ranked castes did not consider Vedar quite their equals, although still placing them above the lower castes. Members of the Karaiyar caste sometimes downplayed their connections to Vedar as there was stigma attached to such unions. Field studies have indicated that mixed marriages across all caste groups of the eastern littoral was possible with Vedar. Vedar themselves claimed that they would not marry into lower Tamil castes such as <a href="/wiki/Ambattan" class="mw-redirect" title="Ambattan">Ambattar</a> (barbers), Vannar (washerman) and <a href="/wiki/Pallar" title="Pallar">Pallar</a> (agricultural workers), but field studies indicated that such unions did sometimes take place.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart70_4-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart70-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Once a non-Vedar married into a Vedar family, he or she was assimilated as part of the Vedar village. Almost all Vedar families had an ancestor who was Tamil or a family member who was married to a Tamil from a neighboring village.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart69_10-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart69-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Some Vedar have gradually lost most aspects of their aboriginal identity and culture and no longer identify themselves as Vedar. During the 1980s and 1990s, most Vedar families were displaced from their native villages due to the effects of the <a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_war" title="Sri Lankan civil war">Sri Lankan civil war</a> and were placed in refugee camps along with other Tamil refugees.<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: History"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Ancestors of Vedar migrated to Sri Lanka via the Indian sub continent during the pre-historic period. A number of <a href="/wiki/Mesolithic" title="Mesolithic">Mesolithic</a> sites have been excavated containing human remains dated to 35,000 BCE. Anthropologists consider these skeletal remains to belong to a group ancestral to some of the surviving Vedar groups. Sri Lanka has also yielded <a href="/wiki/Megalithic" class="mw-redirect" title="Megalithic">Megalithic</a> burial sites, one of which was excavated close to a present Vedar settlement, <a href="/wiki/Kathiraveli" title="Kathiraveli">Kathiraveli</a>. The precise time in which some of the Vedar lineage founders migrated to the east coast of Sri Lanka is unknown. The earliest written reference to Vedar is a <a href="/wiki/Tamil_language" title="Tamil language">Tamil</a> chronicle, <i>Nadukadu paraveni kalvettu</i>, which is maintained amongst the custodians of a prominent Hindu temple in the town of <a href="/wiki/Tirukovil" class="mw-redirect" title="Tirukovil">Tirukovil</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Ampara_District" title="Ampara District">Ampara District</a>. It is a Tamil 14th to 16th-century original text. The chronicle documents the presence of a people who practiced hunting and gathering for survival, exercising jurisdiction over vast jungle tracts close to the <a href="/wiki/Akkaraipattu" title="Akkaraipattu">Akkaraipattu</a> township. It names a number of Vedar chiefs, such as Kadariyan and Puliyan. These Vedars were not just hunter-gatherers, but were also accepted as the rightful owners of the forest lands.<sup id="cite_ref-Seligman11-12_12-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman11-12-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Emerson (1858) documented the presence of Vedar north of <a href="/wiki/Eravur" title="Eravur">Eravur</a> who subsisted by fishing or helping the traditional fisherfolk, as well by cutting wood for <a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Moors" title="Sri Lankan Moors">Muslim</a> traders. He speculated that there were then at least 400 to 500 individuals in the group. He also recorded that it was the <a href="/wiki/British_Ceylon" title="British Ceylon">British colonial</a> officers, as well as <a href="/wiki/English_Wesleyan_Mission" title="English Wesleyan Mission">Wesleyan missionaries</a> who provided land for them to start cultivating <a href="/wiki/Yam_(vegetable)" title="Yam (vegetable)">yams</a> and other vegetables.<sup id="cite_ref-Tennent_5-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tennent-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Tennent448_6-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tennent448-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Neville (1890) and Seligman (1911) also documented the presence of a subdivision of Vedar called <i>Kovil Vanam</i> ("Temple precincts" in Tamil) within the southern edges of the <a href="/wiki/Batticalo_District" class="mw-redirect" title="Batticalo District">Batticalo District</a>; their name suggests they had originally lived in the jungles close to the <a href="/wiki/Kataragama" title="Kataragama">Kataragama</a> temple in the <a href="/wiki/Hambantota_District" title="Hambantota District">Hambantota District</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Southern_Province,_Sri_Lanka" title="Southern Province, Sri Lanka">Southern Province</a>. By the early 1900s these Vedar had mingled with the local Tamils and Sinhalese and were not encountered as a separate group any more.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Local legends attribute the origins of some Hindu temples in the eastern province to the presence of Vedar. Important Hindu temples in villages such as <a href="/wiki/Kokkadichcholai" title="Kokkadichcholai">Kokkadichcholai</a> and <a href="/wiki/Mandur_(Sri_Lanka)" title="Mandur (Sri Lanka)">Mandur</a> have such Vedar creation legends. But Vedar are no longer associated with either the ownership or maintenance of these regionally important temples. