Gan Island
Gan (Div: ގަން) is the southernmost island of Addu Atoll, as well as the southernmost island of the Maldives. It is relatively large by Maldive standards.
Gan Island is the second largest island of the atoll, after Hithadhoo, and measures 2.2561 square kilometres (0.87 sq mi) in area. Gan Island was formerly inhabited, but its inhabitants were moved to neighboring islands after the British naval and airbase was built. It had been having continuous human habitation since very ancient times. There were large cultivated fields of yams, manioc and coconut trees on this island. The origin of the word "Gan" is in the Sanskrit word "Grama", meaning "village". this fact was verified by linguist Dr. Robert C. Hennings at the international institute of Sydney.
Gan Island has now a hotel catering for tourists and is connected by causeways to the neighboring islands of Feydu, Maradu and Hithadhoo. In 1922 H. C. P. Bell visited this island and investigated the ancient Buddhist ruins there. These included the foundations of a temple (vihara) and a mound or low hill which was a very ruined stupa. Gan's ruins were the remains of the southernmost Buddhist site of the Maldives. The mound, as well as the foundations of the nearby vihara, disappeared after the airport was built. Maldivian first airport was found in Gan.
Read more about this topic: Addu City
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“We crossed a deep and wide bay which makes eastward north of Kineo, leaving an island on our left, and keeping to the eastern side of the lake. This way or that led to some Tomhegan or Socatarian stream, up which the Indian had hunted, and whither I longed to go. The last name, however, had a bogus sound, too much like sectarian for me, as if a missionary had tampered with it; but I knew that the Indians were very liberal. I think I should have inclined to the Tomhegan first.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)