Chenkalady

Chenkalady or Chenkaladi is a town in the Batticaloa District of Sri Lanka, it is located about 15 km north-west of Batticaloa. In Tamil it translates to "By-the-brick".

About Batticaloa District

Batticaloa is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka and is a major commercial city. It is on the east coast, 111 kilometers (69 mi) south of Trincomaleeh, and is situated on an island. Pasikudah is popular tourist destinations situated 35 km northwest with beaches and flat year-round warm-water shallow-lagoons.

Batticaloa is a Portuguese derivation. The original name of the region being the Tamil "Matakkalappu". According to Mattakallappu Manmiyam the word Mattakkallpu consists Tamil words "Mattu" Matta-derived from "Mattam" means 'flat' and geographical name KaLappu. Mukkuwa named this place as KaLappu-Mattam or boundary of lagoon later it became Matta-Kallappu or Flat Lagoon. Also, Batticaloa has a nickname, "Land of the singing fish. due to musical sounds that related to fish or aquatic creature in the Batticaloa Lagoon near the Kallady Bridge. BBC Radio 4 was able to record the mysterious sound in Batticaloa Lagoon. The sound was broadcast by Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in 1960s with the help of Rev. Fr. Lang, a Catholic priest.