Landhoo

Northern Atolls


This island houses the remnants of a hawitta (an ancient man-made mound) supposedly left by the fabled Redin, a people who figure in Maldivian folklore. The 6m-high hawitta is known locally as maa badhige (great cooking place). Norwegian ethnographer Thor Heyerdahl wrote extensively about the tall, fair-haired Redin in his book The Maldive Mystery. He believed they were the first inhabitants of Maldives, living there as long ago as 2000 BC.