Karaitivu (Kaa rai theevu, not an island as its Tamil meaning suggests) is a coastal village situated in the Eastern Coast of Sri Lanka, and 30 miles(44km) down towards south from Batticaloa Town and adjacent to Kalmunai Town . This is one of the oldest village in the Ampara District well before the birth some of the new towns like Kattankudy, Amparai town and Kalmunai town. This village being one of the oldest in the area it is referred to as a motherland of some of the other smaller villages around the Pottuvil double electorate in the Amparai district.
Significance of this village in the East and the richness of its culture and literature is shone through the work of one of her proud son, late Swami Vipulananda(a Tamil scholar, the first Tamil professor at the Colombo University , later turned to be a Hindu monk). His Tamil literature works and his services to the North and the East have caused a renaissance in Tamil culture, literature and self belief at a time the whole country was going through the challenges of foreign occupation.