Preparations are underway at Tharavai Thuyilum Illam in Batticaloa as the Tamil nation prepares to mark Maaveerar Naal or Great Heroes Day later this month.
The Tharavai Maaveerar Thuyilum Illam Organising Committee and the Thayakam Task Force began the cleaning at the cemetery on November 1.
Due to adverse weather conditions this week, the volunteers were not able to do any cleaning but paid their respects to fallen Tamil fighters. The cleaning work will resume on November 15.
Tharavai Thuyilum Illam was the largest cemetery built by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in the Eastern province. Sri Lanka's armed forces destroyed the site in June 2007.
The LTTE built Thuyilum Illams - or resting homes- across the North-East to house the bodies of its fighters. At the end of the Tamil liberation war, the Sri Lankan military bulldozed over all of the cemeteries, completely demolishing the sites. In some places, the Sri Lankan army built their bases where the fighters had been laid to rest.
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