Maaveerar Naal
Sri Lankan Tamil observance, 27 November
Maaveerar Naal (Great Heroes' Day; Tamil: மாவீரர் நாள் Māvīrar Nāḷ) is a remembrance day observed by Sri Lankan Tamils to remember the deaths of militants who fought with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to achieve an independent Tamil homeland. It is held each year on 27 November, the date on which the first LTTE cadre, Lt. Shankar (Sathiyanathan alias Suresh), died in combat in 1982. Traditionally oil lamps are lit for the three days ending on 27 November and the Tamil Eelam flag is raised at ceremonies. The symbol for Maaveerar Naal is the Gloriosa superba which blooms during November.
History
The first Maaveerar Naal was held on 27 November 1989. The date was chosen as it was the anniversary of the first LTTE cadre to die in combat, Lt. Shankar (Sathiyanathan alias Suresh), who died on 27 November 1982. On 27 November 1989 around 600 LTTE cadres gathered secretly in the jungles near Nithikaikulam in Manal Aru, Mullaitivu District, to remember their fallen comrades who at that time numbered around 1,300. In his speech LTTE leader V. Prabhakaran told the gathering that if he ever betrayed Tamil Eelam they must kill him.
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This entry incorporates text from “Maaveerar Naal” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.