Mahatittha (Mantai) | Ancient Port Site Mahatittha (Sinhala: මහාතිත්ථ) is an ancient port site situated in present Mantai (Tamil: மாந்தை) in Mannar District, Sri Lanka. It is considered one of the rare, surviving and clearly identified urban and port centres of the Anuradhapura Period with a stratified deposit of 10 m or more containing sequences from Prehistoric Times to the end of the Anuradhapura Period and beyond (Bandaranayake, 1990).
History
Name: Mahatittha & Mantai Mahatittha was a renowned seaport throughout the east in ancient and medieval times (Nicholas, 1963). Sri Lankan chronicles including Dipavamsa (4th century A.D.) and Mahavamsa (5th century A.D.) frequently mention Mahatittha as the main seaport of Sri Lanka (Bohingamuwa, 2017). In the Pali language, Maha-tittha means "the Great Port" (Bohingamuwa, 2017). In many ancient literature and inscriptions, Mahatittha is called by variant names such as Mahatottha and Mahatirtha in Pali and Sanskrit sources, Mahavoti, Mahaputu, Mahavutu, Mavatutota, M…
