Manthai
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Manthai මන්තොට மாந்தை |
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| Town | |
 Manthai
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| Coordinates: 8°59′22″N 79°59′53″E / 8.98944°N 79.99806°E | |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| Province | Northern |
| District | Mannar |
| DS Division | Manthai West |
| • Chairman | (TNA) |
| Time zone | Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone (UTC+5:30) |
Manthai (Tamil: மாந்தை) is a coastal town and an ancient harbor situated in the Mannar district, of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. Historically known as Manthottam/Manthoddam (Manthota in Sinhalese), it is an important religious site in the island for the Hindus, due to the Ketheeswaram Kovil, one of the five Ishvarams dedicated to Lord Shiva in the island.
Manthai the present day name given by the locals for the town, is possibly a derivation from the ancient Tamil name Manthottam/Manthoddam which may translate into Garden of the Deers. The term Manthottam is mentioned in many ancient Tamil epics. Sinhalese epics refer to both the town as well as the town of Mannar by the term Mahathittha.
During the ancient period, Manthoddam was a center of international trade, with Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Arabs, Ethiopians, Persians, Chinese, Japanese, Burmese and others vying with each other to monopolize the trade of North Ceylon with Sri Lankan traders.
It is believed that Vijaya, the first Sinhalese in the island, landed at Manthai during the 5th Century BC.
According to Dr. Paul E. Peiris, an erudite scholar and historian, Thiruketheeswaram in Manthai was one of the five recognized Eeswarams of Siva in Lanka very long before the arrival of Vijaya in 600 B.C
During the reign of the Cholas, between the 10th and 11th Centuries C.E., the town had developed into a major port, with many highways and served as an important link between the island and the mainland Chola kingdom.
Somewhere around 1070, Manthai, which was a thriving Chola seaport town came under attack from Vijayabahu, a Sinhalese monarch leading a military campaign to expel the Cholas from the island. The Cholas, who by then had lost control of most of the island, withdrew from Manthoddam, thus ending their century-long rule in the island.
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Wikipedia