Update 8 July 2007:
- The Google Earth location files for the sites in this post are available for download.
- The Sunday Times has an interesting feature article about the mountain.
Update:
After publishing this post, I came across a lankalibrary forum post that has some Google Earth like images which seems to suggest I might have the location right.
The Media Centre for National Security also has an image of the mountain.
Sunday Times has an article with a maps showing major roads and the general direction of the current offensive.
The old post:
Its been on the news a lot but rarely in a big picture. Its a strange place not clearly marked on any maps I could find on line. My main source was this United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs PDF file. Found a similar location in a PDF on Google (view in HTML).
This image below cranked out via google earth of course.
Thoppigala mountain (possibly)
Not sure if I’m exactly on target. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Its a mess to put Google Earth .kmz files on WordPress.com (you actually can’t) and I’m tired of juggling multiple user names to get a google Earth account. (I don’t trust those digital key chains btw). If you want to get there the Co-ordinates I have are:
- 7°51’24.35″N
- 81°18’17.80″E
If you don’t want to deal with Google Earth here’s the Wikimapia location.
A strange compound in the Thoppigala area.
- 7°48’56.09″N
- 81°26’1.68″E
It had a Wikimapia comment but not any more. No idea what the hell it is. Check it out yourself
Looking towards Thoppigala from Polonnaruwa (From an altitude of 1.4km) :
Another “big picture” view of the Thoppigala area facing the the South West:
Note: all these images are based on 2005ish satellite images.
Other geoblog posts are in the geoblog archive.
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Cerno 
cerno,
you’r a true arm chair war lord.heheee..
great work, this is where the web, the citizen and the high speed internet meet!!!!
anyway,the strange compound in Thoppigala area is actually a Alien Communications base from where , the LTTE communicates with life forms of un(in)-human distinction.
in lay mans terms , its a monument for all the tamil sacrifices made by V.Prabhakaran, called a ‘war monument” .
a sad and tragic reminder of murderes rain of terror of the LTTE and Prabakaran.
white stripes are actualy graves, and the lake adjoining is a left over of a abandond tank or resevoir.
abandond paddy fields , south of the site a is a reminder of the more civilized days.
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Barely stifled peal of demented cackling laughter 😀
Thank you for the description about that compound thingi. Will update the wikiamapia location.
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Thoppigala is where the myth of LTTE military might was shattered.
Facts are hard. Way harder than mere rocks and stones.
Thoppigala Could very well turn out to be the starting point of LTTE’s Waterloo.
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