| After nearly a decade when I was traveling with the | | | | culture. They also worshipped serpents, which is in the |
| German Praktikum (internship) students through | | | | icon of Lord Siva. Kudiramali, a place near |
| Elephants Pass, watching the same Lagoon where I | | | | Silapaththurai, a western coastal sleepy village off the |
| crossed at midnights struck how things were changing | | | | Gulf of Mannar too was a seaport and a capital of the |
| the world over in an unbelievably short time. | | | | Naga race. |
| While the German students were videoing the Lagoon, | | | | There are legendry stories about an "Alli" queen who |
| my mind recalled the once flourishing Nallur city off the | | | | ruled that area and had a great liking for pearls. Her |
| coast of the Jaffna Lagoon, which was once the | | | | warriors were women and she hated men. During her |
| capital of the Naga kingdom. The Northern part of Sri | | | | time pearls were exported to Arab countries and in |
| Lanka throve during the Naga Kingdom from 6th | | | | return Arab horses were imported through this port. |
| century BC to the middle of the 3rd century AD. | | | | That is how that port derived its name Kudiramalai |
| Nagas were of the Tibeto - Burman origin, a Mongoloid | | | | (Horse Mountain). |
| race and migrated to India 4000 BC, driven by some | | | | Due to natural causes the sea engulfed the |
| political disturbances from Central Asia through the | | | | Kudiramalai area probably by tidal waves caused |
| North Eastern frontier of the Himalayan mountain | | | | either by a strong cyclone or earthquake. |
| range. | | | | Memories impinged on me of moments when I had |
| Nagas were a prominent non- Aryan race in India and | | | | visited a decade ago Queen Alli's ruined palace. The |
| their names are still preserved in various parts of India. | | | | roaring waves of the Gulf of Mannar were battering |
| The Indo - Aryan invasion in the Indian subcontinent | | | | the walls of the ruined palace, which to a great extent |
| had driven them South and they invaded further South | | | | was submerged by the sea. |
| towards Sri Lanka. | | | | Amazingly the ruined palace was still withstanding |
| This may coincide with the theory of the Aryan | | | | those mighty sea waves for some thousands years, |
| invasion in the North- western sector of India and their | | | | though it has lost a major portions to the sea. When I |
| expansion to other areas driving away the indigenous | | | | stepped into the cave-like inside of it I marveled at the |
| people of the Indus valley civilization, the Dravidians | | | | architecture of the upper portion of the wall's entrance. |
| further south. | | | | Other than the walls, I hardly found anything inside but |
| The Nagas were dependent on the sea for their living | | | | the vibrations of the battering waves outside of the |
| and established trade with India, and developed art and | | | | wall, which was echoing inside in a mysterious way. |