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Culture">Culture</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Culture"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Clans_and_family_organization">Clans and family organization</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Clans and family organization"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <dl><dt>Clans of the interior Veddas</dt></dl> <p>Interior Veddas have <a href="/wiki/Clans" class="mw-redirect" title="Clans">clans</a> called <i>Waruge</i> or <i>Variga</i> that were named after trees, animals or places of origin. Seligman speculated that these clans were territorial, thus hunting territory was divided amongst the clan, not to be violated by members of other clans. These clans were: </p> <ol><li>Morana (after Mora tree)</li> <li>Unapana (Water)</li> <li>Namudana (Namuda tree)</li> <li>Ura (Wild boar)</li> <li>Ambilo (Ant)</li> <li>Tala (Plains)</li> <li>Rugam (Village name)</li> <li>Kovil Vannam (Temple precincts)<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ol> <p>Among these, the Morana and Unapana clans claimed superior status to Namudana, Ambilo and Ura clans. Seligman reported that Morana and Unapana clans considered the other three as their servile groups, a classification strongly denied by the others. This also led to so-called servile groups denying such clan association when questioned and claiming Morana or Unapana clan origins. </p> <dl><dt>Retention of Clan system amongst Vedar</dt></dl> <p>When Seligman inquired about the Waruge divisions of the Vedar, most of them did not remember their clan origins. Of those who remembered, most self-identified as Ura Waruge. Others mentioned clans such as Ogatam, Kavatam, Umatam, Aembalaneduwe and Aembale. They also had memories of other clans such as Morana and Unapana.<sup id="cite_ref-Seligman333_15-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman333-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> By the 1980s the Vedar had no knowledge of any word <i>Waruge</i>, although they vaguely used the Tamil term <i>Vamisam</i> (family origin) to indicate some division amongst them. Some had come up with a two-fold division of the Vedars based on the <a href="/w/index.php?title=Kuti_system&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kuti system (page does not exist)">Kuti</a> or <a href="/wiki/Matrilinearity" class="mw-redirect" title="Matrilinearity">matrilineal descent system</a> popular in the East coast. These Kutis were supposed to have descended from former local chiefs called <i><a href="/wiki/Vanniar_(Chieftain)" title="Vanniar (Chieftain)">Vanniyar</a></i>, who had ruled feudal divisions called <i><a href="/wiki/Vannimai" class="mw-redirect" title="Vannimai">Vannimai</a></i>. But these clan divisions and related rules of <a href="/wiki/Endogamy" title="Endogamy">endogamy</a> were not totally followed by all Vedar, and there no practical prohibitions from marrying from each Kuti.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart70-71_16-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart70-71-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>As with local Tamils, the preferred marriage pattern is based on <a href="/wiki/Cross_cousin" class="mw-redirect" title="Cross cousin">cross cousin</a> preference. <a href="/wiki/Parallel_and_cross_cousins" title="Parallel and cross cousins">Parallel cousins</a> are considered brothers and sisters and are ineligible as partners. As most marriages take place between first and second cousins, clan endogamy even it is present is of no value. Within a village, most of the residents are related and this carries on over to villages that are three to five miles away as well. The longer the distance the more distantly are the villagers related to each other.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart69_10-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart69-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Related lineages also maintain places of worship that are the private property of the family group. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Religion">Religion</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Religion"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237032888/mw-parser-output/.tmulti">.mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner{display:flex;flex-direction:column}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{display:flex;flex-direction:row;clear:left;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{margin:1px;float:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .theader{clear:both;font-weight:bold;text-align:center;align-self:center;background-color:transparent;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbcaption{background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-left{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-right{text-align:right}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .text-align-center{text-align:center}@media all and (max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .tmulti .thumbinner{width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;max-width:none!important;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow{justify-content:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle{float:none!important;max-width:100%!important;box-sizing:border-box;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .tsingle .thumbcaption{text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .tmulti .trow>.thumbcaption{text-align:center}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner img{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .tmulti .multiimageinner img{background-color:white}}</style><div class="thumb tmulti tright"><div class="thumbinner multiimageinner" style="width:368px;max-width:368px"><div class="trow"><div class="tsingle" style="width:182px;max-width:182px"><div class="thumbimage"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Coastal-1.jpeg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Coastal-1.jpeg/180px-Coastal-1.jpeg" decoding="async" width="180" height="130" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Coastal-1.jpeg/270px-Coastal-1.jpeg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Coastal-1.jpeg/360px-Coastal-1.jpeg 2x" data-file-width="400" data-file-height="289" /></a></span></div></div><div class="tsingle" style="width:182px;max-width:182px"><div class="thumbimage"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Mankerny_family_2006.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Mankerny_family_2006.jpg/180px-Mankerny_family_2006.jpg" decoding="async" width="180" height="120" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Mankerny_family_2006.jpg/270px-Mankerny_family_2006.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Mankerny_family_2006.jpg/360px-Mankerny_family_2006.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1800" data-file-height="1200" /></a></span></div></div></div><div class="trow" style="display:flex"><div class="thumbcaption">Left:Vedar settlement from 1900. Right:Vedar settlement from 2006.