A monument has been built in Sh. Kanditheemu to commemorate the island for having the first recorded piece of Thaana, the current Maldivian writing system.

The monument serves to showcase the craftsmanship and historical significance of the island.

As the island has the word 'kan'di' [sword] in it, the monument has a sword as well plunged into the ground, with the scabbard going across the sword. The letters of the island are emblazoned onto the scabbard.

The sword symbolizes the name of the island, with "Thaanaige Rah" (the Island of Thaana) written in Thaana.

Kanditheemu Council President Ahmed Ahsan stated that the idea was born through a suggestion from island youths.

"When we were looking into what we could make as a monument, a lot of people thought of the fact that the island has the first and oldest Thaana writing that was discovered, as is told in history books. The overall design is a sword due to the name of the island but it is being promoted as "Thaanaige Rah". Even the writing has a similar font to the script that was discovered here," said Ahsan when talking about the monument, which took five months to build.

According to recent findings, the oldest Thaana writings were found in the island's Friday Mosque at the cemetery. A phrase was carved onto both sides of the wooden plank on the northern doors of the mosque. As per historians, the carving was the date the mosque was completed, going back to the year 1020 of the Islamic Calendar.

The island is being promoted as having discovered the first Thaana writing, as is the promotional point of the monument having "Kandhitheemu - Thaanaige Rah" emblazoned across it.

The council President stated that while the monument was mainly built in collaboration between their Blue Guild Foundation and the BINA Team, businessmen and residents of the island had helped as well. 

"There is a grant called the Jamiyya Grant that is given to various atolls. Previously, the grant was MVR 75,000, with it having been raised to MVR 100,000. With the grant, we decided to build a monument as other islands were also doing the same," said Ahsan.

As per the council, all work regarding the monument was done by island youths, from ideation to design and to the practical work.