On 26 December 2004, a massive undersea earthquake off Sumatra triggered a tsunami across the Indian Ocean. Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand, and other regions suffered immense loss of life. The disaster exposed coastal vulnerability and reshaped humanitarian response across nations.

The tsunami inspired poems of mourning in Indonesian, Tamil, Sinhala, English, and other languages. Shorelines, fishing boats, salt water, missing bodies, and broken temples became shared images through which poets faced grief, impermanence, and the sea's double nature as livelihood and destroyer.