Kudiramalai
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Kudiramalai කුදිරමලෙයි குதிரைமலை |
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| Hamlet | |
 Kudiramalai
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| Coordinates: 8°32′0″N 79°52′0″E / 8.53333°N 79.86667°ECoordinates: 8°32′0″N 79°52′0″E / 8.53333°N 79.86667°E | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | North Western Province |
Kudiramalai (Sinhala: කුදිරමලෙයි, Tamil: குதிரைமலை, Greek: Hippuros, English: Horse Mountain) is a cape and ancient port town on the west coast of Sri Lanka. On the Gulf of Mannar near Silavaturai, the town shares a history with nearby Karaitivu Island, the ancient port town of Mannar and the Ketheeswaram temple. Kudiramalai is the northernmost point of Puttalam District and was a southern port of Mannar during the classical period, serving the northern kingdoms of the Jaffna Peninsula and Vanni country as one of their southernmost border towns. It is west of Vanni from Trincomalee (Thiru-Konamalai), home of Koneswaram temple.
Rulers included Alli Arasani, Korran, his father (Pittan) and contemporaries, Athiyamān Nedumān Añci (father and son) and Kumanan. Traders brought several horses on watercraft to the island during the Sangam period. The port was known as Hippuros by the ancient Greeks, and was mentioned in Ptolemy's Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Archaeological excavations have found that Kudiramalai was inhabited from the first century BCE to the seventh century CE.
Kudiramalai shares the legends of the Tamil queen Alli Arasani with Mannar; during her rule, major changes to the western coastline occurred. According to legend, she often travelled from Kudiramalai to Mannar and traded Mannar pearls for horses from Arabia; this is how the port town acquired its name. Although the Gulf of Mannar inundated much of Kudiramalai in a cyclone or tsunami, a portion of the walls of Queen Alli's palace are still visible. An ancient, cave-like structure is at the upper part of the palace wall's entrance. According to Alexander Johnston, he had a history of Queen Alli (who ruled northwestern Sri Lanka 1,800 years before him).
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