Dhanushkodi is an abandoned town at the south-eastern tip of Pamban Island of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is south-east of Pamban and is about 24 kilometres (15 mi) west of Talaimannar in Sri Lanka. The town was destroyed during the 1964 Rameswaram cyclone and remains uninhabited in the aftermath.
Adam's Bridge, also known as Rama's Bridge or Rama Setu, is a chain of natural limestone shoals, between Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, off the south-eastern coast of Tamil Nadu, India, and Mannar Island, off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka. Geological evidence suggests that this bridge is a former land connection between India and Sri Lanka.
The Palk Strait is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna District of the Northern Province of the island nation of Sri Lanka. It connects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast with Palk Bay in the southwest. With a minimum depth of less than 9.1 m, it is 40 to 85 miles wide and 85 miles long. Several rivers flow into it, including the Vaigai River of Tamil Nadu. The strait is named after Robert Palk, who was a governor of Madras (1755–1763) during the Company Raj period.
The Gulf of Mannar is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean with an average depth of 5.8 m (19 ft). It lies between the west coast of Sri Lanka and the southeastern tip of India, in the Coromandel Coast region. The chain of low islands and reefs known as Adam's Bridge, which includes Mannar Island, separates the Gulf of Mannar from Palk Bay, which lies to the north between Sri Lanka and India. The Malvathu Oya of Sri Lanka and the estuaries of Thamirabarani River and Vaippar River of South India drain into the Gulf. The dugong is found here.
Deshabandu Roshan Siriwardene Mahanama is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and a former ICC match referee. He was a key member for 1996 Cricket World Cup winning team for Sri Lanka. He is the first man to have stood as a match referee in a day-night test match in Test history.
Mihir Sen was a famous Indian long distance swimmer and businessman. He was the first Indian to conquer the English Channel from Dover to Calais in 1958, and did so in the fourth fastest time. He was the only man to swim the oceans of the five continents in one calendar year (1966). These included the Palk Strait, Dardanelles, Bosphorus, Gibraltar, and the entire length of the Panama Canal. This unique achievement earned him a place in The Guinness Book of Records as the "world's greatest long distance swimmer".
Mannar Island, formerly spelt Manar Island, which lies off the north-western coast of Sri Lanka, is part of Mannar District, Sri Lanka. It is linked to the main island of Sri Lanka by a causeway and the Mannar Bridge, which carries the A14 highway, and a railway bridge. It has an area of about 130 square kilometres (50 sq mi), mainly covered with vegetation and sand.
The Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) is the air arm and the youngest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. It was founded in 1951 as the Royal Ceylon Air Force (RCyAF) with the assistance of the Royal Air Force (RAF). The SLAF played a major role throughout the Sri Lankan Civil War. The SLAF operates more than 160 aircraft and has a projected trained strength of 27,400 airmen and 1,300 officers, who are from both regular and reserve service. The Sri Lanka Air Force has expanded to specialise mainly in providing air-support to ground forces, troop landing, and carrying out airstrikes on rebel-held areas in the Northern and Eastern theatres, but is also capable of high- and low-level air defence.
Air Commodore Shirantha Goonetileke RWP, RSP, SLAF was a Sri Lankan aviator and the most senior Air Force officer to be killed in action. He was the youngest son of Air Chief Marshal Harry Goonatilake the 5th Commander of the Air Force and the brother of the 12th Commander of the Air Force, Marshal of the Air Force Roshan Goonetileke.
Air Chief Marshal W.D. Harry Goonetileke USP, ndc, psc, SLAF was the fifth Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force from November 1, 1976 to April 30, 1981.
Pamban Island, also known as Rameswaram Island, is an island located between peninsular India and Sri Lanka, on the Adam's Bridge archipelago. The second largest island in the latter, Pamban Island belongs to India and forms the Rameswaram taluk of the Ramanathapuram district of the state of Tamil Nadu. It is the largest island in Tamil Nadu by area. The principal town in the island is the pilgrimage centre of Rameswaram.
Talaimannar is a settlement in Sri Lanka located on the northwestern coast of Mannar Island.
Bula Choudhury is an Arjuna awardee, Padma shri awardee, former India national women's swimming champion and elected as MLA from 2006 To 2011 in West Bengal state of India.
Kutraleeswaran Ramesh, popularly known as Kutraleeswaran or Kutral, is an Indian swimmer. He swam across the Palk Strait, in April 1994. He swam across the English Channel in 1994 when he was 13 years old and in the same year, he swam across the Rottnest Channel in Australia, the Straits of Messina in Italy, the Zannone Circeo in Italy and the Ten Degree Channel to surpass Mihir Sen's record of completing five channels in a calendar year. He received the Arjuna Award and the Guinness world record in 1996.
The Mannar line is a railway line in Sri Lanka. Branching off the northern line at Medawachchiya Junction, the line heads north-west through North Central and Northern provinces before terminating at the town of Talaimannar. The line is 106 kilometres (66 mi) long and has 11 stations. The line opened in 1914.
The Palk Strait bridge is a proposed 23-kilometre (14 mi) bridge over the Palk Strait, between Dhanushkodi in Tamil Nadu state of mainland India, and Talaimannar in Mannar Island of Sri Lanka. The proposal, from Indian Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, was submitted to the Asian Development Bank in June 2015. In December 2015, the Sri Lankan Minister of Highways, Lakshman Kiriella, dismissed the proposal.
Air Chief Marshal Dambure Liyanage Sumangala Dias, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a senior Sri Lankan Air Force Officer who served as Commander of the Air Force from 2019 to 2020. He retired from his position as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Air Force on 2 November 2020 and was replaced by Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana.
Kimiko Raheem is a Sri Lankan national swimmer who has represented her country at several international competitions. She represented her country at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won multiple gold medals at the 2016 South Asian Games in the backstroke and freestyle events. She won the highest number of medals by a Sri Lankan woman at the 2016 South Asian Games in India. She is the younger sister of Mayumi Raheem and Machiko Raheem both of whom hold national records themselves. She was a semi-finalist at the 100M Backstroke event at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. She holds numerous Sri Lankan national records and South Asian records in her name.
The following lists notable events that will occur and take place during 2021 in Sri Lanka.
Shyamala Goli also referred to as Goli Shyamala is an Indian endurance swimmer, Producer, Creative Director and Writer to the Animation Series and Movies. In March 2021, she became the second Indian woman and second woman in the world after Bhula Chaudhary to have crossed the Palk Strait. She completed the feat at the age of 47.
Sri Lanka