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Nainativu

Malaiyadi, Italy

Nainativu

Nainativu (Tamil: நயினாதீவு Nainatheevu, Sinhala: නාගදීපය Nagadeepa) is a small but notable island off the coast of the Jaffna Peninsula in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. The name of the island alludes to the folklore inhabitants, the Naga people. It is home to the Hindu Nagapooshani Amman Temple

, one of the prominent 64 Shakta pithas, and the Buddhist shrine Nagadeepa Purana Viharaya. Historians note the island is mentioned in the ancient Tamil Sangam literature of nearby Tamil Nadu such as Manimekalai where it was mentioned as Manipallavam (Tamil: மணிபல்லவம்), and ancient Buddhist legends of Sri Lanka such as Mahavamsa. Ptolemy, a Greek cartographer, described the islands around the Jaffna Peninsula Nagadiba (Greek: Ναγάδιβα) in the first century CE.

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