Sillalai
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Sillalai (Tamil: சில்லாலை). Nestling in the north of Sri Lanka, to the north west of Jaffna along the shores of the Indian Ocean is the beautiful village of Sillalai – often called “Little Rome”. It is surrounded by the villages Mathagal, Pandattarippu and Chulipuram and is blessed by an abundance of natural vegetation. Coconut and palmyra groves, fertile paddy fields, jack, areca nut, mango and a variety of fruit trees make it a garden of Eden. Vegetables, onion and chilli plantations add to its richness. The two main religions practised here are Christianity and Hinduism. The chief occupations of the villages are farming and fishing.
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[edit] Blessed Joseph Vaz
In 1687 the blessed Joseph Vaz first set foot on its soil seeking refuge from persecution, in the guise of a beggar. The dwellers of the village gave him asylum and with his guidance began their spiritual pilgrimage. He was their first parish priest and today the 1st saint of Sri Lanka to be declared “Blessed”.
[edit] Christianity
Sillalai can truly he called “Little Rome” for it has produced over 34 priests, over 40 religious sisters, 10 lay-apostles, not to speak of a Catholic prelate – Bishop Rt. Rev. Anthony Selvanayagam of Malaysia, from among its Catholic population. Rising majestically over the landscape of Sillalai is the church of our Lady and patroness of the village – “The Madonna of the Chair”, also known as “Our Lady of Remedies”. The feast of the assumption on the 15th of August is celebrated with great pomp and ceremony. Highlights of the festival are a concelebrated mass, novenas, procession with the statue, the chanting of traditional hymns to the ringing of festive bells and almsgiving ceremony.
[edit] Art
The culture and tradition of Sillalai is rich and varied. Poets, dramatists, sculptors, and folk singers have brought Sillalai great renown down the ages. Among them “Sillaiyoor Selvarajan” stands out as a literary star who brought Sillalai international fame in recent times.
[edit] Physicians
Sillalai has won world wide recognition as a centre of Siddha Ayurvedic medicine and its generations of physicians. Drs. Innasithamby and Athanasiyar are household names not only in Sri Lanka, but abroad as well. The curative effects of their treatment have given Sillalai a reputation for restoring the health of patients given up as hopeless.
[edit] Sillalaians
The inhabitants of Sillalai have made their mark in all fields of education. Its sons and daughters adorn the departments of medicine, engineering, law, accountancy, arts and computer science in Sri Lanka, and abroad today our beloved village bears the scars and ravages of war. It exhibits all the ordeals it has gone through. Ruined buildings, dense jungle, overgrown shrubbery, damaged roads and houses make this once famed paradise a wartorn spectacle. Its people are displaced and scattered in the Wanni and in alien Lands while its youth lay down their lives for their Land.
