Editing Trincomalee (section)

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name    = Trincomalee
|official_name = City of Trincomalee
|native_name = {{lang|ta|திருக்கோணமலை}}<br/>{{lang|si|ත්‍රිකුණාමලය}}
|settlement_type = [[City]]
|image_skyline    = Bay of Trincomalee.jpg
|image_caption    = View of [[Trincomalee Bay]]
|image_map        = Trincomalee District A3.png
|pushpin_map      = Sri Lanka
|map_caption      =
| subdivision_type = [[List of sovereign states|Country]]
| subdivision_name = [[Sri Lanka]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Provinces of Sri Lanka|Province]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[Districts of Sri Lanka|District]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Trincomalee District|Trincomalee]]
| subdivision_type4 = [[Divisional Secretariats of Sri Lanka|DS Division]]
| subdivision_name4 = [[Trincomalee Town and Gravets Divisional Secretary's Division|Trincomalee Town & Gravets]]
| government_type = [[Trincomalee Urban Council|Urban Council]]
| leader_title = Chairman
| leader_name = 
| leader_party = 
| area_magnitude =
| unit_pref = [[Metric system|Metric]]
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 = 7.5
| area_land_km2 =
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| area_blank1_km2 =
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|population_as_of = 2012
|population_total = 99,135
|population_footnotes =
|population_metro =
|population_density_km2 = auto
|population_density_sq_mi =
|population_demonym = Trincomalians
|coordinates      = {{coord|8|34|0|N|81|14|0|E|region:LK|display=inline}}
|timezone         = [[Time zone#UTC .2B 6.2C F|Sri Lanka Standard Time Zone]]
|utc_offset       = +5:30
|timezone_DST     =
|utc_offset_DST   = +6
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m = 8
| elevation_ft =
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| blank_name =
| blank_info =
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}}

'''Trincomalee''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|ˌ|t|r|ɪ|ŋ|k|oʊ|m|ə|ˈ|l|iː}}; {{langx|ta|திருக்கோணமலை|translit=Tirukkōṇamalai}}, {{IPA|ta|t̪iɾukːoːɳɐmɐlɛi̯|ipa}}; {{langx|si|ත්‍රිකුණාමළය|translit=Trikuṇāmaḷaya}}, {{IPA|si|t̪rikunaːmələjə|ipa}}), historically known as '''Gokanna''' and '''Gokarna''',<ref>{{cite web|url=https://global.britannica.com/place/Trincomalee|title=Trincomalee – Sri Lanka|website=britannica.com|access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref> is the administrative headquarters of the [[Trincomalee District]] and major resort port city of [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern Province]], [[Sri Lanka]]. Located on the east coast of the island overlooking the [[Trincomalee Harbour]], Trincomalee has been one of the main centres of [[Sri Lankan Tamil dialects|Sri Lankan Tamil]] speaking culture on the island for nearly a millennium.<ref>{{cite book |last=Gunasingam |first=Selladurai  |author-link= |date=1979 |title=The Tamils and Trincomalee |url=https://www.noolaham.net/project/45/4455/4455.pdf |location=Jaffna |publisher=Aseeravatham Press |page=1-30 |isbn=}}</ref> With a population of 99,135,<ref name=gazetteer>{{cite web|title=Sri Lanka: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population |url=http://world-gazetteer.com/wg.php?x=&men=gcis&lng=en&des=wg&geo=-127&srt=pnan&col=abcdefghinoq&msz=1500 |publisher=World Gazetteer }}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> the city is built on a [[peninsula]] of the same name, which divides its inner and outer harbours. It is home to the famous [[Koneswaram temple]] from where it developed and earned its historic Tamil name ''Thirukonamalai''. The town is home to other historical monuments such as the [[Pathirakali Amman Temple|Bhadrakali Amman Temple, Trincomalee]], the Trincomalee Hindu Cultural Hall and, opened in 1897, the [[R. K. M. Sri Koneswara Hindu College|Trincomalee Hindu College]]. Trincomalee is also the site of the [[Trincomalee railway station]] and an ancient ferry service to Jaffna and the south side of the harbour at [[Muttur (Sri Lanka)|Muttur]].

Trincomalee was made into a fortified port town following the [[Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom]], changing hands between the [[Danish East India Company|Danish]] in 1620, the [[Dutch Ceylon|Dutch]], the [[Louis XIV's East India Company|French]] following a [[Battle of Trincomalee|battle]] of the [[American Revolutionary War]] and the [[1795 in Great Britain|British in 1795]], being absorbed into the [[British Ceylon]] state in 1815. The city's architecture shows some of the best examples of interaction between native and European styles. Attacked by the [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese]] as part of the [[Indian Ocean raid]] during [[World War II]] in 1942, the city and district were affected after Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, when the political relationship between Tamil and Sinhalese people [[Origins of the Sri Lankan civil war|deteriorated]], erupting into civil war. It is home to major naval and air force bases at the [[Trincomalee Garrison]]. The city also has the largest Dutch [[Hoods Tower Museum|fort]] on the island.

The [[Trincomalee Bay]], bridged by the [[Mahaweli Ganga|Mahavilli Ganga River]] to the south, the historical "Gokarna" in Sanskrit, means "Cow's Ear", akin to other sites of [[Shiva|Siva]] worship across the Indian subcontinent. Uniquely, Trincomalee is a [[Pancha Ishwarams|Pancha Ishwaram]], a [[Paadal Petra Sthalam]], a [[Shakta pitha|Maha Shakta pitha]] and Murugan Tiruppadai of Sri Lanka; its sacred status to the Hindus has led to it being declared "Dakshina-Then Kailasam" or "[[Mount Kailash]] of the South" and the "Rome of the Pagans of the Orient". The harbour is renowned for its large size and security; unlike any other in the [[Indian Ocean]], it is accessible in all weathers to all craft. It has been described as the "finest harbour in the world" and by the British, "the most valuable colonial possession on the globe, as giving to our Indian Empire a security which it had not enjoyed from elsewhere".{{Citation needed|reason=No source for quotes|date=February 2025}}