Image credit: *Lewis, J. P., Boats and Canoes of Ceylon*, published in the *Times of Ceylon Christmas Number*, 1913.

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This place, where the coaster is anchored, is known as *Kaṟpiṭṭi* in Tamil and *Kalpitiya* in Sinhala. During the British colonial period, it was referred to as *Calpentyn*.

The vessel shown above was not identified as to ethnicity by the original publisher, J. P. Lewis, when he published the image in 1913. He called it "Calpentyn Coaster".

Later, Sinhala naval historians such as late Lt. Cmdr. Somasiri Devendra labelled it as a Sinhala Yatra Dhoni, arguing that similar vessels were used by the Sinhalese under the names Yatra Oruwa or Yatra Dhoni (source: THE LOST SHIPS OF LANKA, 2013, by Somasiri Devendra). However, this interpretation ignores the existence of the **Kulla Thoni** tradition among Tamils - a similarly shaped outrigger vessel associated with the delta regions of Tamil Nadu, which also operated in routes connected with Sri Lanka.

The French Adm. Paris, notes that Kulla Thoni and Yatra Oruwa were used both on the Coromandel coast and in Ceylon (Source: [Voiliers et Pirogues du monde au début du XIX siècle, by Adm. Paris, 1843)](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Ftwo-mast-boats-kulla-thoni-of-the-tamils-from-the-v0-ca6x2lh2rnxg1.png%3Fwidth%3D1058%26format%3Dpng%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D3479681576c98257bf3bc23326de714fe0bb9c0f).

* Tamil Kulla Thoni and Sinhala Yatra Oruwa vessels shown for comparison with the above image: [https://www.reddit.com/r/Dravidiology/comments/1swt94q/two\_mast\_boats\_kulla\_thoni\_of\_the\_tamils\_from\_the/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Dravidiology/comments/1swt94q/two_mast_boats_kulla_thoni_of_the_tamils_from_the/)



A Calpentyn Coaster anchored at Kaṟpiṭṭi, Puttalam, Sri Lanka | AD 1913