</div></div></div></div><p>Vedar are nominally Hindus; they were known to wear the marks of <a href="/wiki/Saivism" class="mw-redirect" title="Saivism">Saivite</a> <a href="/wiki/Hinduism" title="Hinduism">Hinduism</a> such as <a href="/wiki/Vibuthi" class="mw-redirect" title="Vibuthi">Vibuthi</a> ("sacred ash") on their forehead even in the 19th century.<sup id="cite_ref-Seligman333_15-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman333-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> According to local legends, Vedars are considered to be the builders of most of the regional Hindu temples associated with Hindu high god <a href="/wiki/Murugan" class="mw-redirect" title="Murugan">Murugan</a>. Although Vedars frequent regionally important Hindu temples and shrines associated with high Hindu deities such as Murugan, <a href="/wiki/Ganesha" title="Ganesha">Pillaiyar</a> and <a href="/wiki/Shiva" title="Shiva">Siva</a>, they propitiate local deities of <a href="/wiki/Folk_Hinduism" class="mw-redirect" title="Folk Hinduism">folk Hinduism</a>, who are sometimes unique to Veddars. Most of the folk deities are also commonly propitiated by other local Tamils such as <a href="/wiki/Bhairava" title="Bhairava">Vairavar</a>, <a href="/wiki/Virabhadra" title="Virabhadra">Virapathirar</a>, <a href="/wiki/Kali" title="Kali">Kali</a> and <a href="/wiki/Narasimha" title="Narasimha">Narasingan</a>. Seligman (1911) encountered two unique deities, Kapalpei (“Ship spirit”) and Kumara Deivam (“Young god”)<sup id="cite_ref-Subramaniam_17-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Subramaniam-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> who are peculiar to Vedar. The cult of Kappalpei is based on legends of foreigners coming over by ships and landing along the coast where the Vedar usually lived. They are propitiated to ward off evils and hard times. Kumara Deivam was also noted amongst the primitive Sinhalese village of <a href="/wiki/Gonagolla" title="Gonagolla">Gonagolla</a> in the <a href="/wiki/Ampara_District" title="Ampara District">Ampara District</a> known as Kumara Devio.<sup id="cite_ref-Seligman336-337_18-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman336-337-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Jon Dart in the 1980s found that these deities were no longer worshipped, but were replaced by the <a href="/w/index.php?title=Periyasami_cult&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Periyasami cult (page does not exist)">Periyasami cult</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart75_19-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart75-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The worship pattern is a combination of <a href="/wiki/Dances_of_Sri_Lanka#Devil_Dances" class="mw-redirect" title="Dances of Sri Lanka">Devil-dancing</a> called <i>Sandangu</i> ("ceremony" in Tamil) and orthodox Hindu <a href="/wiki/%C4%80gama_(Hinduism)" class="mw-redirect" title="Āgama (Hinduism)">Agamic</a> rituals. The devil-dancing is unique to Vedar, but the aspect of <a href="/wiki/Spirit_possession" title="Spirit possession">spirit possession</a> as a part of devil dancing is not unique to Vedar. Locals Tamils also experience spirit procession and trance states during religious festivals. During devil-dancing ceremonies, related family groups congregate in family-owned worship centers and build platforms known as <i>Pandals</i>. These Pandals may have a weapon, such a lance known as a <i>Vel</i>, installed in their middle, a construction similar to the <i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Kirikoroha&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Kirikoroha (page does not exist)">Kirikoroha</a></i> function of the interior Veddas as well. Male family members dance throughout the night and as part of the ceremony some become possessed by spirits, sometimes those of their recently diseased family members. This pattern is similar in nature to the ancestor-worshipping patterns of the interior Veddas.<sup id="cite_ref-Seligman336-337_18-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman336-337-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Seligman335_20-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman335-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Most of the Sadangu locations are temporary ones without related permanent structures over them, but some have been turned into temples. In the village of Palchennai, one of these temporary structures has become a temple now identified with Hindu high god <a href="/wiki/Vishnu" title="Vishnu">Vishnu</a>. Vedars also participate in Tamil folk dramas called <i><a href="/wiki/Terukkuttu" title="Terukkuttu">Kuttus</a></i> that depict scenes from Hindu epics such as <a href="/wiki/Mahabharatha" class="mw-redirect" title="Mahabharatha">Mahabharatha</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ramayana" title="Ramayana">Ramayana</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart73-76_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart73-76-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Language">Language</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Language"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Vedar use the <a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_dialects" title="Sri Lankan Tamil dialects">Sri Lankan Tamil dialect</a> peculiar to the region, known as Batticaloa Tamil dialect, in their day to day conversations. Vedar children also study in that language in schools. During <i>Sadangu</i> ceremonies, those who are possessed by spirits speak in a mixed language that they call <i>Vedar Sinkalam</i>(Vedar Sinhala") or <i>Vedar Bhasai</i><sup id="cite_ref-Subramaniam_17-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Subramaniam-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> which is the <a href="/wiki/Vedda_language" title="Vedda language">Vedda language</a> of the interior Vedas.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart73_3-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart73-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> This <i>Vedar Sinkalam</i> is mixed with many Tamil words, as people no longer know the language.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart73_3-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart73-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> There is evidence at some point in the past that the people were <a href="/wiki/Bilingual" class="mw-redirect" title="Bilingual">bilingual</a> in Vedda language and Tamil, but that is no longer the case.