Vallipuram

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title: "Vallipuram" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["buddhism-amongst-tamils", "towns-in-jaffna-district", "vadamarachchi-north-ds-division"] topic_path: "society/religion" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vallipuram" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Vallipuram
native_name	வல்லிபுரம்
වල්ලිපුරම
settlement_type	Town
pushpin_map	Sri Lanka Northern Province
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Sri Lanka
subdivision_type2	Province
subdivision_name2	Northern
subdivision_type3	District
subdivision_name3	Jaffna
subdivision_type4	DS Division
subdivision_name4	Vadamarachchi North
population_total	596
coordinates
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Vallipuram (, ) is a village in Vadamarachchi, near Point Pedro in Northern Province, Sri Lanka. The village is an ancient settlement with rich archeological remains. The village is home to the Vishnu temple Vallipuram Aalvar Kovil.

History

A 2nd century gold plate carrying a Prakrit inscription was found under the foundation of the Vishnu Hindu temple at Vallipuram. It mentions about the establishment of a Vihara in Nakadiva by the minister named Isigiraya under the ruler King Vaha who is identified as King Vasabha (67-111 C.E.). The inscription is important as it confirms that King Vasabha was ruling the whole country including Nakadiva (According to Malini Dias, Nakadiva in Old Sinhala is the equivalent of Pali Nagadipa, whilst the use of the phoneme 'k' to represent 'g' reveals Dravidian influence).

The language and interpretation of the inscription is disputed. According to Senarath Paranavithana, this is an inscription written in Old Sinhalese. Peter Schalk believes that this inscription is in Prakrit bearing Dravidian influences and that the name Nakadiva is a fiefdom corresponding to modern Jaffna Peninsula, which was ruled under the minister Isikiraya ('raya' being a Tamil form of the word raja, and the place name 'Badakara' (vada karai - Tamil) deriving from the Dravidian 'northern coast').

Vallipuram was an ancient capital of the Northern Kingdoms of Sri Lanka. Point Pedro is the nearest town. Vallipuram is a part of Thunnalai which is a village in eastern vadamarachi. There are two places in India with similar names. One is near Namakkal and the other one is near Kanchi. As such the people in Jaffna and in India have a long term connection. This place is settled by migrants from a town called Vallipuram near Namakkal which is near Coimbatore.Professor Peter Schalk (University of Uppsala), writes "Vallipuram has very rich archaeological remains that point at an early settlement. It was probably an emporium in the first centuries AD. [...]. The Buddha statue found here was given to King of Thailand by the then British Governor Henry Blake in 1906.

Gallery

|title=Vallipuram Gallery |width=200 |height=200 |File:Vallipuram Vishnu Temple.jpg|Vallipuram |File:Vallipuram Vishnu Temple2.jpg|Vishnu temple, Vallipuram |File:Vasabha gold.jpg|Gold inscription of King Vasaha, Vallipuram 1st century AC Brahmi:"Sidha! Maharaja-Vahayaha rajahi amete Isigiraye Nakadiva Bujameni Badakara-atanehi Piyaguka-Tisa Vihara karite" Trans: Success! in the reign of the great king Vaha, when the minister Isigiraya was governing the Nakadiva, Piyaguka Tissa caused a Vihara to be built at Badakara Atana.}}

Notes

References

(2012). "Census of Population and Housing 2012: Population by GN division and sex 2012". Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka.
(1994). "Journal of the Institute of Asian Studies". Institute of Asian Studies.
(1998). "Buddhism in Tamil Nadu: Collected Papers". Institute of Asian Studies.
(1983). "Inscriptions of Ceylon, Late Brahmi Inscriptions, 2 (part 1)". Archaeological Survey of Sri Lanka.
(2016). "The archaeological heritage of Jaffna peninsula". Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka).
Thiagarajah, Siva. (2016). "Kantarodai Civilization of Ancient Jaffna 500 BCE - 800 CE: A Study in Archaeology and Other Disciplines". Kumaran Book House.
Veluppillai, A.. (2002). "Buddhism among Tamils in pre-colonial Tamilakam and Īlam: Prologue. The Pre-Pallava and the Pallava period". Almqvist & Wiksell.
Gunawardana, R.A.L.H. (1995). "Historiography in a Time of Ethnic Conflict: Construction of the Past in Contemporary Sri Lanka". Social Scientists’ Association, Colombo.
SERENDIPITY - ISSUE 02 - THE VALLIPURAM BUDDHA IMAGE - AGAIN - Peter Schalk http://www.worldgenweb.org/lkawgw/vallipuram.html
(2002). "Buddhism among Tamils in pre-colonial Tamilakam and Īlam: Prologue. The Pre-Pallava and the Pallava period". Almqvist & Wiksell.
Dravidian Etymology Dictionary - entry 5281 - https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/burrow_query.py?qs=vaṭa&searchhws=yes&matchtype=exact
Dravidian Etymology Dictionary - entry 1293 - https://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/burrow_query.py?qs=karai&searchhws=yes&matchtype=exact
Schalk, Peter. (1996-01-01). "The Vallipuram Buddha Image "Rediscovered"". Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis.
(2002). "Buddhism among Tamils in pre-colonial Tamilakam and Īlam: Prologue. The Pre-Pallava and the Pallava period". Almqvist & Wiksell.

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