15,000 inhabitants and has become refuge for other Tamils displaced due to the Sri Lankan civil war from the rest of the country. There are also some Tamil Christians belonging to various Christian sects (mostly Catholics) who maintain their Tamil heritage throughout both these districts in major cities such as Negombo, Chilaw, Puttalam and in villages such as Mampuri. Negombo Tamil is the fact that the Karavas immigrated to Sri Lanka much later than Tamils immigrated to Jaffna. This would suggest that the Negombo dialect continued to evolve in the Coromandel Coast before it arrived in Sri Lanka and began to get influenced by Sinhala. So, in some ways, the dialect is closer to those spoken in Tamil Nadu than is Jaffna Tamil. Tamil heritage is also maintained in place names in both these districts. Outside of the Tamil-dominated North East, Puttalam district has the highest percentage of place names of Tamil origin in Sri Lanka. There are also composite or hybrid place names in both these districts. The juxtaposition of Sinhala and Tamil place names indicated the peaceful coexistence of people of both language groups as well as the gradual assimilation process. There are also numerous Hindu temples across the districts mostly dedicated to Hindu village deities such as Ayyanar, who is also worshiped as Ayyanayake by the Sinhalese people. Other deities include Kali, Kannaki and Lord Shiva, whose famous temple at Munneswaram was built by Raja Raja Cholan a Tamil king. See also Colombo Chettys Bharatakula Karave Place names in Sri Lanka References External links Migration of South Indian labor communities to South East Asia In search of new identity, the case of Modern Indian Tamils in Sri Lanka Tamil fishing village close to Colombo Sri Lankan Tamil society Negombo