<sup id="cite_ref-Seligman332_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman332-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Geographic_distribution">Geographic distribution</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Geographic distribution"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Native chronicles have documented the presence of Vedar or Vedar-like people throughout the island from the beginning of the historic period. Vedar presence in the present Eastern province has been noted during the <a href="/wiki/Kandyan_Kingdom" class="mw-redirect" title="Kandyan Kingdom">Kandyan Kingdom</a> period (1469 to 1815). Tennent noted that Vedars were found chiefly from <a href="/wiki/Eravur" title="Eravur">Eravur</a> to Venloos Bay.<sup id="cite_ref-Tennent_5-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tennent-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Tennent448_6-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tennent448-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The 1946 Sri Lankan census returned 44 Vedar villages. The largest concentration of villages was close to the <a href="/wiki/Vaharai" class="mw-redirect" title="Vaharai">Vaharai</a> peninsula; predominantly Vedar villages there included Ammenthnaveli, Kandaladi, Komatalamadu, Palchennai, Puliyankandadi, Oddumadu, Thaddumunai, Uriyankadu, and Vammivattavan. Vedar are also found further south, in Panichankerni, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Mankerni&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Mankerni (page does not exist)">Mankerni</a> and Kayankerni. There are also Vedars close to <a href="/wiki/Kalkudah" title="Kalkudah">Kalkudah</a>, in a village called Pallanchenai, and in the <a href="/wiki/Trincomalee_District" title="Trincomalee District">Trincomalee District</a>, between the towns of <a href="/wiki/Muttur_(Sri_Lanka)" class="mw-redirect" title="Muttur (Sri Lanka)">Muttur</a> and Foul Point.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart82-83_23-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart82-83-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Economic_status">Economic status</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Economic status"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Native chronicles such as <i>Nadu Kadu Paraveni Kalvettu</i> mention the socio-economic status of the Vedar as that of primitive hunter gatherers. The chronicles also mention that the chiefs amongst them received gifts such as clothes from settlers and state that the Vedar in turn provided meat and honey to the settler population, indicating a system of <a href="/wiki/Barter" title="Barter">barter</a> trade between the groups. Vedar also seem to have provided manual labor to clear forest lands, in exchange for an annual portion of the food crops harvested. When Tennent visited the east coast in 1858, the Vedar were living in houses that were made of mud and thatch. They were moved seasonally from place to place dependent on the availability of fish and other game. They were surviving primarily as fishermen, as well as wage laborers working for timber merchants, cutting and transporting timber from the forests.<sup id="cite_ref-Tennent_5-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tennent-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Tennent448_6-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Tennent448-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> By the time Seligman visited them in 1911, he considered the Vedar subdivision to be economically better off than the rest of the Indigenous population of the interior. He attributed this to the assimilation of Tamil economic and cultural values by the Vedar clans, as well as to absorption of non-Vedar Tamils into Vedar families by intermarriage.<sup id="cite_ref-Seligman332_22-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman332-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Studies done in the 1980s by the anthropologist Jon Dart, indicated that Vedar in general were poorer than the rest of the Tamil and Muslim communities of the Eastern Province, which Dart attributed to their physical isolation in remote villages, as well as prevailing cultural norms that prevented them from fully integrating within the society. His studies did indicate that some Vedar had successfully integrated in Eastern society, with worldly possessions that did not much differ from those of their non-Vedar neighbors.<sup id="cite_ref-JonDart70-71_16-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-JonDart70-71-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-Seligman332_22-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Seligman332-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The marked impact of the Sri Lankan civil war was also noted, due to the proximity of the Vedar's native villages to the theaters of operations of both rebel <a href="/wiki/LTTE" class="mw-redirect" title="LTTE">LTTE</a> and government forces.(See <a href="/wiki/Vaharai_bombing" title="Vaharai bombing">Vaharai bombing</a>) </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anuradhapura_Veddas" title="Anuradhapura Veddas">Anuradhapura Veddas</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/History_of_Eastern_Tamils" title="History of Eastern Tamils">History of Eastern Tamils</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Balangoda_Man" title="Balangoda Man">Balangoda Man</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width reflist-columns-2"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-JonDart83-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-JonDart83_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), p.83</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The article uses Vedda to indicate those who are from the interior and Vedar to describe the Coast Veddas</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-JonDart73-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-JonDart73_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-JonDart73_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-JonDart73_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), p.73</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-JonDart70-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-JonDart70_4-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-JonDart70_4-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), p. 