Name  -  Tissanayake Date Of Birth  -  Not available Date Of Death  -  Not available Titles  -  - Posts held  -  Mudaliyar

According to tradition in the village of Mathakal, Tissanayake Mudaliyar who lived during Dutch times, was descended from a Vellala Chieftain who had married a princes of Jaffna. This mudaliyar lived in great state in a land described in the thombus as “Manan Pulam” which translates as the “land of the King”. Arrayed around “Manan Pulam” were lands with Thombu names such as Kuthirai Kulipati (stables), Thannakkadi (elephant stables) Vannan Kinathadi (settlement of washer-men) Pallan Kulakkarai (settlement of Palla slaves) and Parrachi Tharai (land of the Paraya slaves), which showed that the service castes were settled around to attend to the needs of the family.

There were two other lands that belong to the family which had connotations that they had once belonged to a lady of high social status or to a princess or a woman of high birth. One such land was called “Ammai Pangu” (the portion or the dower of the lady) the other was named “Alahiya Nachchiyar Vayal” (the field of the beautiful princess). The thombu names of the lands substantiate the tradition of Tissanayaka mudaliyar’s royal pedigree.

Perhaps the Vaipava Malai is setting down this tradition when narrating the story of princess Vethavalli, who was said to have been given the village of Mathakal, by her father prince Paranirupasinghe. (refer article on the “Aristocratic and Royal villages of Jaffna” )

The family makes the same mistake as many other Jaffna families by accepting the Vaipava Malia in toto, and links their lineage back to princess Vethavalli, who may or may not be a real historical personage.

Although there is sufficient evidence to show Royal antecedents of the family the exact connection cannot be substantiated with any independent authenticated documents.

Tissanayake Mudaliyar who also had extensive land holdings in the neighboring villages of Mavittapuram and Chullipuram is also referred to as Mavittapuram Vellalan and Chullipuram Vellalan in some of the records of the period. A marriage which he attested in 1777 describves him as Mavittapuram Vellalan, and a copy of this document is available in the family archives. His son Visvanathan was the Udayar of Mavittapuram which is the seat of Hindu Orthodoxy, as a result of the ancient Kandasamy kovil one of the most venerated shrines of Jaffna being located there. Its legendary founder was a Horse Faced Princess Marutha Puraviha Walli the daughter of Tissai Ugra Chola. The title “Tissai” is suspiciously close to the prefix borne by the male members of the family.

Legend has it that “Ugrasingha of Kalinga” a descendent of King Vijaya’s brother carried her away and made her his bride.

Wickremasinghe Mudaliyar, Weerasundera Mudaliyar both of Mathakal and Tissai Weerasooriya Mudaliyar of Chullipuram were also said to be close kinsmen of Tissanayake Mudaliyar. The exact relationships have not been established.

Tissanayake Mudaliyar was also a lineal descendent of Tissai Vilangu Nayake Muthali alias Kantha Udayar of Villankulam, who is mentioned in the grant of Nallamapanan as Mudaliyar of Pannakamam.