Indian Prime Minister Modi is scheduled to visit Sri Lanka on April 5. The next day, on April 6, he is scheduled to inaugurate the Pamban Railway Bridge in Tamil Nadu. During the British colonial period, India and Sri Lanka were connected through the Pamban Bridge. Even before the British colonial period, trade between Sri Lanka and India was successful through Pamban in the 1600s.
Mannar in Sri Lanka was a trade hub through Pamban Island, via Rameswaram, India. Around 1870, the East India Company planned to build a railway link between Dhanushkodi, near Pamban Island, and Colombo. That link was part of the plan to connect the Colombo Port and India. For this, they also prepared a project proposal to connect the Indian Railways Department and the Sri Lankan Railways Department.
That proposal was presented to the British Parliament. The construction of a railway link from Mandapam to Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar via Pamban was estimated at Indian Rs. 299 lakhs. After a feasibility study, this estimate was prepared. The British Parliament did not approve the railway link due to the high cost. However, it approved Indian Rs. 70 lakhs for the construction of the Pamban railway bridge. The Pamban Bridge was opened on 29 February 1914. The bridge was destroyed by a cyclone in 1964.
During the British rule, the boat mail served as a link between India and Sri Lanka from 1870. Two ships were used for this purpose. The ships arrived at the port of Talaimannar and were called boat mails. They had 300 seats. The tickets were printed in Tamil, Sinhala, and English. Passengers had to travel by train from Chennai to Dhanushkodi and, from there, take a boat to Talaimannar. A special compartment was reserved for Buddhist monks. This ship was called the Indo-Ceylon Express.
The day after arriving in Sri Lanka, Modi went to Rameswaram and inaugurated the Pambam Bridge, which was the link to the historical Indo-Lanka Express.
When Modi visited Sri Lanka in 2015, he inaugurated the Talaimannar railway station. Modi inaugurated the Talaimannar railway station and flagged off its first train service. He went to Talaimannar after paying homage to the Anuradhapura Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi. This time, too, he is to pay homage to the Anuradhapura Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi.
Mahinda Thero, the son of the Indian Emperor Ashoka, came to Sri Lanka to spread Buddhism through the Mannar port. This is reputed be the resting place of Sangamiththa Theri while bringing the Sri Maha Bodhi to Sri Lanka on her way to Anuradhapura from Jaffna. It is also believed to have been known as Mathota at that time.
The day after he arrives in Sri Lanka, Modi inaugurates the Pamban Bridge and revives the religious and cultural ties between Mannar and India.