70</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Tennent-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Tennent_5-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Tennent_5-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Tennent_5-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Tennent_5-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Tennent, p.441</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Tennent448-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Tennent448_6-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Tennent448_6-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Tennent448_6-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Tennent448_6-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Tennent, p.448</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Seligman330-331-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Seligman330-331_7-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Seligman, pp. 330–331</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Wijesekera, p. 60</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-JonDart68-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-JonDart68_9-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), p.68</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-JonDart69-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-JonDart69_10-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-JonDart69_10-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), p.69</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFHarrigan2002" class="citation web cs1">Harrigan, Patrick (June 2002). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://vedda.org/coastal-veddas.htm">"Sri Lanka's Coastal Veddas"</a>. Cultural Survival trust<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">29 January</span> 2010</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Sri+Lanka%27s+Coastal+Veddas&rft.pub=Cultural+Survival+trust&rft.date=2002-06&rft.aulast=Harrigan&rft.aufirst=Patrick&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fvedda.org%2Fcoastal-veddas.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACoast+Veddas" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Seligman11-12-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Seligman11-12_12-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Seligman, pp. 11−12</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Dharmadasa(Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), pp. 150−151</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Meegaskumbura(Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), p.109</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Seligman333-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Seligman333_15-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Seligman333_15-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Seligman, p. 333</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-JonDart70-71-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-JonDart70-71_16-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-JonDart70-71_16-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), pp. 70-71</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Subramaniam-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Subramaniam_17-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Subramaniam_17-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Subramaniam, p.50</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Seligman336-337-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Seligman336-337_18-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Seligman336-337_18-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Seligman, pp. 336 - 337</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-JonDart75-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-JonDart75_19-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), p.75</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Seligman335-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Seligman335_20-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Seligman, p. 335</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-JonDart73-76-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-JonDart73-76_21-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), pp. 73-76</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Seligman332-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Seligman332_22-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Seligman332_22-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Seligman332_22-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Seligman, p. 332</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-JonDart82-83-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-JonDart82-83_23-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Jon Dart (Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A[<i>edit</i>]), pp. 82-83</span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1235681985">.mw-parser-output .side-box{margin:4px 0;box-sizing:border-box;border:1px solid #aaa;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em;background-color:var(--background-color-interactive-subtle,#f8f9fa);display:flow-root}.mw-parser-output .side-box-abovebelow,.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{padding:0.25em 0.9em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-image{padding:2px 0 2px 0.9em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-imageright{padding:2px 0.9em 2px 0;text-align:center}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .side-box-flex{display:flex;align-items:center}.mw-parser-output .side-box-text{flex:1;min-width:0}}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .side-box{width:238px}.mw-parser-output .side-box-right{clear:right;float:right;margin-left:1em}.mw-parser-output .side-box-left{margin-right:1em}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1237033735">@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox{display:none!important}}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sistersitebox img[src*="Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg"]{background-color:white}}</style><div class="side-box side-box-right plainlinks sistersitebox"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul{line-height:inherit;list-style:none;margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .plainlist ol li,.mw-parser-output .plainlist ul li{margin-bottom:0}</style> <div class="side-box-flex"> <div class="side-box-image"><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png" decoding="async" width="30" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/45px-Commons-logo.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/59px-Commons-logo.