Eelattu Poothanthevanar

{{infobox officeholder

| name = Eelattu Poothanthevanar

| birth_date = 300 BCE - 300 CE

| birth_place = Mantai, Mannar, Northern Province, Sri Lanka

| occupation = Poet

}}

Eelattu Poothanthevanar was one of the earliest known classical Ceylon (present day Sri Lanka) Tamil poets from the Sangam period. He hailed from the ancient international port of Manthai (Manthottam/ Manthoddam in Tamil, Manthota in derived Sinhalese) in Ceylon, the ruins of which are in present-day Mannar District, Sri Lanka.{{cite journal|year=2000|title=The Struggle for Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka|journal=Growth and Change: A Journal of Urban and Regional Policy|volume=31|issue=2|pages=285–304|doi=10.1111/0017-4815.00129|author=Stokke, K.|author2=Ryntveit, A.K.}} His poems were included in the Tamil language anthologies of the Sangam literature compiled in Tamilakam before 250 CE.[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761568352_4/Sri_Lanka.html Sri Lanka - Literature Encarta article] reads: "The earliest known Sri Lankan Tamil poet was Eelattu Poothanthevanar, whose poems were included in the Tamil cankam (Sangam) poetry anthologies compiled in southern India before 250 AD." [https://web.archive.org/web/20091028105923/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761568352_4/Sri_Lanka.html Archived] 2009-10-31. Writing in the city of Madurai, he praises the valour of the contemporaneous King Pasum Poon Pandyan, who, as per the Narkudi Velalar Varalaru, reigned from 275 to 240 BCE. Seven of his poetic verses feature in the Akananuṟu, Natriṇai and Kurunthokai.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E3wOAAAAYAAJ&q=Eelathu+Poothanthevanar|title=Eelanadu and the Tamil Sangams: Paper Presented by S. Ambikaipakan at the Fifth International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Madurai|last1=Ampikaipākan̲|first1=Caṅkarappiḷḷai|last2=Ambikaipakan|first2=S.|date=1981-01-01|language=en}}