KINNIYA : Ambassador of Indonesia Igushi Ngurah Ardiyasa continuing his public diplomacy pursuit visited Kinniya along with members of his staff yesterday on Friday March 26
The Ambassador and his entourage visited the Java Masjid located at Java Street in Kinniya, where some 40,000 of the 100,000 population are descendants from Java, an island in Indonesia
On arrival, the diplomatic team was received by former Lankan ambassador in Jordan and attorney-at-law ,A. L. M. Lafeer, memebers of the board of trustees of the Mosque in Kinniya, U. C Chairman Mohamed Naleem and the MOH Kinniya Dr. A. Ajith .
M. S. M Niyas Registrar of the Trincomalee high Court made a presentation on the history of arrival and the settlement of Javanese people in Kinniya in the 16th century. He also briefed on the similarity in food habits, cuisine shared by the people of Kinniya.
Ambassador in his brief remarks at the Masjid said he learned from the history of Indonesia that Javanese were exiled to the then Ceylon by the Dutch during the 16th century. He further said that he would inform about his visit and the fascinating facts about the inhabitants of Javanese origins in Kinniya to the concerned authorities in Indonesia. The Ambassador extended his appreciation for the memorable love and hospitality shown by the people of Kinniya for his delegation.
Kinniya is home for a considerable number of Javanese origin whose ancestry could be traced to Java in Indonesia.
Many words of Javanese origins like Kaakkaa, Nena, roaka etc could still be found in the calloqials of the people of Kinniya. Similarly the Javanese names like Tuan, Bangso, Aakus do still prevail.
Javanese origins were the popular merchants of those time they were particularly involving in the trade of Pearl and Ivory.
I am very interested to find out what other tangible evidence the Indonesian HC provided the people of Kinniya regarding their Javanese ancestry. Many examples have been provided in the past relating to names, food and language.