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1024" data-file-height="1376" /></span></span></div> <div class="side-box-text plainlist">Wikimedia Commons has media related to <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Coast_Veddas" class="extiw" title="commons:Category:Coast Veddas">Coast Veddas</a></span>.</div></div> </div> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFTennent1860" class="citation book cs1">Tennent, Emerson (1860). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/ceylonaccountofi01tenn"><i>Ceylon : an account of the island, physical,historical, and topographical, with notices of its natural history, antiquities and productions</i></a>. Longman, Green.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Ceylon+%3A+an+account+of+the+island%2C+physical%2Chistorical%2C+and+topographical%2C+with+notices+of+its+natural+history%2C+antiquities+and+productions&rft.pub=Longman%2C+Green&rft.date=1860&rft.aulast=Tennent&rft.aufirst=Emerson&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Farchive.org%2Fdetails%2Fceylonaccountofi01tenn&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACoast+Veddas" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSeligman1976" class="citation book cs1">Seligman, Charles (1976) [1911]. <i>The Veddas</i>. Ams Press Inc. Green. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-404-15970-2" title="Special:BookSources/0-404-15970-2"><bdi>0-404-15970-2</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Veddas&rft.pub=Ams+Press+Inc.+Green&rft.date=1976&rft.isbn=0-404-15970-2&rft.aulast=Seligman&rft.aufirst=Charles&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACoast+Veddas" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWijesekera1964" class="citation book cs1">Wijesekera, Nandadeva (1964). <i>Veddas in transition</i>. Gunasena.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Veddas+in+transition&rft.pub=Gunasena&rft.date=1964&rft.aulast=Wijesekera&rft.aufirst=Nandadeva&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACoast+Veddas" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSamarasinghe1990" class="citation book cs1">Samarasinghe, S. W. R. de A. (1990). <i>The Vanishing aborigines : Sri Lanka's Veddas in transition</i>. International Centre for Ethnic Studies in association with NORAD and Vikas Pub. House. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-7069-5298-8" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-7069-5298-8"><bdi>978-0-7069-5298-8</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Vanishing+aborigines+%3A+Sri+Lanka%27s+Veddas+in+transition&rft.pub=International+Centre+for+Ethnic+Studies+in+association+with+NORAD+and+Vikas+Pub.+House&rft.date=1990&rft.isbn=978-0-7069-5298-8&rft.aulast=Samarasinghe&rft.aufirst=S.+W.+R.+de+A.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACoast+Veddas" class="Z3988"></span></li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSubramaniam2006" class="citation book cs1">Subramaniam, Suganthy (2006). <i>Folk Traditions and Songs of Batticaloa District</i>. Kumaran Publishing. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-9549440-5-4" title="Special:BookSources/0-9549440-5-4"><bdi>0-9549440-5-4</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Folk+Traditions+and+Songs+of+Batticaloa+District&rft.pub=Kumaran+Publishing&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=0-9549440-5-4&rft.aulast=Subramaniam&rft.aufirst=Suganthy&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3ACoast+Veddas" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/13923262">Ethnic identity and marginality among the coast Veddas of Sri Lanka </a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Coast_Veddas&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://vedda.org/seligmann-coastal-veddas.htm">East Coast Veddas</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://vedda.org/nation.htm">East Coast Veddas: Caught between two worlds</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://vedda.org/east-coast-veddas.htm">Sinhala-Tamil Nationalism and Sri Lanka’s East Coast Veddas</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://kataragama.org/news/wedding.htm">Veddas celebrate Kataragama wedding festival</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20090925032359/http://ejournal.anu.edu.au/index.php/bippa/article/viewFile/21/20">Revisiting the cultural heritage of Sri Lanka:The Veddas (Vanniyaletto)</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.everyculture.com/South-Asia/Vedda.html">Vedda from Everyculture.com</a></li></ul> <p class="mw-empty-elt"> </p> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol 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style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_Eastern_Tamils" title="History of Eastern Tamils">History of Eastern Tamils</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tissamaharama_Tamil_Brahmi_inscription" class="mw-redirect" title="Tissamaharama Tamil Brahmi inscription">Tissamaharama inscription</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Annaicoddai_seal" class="mw-redirect" title="Annaicoddai seal">Annaicoddai seal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ketheeswaram_temple" title="Ketheeswaram temple">Ketheeswaram temple</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Koneswaram_temple" class="mw-redirect" title="Koneswaram temple">Koneswaram temple</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Munneswaram_temple" title="Munneswaram temple">Munneswaram temple</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tenavaram_temple" title="Tenavaram temple">Tenavaram temple</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Jaffna_kingdom" title="Jaffna kingdom">Jaffna kingdom</a></th><td 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class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Colonial</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/American_Ceylon_Mission" title="American Ceylon Mission">American Ceylon Mission</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wesleyan_Methodist_Mission,_North_Ceylon" title="Wesleyan Methodist Mission, North Ceylon">Wesleyan Methodist Mission</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jaffna_Youth_Congress" title="Jaffna Youth Congress">Jaffna Youth Congress</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Post-colonial</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_nationalism" title="Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism">Nationalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_state_sponsored_colonisation_schemes" class="mw-redirect" title="Sri Lankan