Point Pedro

Point Pedro is the northernmost town of the island of Sri Lanka. The agriculturally active area around Point Pedro with fertile calcic red latosols is known for its cotton production. The eastern coast of Point Pedro is a 3-mile-broad beach with huge sand dunes (regosols) up to 100 feet height, extending up to Thalayady for a length of 20 miles. The porous regosols region with a deep ground water table has a billion litres of fresh water supply which can supply the part of Jaffna. The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 has raised the salt content of the ground water. The sea wiped parts of the town and sea water stayed there for up to 4 feet height.

History

The name of the town in Tamil is 'Paruthithurai', and has been in use from time immemorial. This translates to 'Cotton Harbour'. The origins of this name can be found in the ancient practice of exporting especially cotton to various South Indian cities.

The Western name, Point Pedro, was given by Dutch during the colonial era. A Dutch sailor, Pedro, when travelling along the coast of the country found this city to be the Northern-most point and this gave rise to the name, Point Pedro.

During pre-colonial and even in colonial times, Point Pedro was a bustling hub of export/import activities. The people, whose descendants involved in the import/export business, continue to form the majority of the population of Point Pedro.

It has a small harbor which is currently controlled by the Sri Lankan army so that the public is allowed with several regulations to do their day-to-day activities there. Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project will increase the productivity of the Point Pedro Harbour positively. Enlargement of the harbour will bring benefits to Sri Lanka. The strategic advantages derive from obtaining a navigable sea route close to the coast, with a reduction in travel distance of more than 650 km (350 nmi), for larger ships. The project is expected to provide a boost to the economic and industrial development of coastal Tamil Nadu. The project will be of particular significance to Jaffna, Kankesanthurai, Mannar, Point Pedro and Tuticorin harbour.

The nearby Vallipuram (Sandy City) Temple was a complex of Hindu-Buddhist temples on ‘Angkor Wat’ model and was a visiting place for Chinese and Indonesian vessels.

There are several Catholic churches built around Point Pedro along the coasts and in Nelliady. Sacred Heart College is a major Catholic high school situated in Nelliady. The name Pedro came from Portuguese.

Major Dutch developments came with Father Phillipus Baldeus. His records and his book on Jaffna were published in Netherlands in Dutch and later in Germany in German. There is a stone inscription written about the Baldeus and his Bible teaching under the Tamarind tree (which was uprooted by the 1962 cyclone in the Point Pedro Market).

Major English developments came here with establishing missionary schools like Hartley College and Methodist Girls High School by the Western Missionaries.

There are several American Mission schools at Uduppiddy and Thunnalai.