It is located approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north east of the town of Puthukkudiyiruppu and is by the A35 Paranthan-Mullaitivu highway.

[1] Eastern Mullaitivu District including Ananthapuram witnessed particularly brutal fighting between the Sri Lankan military and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in the final months of the Sri Lankan Civil War in early 2009.

[2][3] A United Nations report found that as many as 40,000 civilians may have been killed in the final months of the civil war, mostly as a result of indiscriminate shelling by the Sri Lankan military.

[4][5][6] There are widespread allegations that both sides committed atrocities and human rights violations including war crimes.

Much of eastern Mullaitivu District including Ananthapuram were declared as High Security Zone and were out of bounds to the public.