state sponsored colonisation schemes">Colonisation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sinhala_Only_Act" title="Sinhala Only Act">Sinhala Only Act</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Riots_in_Sri_Lanka" class="mw-redirect" title="Riots in Sri Lanka">Riots</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bandaranaike%E2%80%93Chelvanayakam_Pact" title="Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact">Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Policy_of_standardisation" title="Policy of standardisation">Standardisation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_militant_groups" title="Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups">Militancy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vaddukoddai_Resolution" title="Vaddukoddai Resolution">Vaddukoddai Resolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Eelam" title="Tamil Eelam">Tamil Eelam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Burning_of_Jaffna_library" class="mw-redirect" title="Burning of Jaffna library">Burning of Jaffna library</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Black_July" title="Black July">Black July</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_civil_war" title="Sri Lankan civil war">Civil war</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/2015_Northern_Province_Council_resolution_on_genocide_of_Tamils" title="2015 Northern Province Council resolution on genocide of Tamils">NPC Resolution on Genocide</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Politics</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"></div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Government</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Northern_Provincial_Council" title="Northern Provincial Council">Northern Provincial Council</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Government_of_the_Northern_Province" class="mw-redirect" title="Government of the Northern Province">Government of the Northern Province</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_Northern_Province" class="mw-redirect" title="List of Governors of Northern Province">Governors</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Chief_Ministers_of_Northern_Province" class="mw-redirect" title="List of Chief Ministers of Northern Province">Chief Ministers</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eastern_Provincial_Council" title="Eastern Provincial Council">Eastern Provincial Council</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_Eastern_Province" class="mw-redirect" title="List of Governors of Eastern Province">Governors</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_Chief_Ministers_of_Eastern_Province" class="mw-redirect" title="List of Chief Ministers of Eastern Province">Chief Ministers</a></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Political parties</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/All_Ceylon_Tamil_Congress" title="All Ceylon Tamil Congress">All Ceylon Tamil Congress</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Federal_Party_(Sri_Lanka)" class="mw-redirect" title="Federal Party (Sri Lanka)">Federal Party</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_United_Liberation_Front" title="Tamil United Liberation Front">Tamil United Liberation Front</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_National_Alliance" title="Tamil National Alliance">Tamil National Alliance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Democratic_Tamil_National_Alliance" title="Democratic Tamil National Alliance">Democratic Tamil National Alliance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_National_People%27s_Front" title="Tamil National People's Front">Tamil National People's Front</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_People%27s_National_Alliance" title="Tamil People's National Alliance">Tamil People's National Alliance</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/List_of_Sri_Lankan_Tamil_militant_groups" title="List of Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups">Militant groups</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Eelam_National_Democratic_Liberation_Front" title="Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front">ENDLF</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eelam_National_Liberation_Front" title="Eelam National Liberation Front">ENLF</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eelam_People%27s_Revolutionary_Liberation_Front" title="Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front">EPRLF</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Eelam_Revolutionary_Organisation_of_Students" title="Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students">EORS</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Liberation_Tigers_of_Tamil_Eelam" title="Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam">LTTE</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/People%27s_Liberation_Organisation_of_Tamil_Eelam" title="People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam">PLOTE</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Eelam_Liberation_Organization" title="Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization">TELO</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Diaspora</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/British_Tamils_Forum" title="British Tamils Forum">British Tamils Forum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Canadian_Tamil_Congress" title="Canadian Tamil Congress">Canadian Tamil Congress</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Federation_of_Tamil_Sangams_of_North_America" title="Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America">Federation of Tamil Sangams of North America</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Global_Tamil_Forum" title="Global Tamil Forum">Global Tamil Forum</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamils_Against_Genocide" class="mw-redirect" title="Tamils Against Genocide">Tamils Against Genocide</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Youth_Organisation" title="Tamil Youth Organisation">Tamil Youth Organisation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transnational_Government_of_Tamil_Eelam" title="Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam">Transnational Government of Tamil Eelam</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Society</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd