Culture & Community

Culture & Community

Latest news from and about the homeland

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  A memorial sports tournament commemorating Colonel Shankar, the Special Commander of the Tamil Eelam Air Force (Sky Tigers) who was killed in an attack carried out by Sri Lankan deep penetration forces in Ottusuddan, Mullaitivu, on 26 September 2001, was held in Switzerland on 7 June 2026. Organised by the Sports Division of the Swiss Tamil Coordinating Committee, the event took…

Annual Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple chariot festival held

The annual Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple ‘Ther’ was held on Friday. The historic temple festival was celebrated in its traditionally spectacular fashion with the day commencing with the “Vasantha Mandapam Pooja” at 7am, followed by the chariot being transported to offer blessings to the devotees. 

Thanthondreeswarar temple hunting festival held in Mullaitivu

The historic Oddusuddan Thanthondreeswarar temple hunting festival (Vettai thiruvizha) was held in Mullaitivu on Wednesday to conclude the temple's annual Thiruvizha.

Human Rights Solidarity speak on Tamil refugees

Human Rights Solidarity commemorated refugee week and world refugee day by speaking to Gayathri Thivyaa, a medical student at Imperial College London and the child of Tamil refugees who fled the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Tamil Canadian community worker dies after stopping to help at highway crash

Tributes have poured from across the Tamil Canadian community for 52-year-old Surendran Thambirajah, who passed away earlier this month after he stopped to help another driver who had crashed their car in     Ontario.

Thambirajah had stopped at the scene of a crash to offer his assistance, after another vehicle has crashed into a hydro pole. He passed away after being struck by a downed wire.

Since no amount of words could ever outweigh, what we have lost on the 18th of May'

The following pieces are by Yhalisai and Kulalisai, both escaped the war in the Vanni in 2009 and now live in the diaspora. 

18th of May 

Our hopes and dreams, they did betray.
For all their cruelty, they must pay. 
For our freedom, it's a long delay.
We didn't want war, but there was no other way. 

Some people think Sri Lanka's a display, 
A "beautiful" island for their holiday.
But they only see what the government portrays,
Not the truth that's hidden away. 

The story behind the Quebec’s Tamil Heritage Month stamp

I had the greatest honour to design Quebec’s Tamil Heritage Month stamp for 2020.

Designing is something I love to do and I am so grateful that it is a huge part of my life. As someone who is Tamil, when I was asked to design a stamp that represented my culture and heritage, I did not think twice.

Thalir - Reflections from Mullivaikkal survivors

The following pieces are reflections from Tamil children who all survived the massacres at Mullivaikkal.

Eleven years later, they are telling their stories around the genocide they faced and are reclaiming the narrative.

They have all lost at least one family member during the massacres of 2009. All are now living in the diaspora.

Tamil diaspora keeps frontline workers fully fed

As healthcare workers around the world have been battling the coronavirus, Tamil diaspora activists and businesses have been helping to keep frontline workers fully fed and fighting fit over the last two months.

Activists in London and Toronto were handing out free meals to healthcare workers in both cities, as part of community efforts around the globe.

Mullaitivu student thanks widowed mother for top O Level results

With many schools in Mullaitivu, considered to be among the most deprived districts on the island, celebrating the success of their students in national exams, one student in Thunukkai paid tribute to her widowed mother for her top results.

Manoja Jeganathan, a student at the Katchilamadu Panadaravannian Maha Vidyalayam, achieved 8 As in her O Level examinations.

British Tamils mourn popular miruthangam artiste and teacher

Amidst the losses caused by the coronavirus crisis, the passing of much loved miruthangam teacher and artiste Kandiah Anandanadesan on April 16 has shocked and saddened the Tamil community in London.

Born in 1961 in Thellipalai, Jaffna, Anandanadesan attended Union College and Mahajana college, and trained in miruthangam under Guru K P Sinnarajah. His father was a teacher at Union College, and his mother one of the first women to teach at Mahajana.