Kudiramalai: ancient cape-port on Sri Lanka’s west coast, once trade hub, linked to Prince Vijaya’s landing, known to Greeks as “Hipporus.”
Kudiramalai (Ancient Tambapanni) K udiramalai (Sinhala: කුදිරමලය; Tamil: குதிரைமலை) is a cape and an ancient seaport on the western coast within the Wilpattu National Park in Puttalam District, Sri Lanka. The famous Battalangunduwa Island is located nearly 10 km west of this cape point. History According to the great chronicle Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya (6th century B.C.) who set sail from India with his followers arrived in Sri Lanka at a place where the soil is copper colour (Wimalaratana, 2023). After resting on the shore, they noticed that their palms were a copper colour due to the copper-colored soil (Goonatilake, 2006; Wimalaratana, 2023). Therefore, they named the island "Tambapanni" because of the color (Wimalaratana, 2023). The soil near the shore at Kudiramalai is also copper-colored, hence it is firmly believed that the place where Prince Vijaya first set foot in Sri Lanka was between the Kudiremalai point and Moderagam Ara mouth (Goonatilake, 2006; Thanh & Asanka, 2025; Wimalaratana, 2023). The …