hlist" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Eelam" title="Eelam">Eelam</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Sri_Lankan_Tamils" title="Genetic studies on Sri Lankan Tamils">Genetic studies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Karaiyar" title="Karaiyar">Karaiyar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Koviar" class="mw-redirect" title="Koviar">Koviar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mukkuvar" class="mw-redirect" title="Mukkuvar">Mukkuvar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nalavar" title="Nalavar">Nalavar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Paraiyar" title="Paraiyar">Paraiyar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Thesavalamai" title="Thesavalamai">Thesavalamai</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Vellalar_(Sri_Lankan_Tamil)" class="mw-redirect" title="Vellalar (Sri Lankan Tamil)">Vellalar</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Vedar</a></li></ul> </div><table class="nowraplinks navbox-subgroup" style="border-spacing:0"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Culture</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_cinema" title="Sri Lankan Tamil cinema">Cinema</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamils_in_Indian_cinema" class="mw-redirect" title="Sri Lankan Tamils in Indian cinema">Representations in Indian cinema</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_literature" title="Sri Lankan Tamil literature">Literature</a></li> <li>News <ul><li><i><a href="/wiki/Saturday_Review_(Sri_Lankan_newspaper)" title="Saturday Review (Sri Lankan newspaper)">Saturday Review</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Sudar_Oli" title="Sudar Oli">Sudar Oli</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Guardian" title="Tamil Guardian">Tamil Guardian</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/TamilNet" title="TamilNet">TamilNet</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Times" title="Tamil Times">Tamil Times</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Thinakaran" title="Thinakaran">Thinakaran</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Thinakkural" title="Thinakkural">Thinakkural</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Uthayan" title="Uthayan">Uthayan</a></i></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Virakesari" title="Virakesari">Virakesari</a></i></li></ul></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_diaspora" title="Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora">Diaspora</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Australians" title="Tamil Australians">Australia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Canadians" title="Tamil Canadians">Canada</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamils_in_France" title="Tamils in France">France</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Germans" title="Tamil Germans">Germany</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamils_in_Italy" title="Tamils in Italy">Italy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamils_in_India" title="Sri Lankan Tamils in India">India</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Malaysians" title="Tamil Malaysians">Malaysia</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_New_Zealanders" title="Tamil New Zealanders">New Zealand</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamils_in_Pakistan" title="Tamils in Pakistan">Pakistan</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/British_Tamil" class="mw-redirect" title="British Tamil">United Kingdom</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Americans" title="Tamil Americans">United States</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%"><a href="/wiki/Sri_Lankan_Tamil_dialects" title="Sri Lankan Tamil dialects">Languages and dialects</a></th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Batticaloa_Tamil_dialect" title="Batticaloa Tamil dialect">Batticaloa Tamil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jaffna_Tamil_dialect" title="Jaffna Tamil dialect">Jaffna Tamil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Negombo_Tamil_dialect" title="Negombo Tamil dialect">Negombo Tamil</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Loanwords_in_Sri_Lankan_Tamil" title="Loanwords in Sri Lankan Tamil">Loanwords</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Religion</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-odd" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Hinduism_in_Sri_Lanka" title="Hinduism in Sri Lanka">Hinduism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Naguleswaram_temple" title="Naguleswaram temple">Naguleswaram temple</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nallur_Kandaswamy_temple" title="Nallur Kandaswamy temple">Nallur Kandaswamy temple</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Roman_Catholicism_in_Sri_Lanka" class="mw-redirect" title="Roman Catholicism in Sri Lanka">Catholicism</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Shrine_of_Our_Lady_of_Madhu" title="Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu">Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Village_deities_of_Tamils_of_Sri_Lanka" class="mw-redirect" title="Village deities of Tamils of Sri Lanka">Village deities</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="navbox-group" style="width:1%">Sport</th><td class="navbox-list-with-group navbox-list navbox-even" style="width:100%;padding:0"><div style="padding:0 0.25em"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Eelam_national_cricket_team" title="Tamil Eelam national cricket team">Cricket</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tamil_Eelam_national_football_team" title="Tamil Eelam national football team">Football</a></li></ul> </div></td></tr></tbody></table><div> </div></td></tr><tr><td class="navbox-abovebelow" colspan="2"><div><span class="noviewer" typeof="mw:File"><span title="Category"><img alt="" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/16px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png" decoding="async" width="16" height="16" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/23px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/96/Symbol_category_class.svg/31px-Symbol_category_class.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="180" data-file-height="185" /></span></span> <a href="/wiki/Category:Sri_Lankan_Tamil_people" title="Category:Sri Lankan Tamil people">Category</a></div></td></tr></tbody></table></div>    </div><noscript><img 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