Digavapi Coast

The coast east of Digavapi faces the Bay of Bengal beside a country of reservoirs and Buddhist shrines. Dighavapi means “long reservoir”; its stupa is linked by tradition to a visit of the Buddha and received royal patronage. In 1638 Rajasinghe II granted the Dutch rights in the surrounding country and towards the coast in return for help against the Portuguese. Dutch forces took Batticaloa and Trincomalee but retained the littoral, citing the cost of their campaigns.