Jaffna is the northern most town situated in Srilanka . Tourist places in jaffna are Jaffna Fort , causarina beach , chunnakam market , Manalkadu Sand Dunes & Ruins , delft island , point pedro and nallur kondaswami kovil and the Nagapoosani Temple . Point pedro is the northern most part of Sri Lanka where as kasuarina beach is one of the finest beach in Jaffna . From Jaffna to India it is only 231 km which is separated by the pak strait. before the civil war Jaffna was the second biggest city in Srilanka but after the civil war large portion was reconstructed and now 12th biggest city of Sri Lanka . This city was established by the Portuguese in the year 1619 near nallur . Later it was transferred to the Dutch and finally to the British. Almost for 400 years this island was colonised.
How to reach Jaffna ?
There is an international Airport in Jaffna which have flights from Chennai or Tiruchirapalli. There are lots of domestic flight from the different airports to this airport .
Bus service are available to most of the cities of Sri Lanka .
There is also daily railway services from Jaffna to Colombo and other cities.
From 2023 there is international ferry services from jaffna to the indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Places to visit in jaffna :
nallur kandaswamy kovil:
This temple was built originally in 948 ad and is devoted to Lord Murugan. It is one of the respected temples among the Tamils inside Jaffna . The current structure was build in the year 1734 by Ragunatha Maapaana Mudaliyar in the time of the Dutch rule .
The temple features a Dravidian style architecture with gopuram . This temple’s famous festival is Nallur Festival. In this time , you can observe the procession, the chariot festival and the Kavadi Dance. Devotees offer milk , fruits and flowers in the penance festival.
Nagapoosani Temple:
Nagapoosani Temple is dedicated to Godess Parvati , worshipped here as Nagapoosani Amman (the serpent god ) . This temple is very sacred to the local as well as the Indian Tamils. The temple is situated in the Nainatavu island.
It is believed that , this temple was built 2000 years ago but the modern structure has been build in the 18 th century .
In the month of july , 25 day long festival has been organised called the “Nagapoosani Amman Festival” . This festival has been organised as different types of dance, rituals and different form of penance.
You can reach here by a boat ride from the Kurikadduwan Jetty of Jaffna. It takes 30 minutes to reach here .
Nagdeepwa Purana Vihara :
This is one of the sacred temple for buddhiest in Srilanka . It is said that Siddhartha Goutam had appeared here to stop the fighting between the kings Chulodara and Mahodara for a gem studded throne after that they became followers of him .
The silver-coated Rajayathana Stupa, image houses (chaityas) and the bodhi tree are the main attraction in this place. In Bak Maha Amawaka Poya lots of pilgrimage come . You come here only by boat from the mainland jaffna .
Jaffna Fort :
This fort was built in 1618 by the portuguese for use the trading routes and pearl fishing . Later in 1658 it was captured and extended by the Dutch and at last In 1795 it was captured by the British . This building has thick wall surrounded by moats . It looks like the shape of pentagon
Later on in the time of Civil war it was captured as a strong bastion . After ending the civil war sri Lankan Govt repaired and make it a tourist spot .
Jaffna Public Library :
This is situated in the heart of the city and this public library has been established in the year 1933 . Later by the donation of the Tamil Diaspora it becomes the largest library in Asia with books , Rare manuscripts on palm leaves and many more . It has collection of Tamil , Sankrit , Pali and English books .
In 1981’s Fire the whole collection was lost . The govt has restored the entire library in 2001 but the glory of this library has gone .
Casuarina beach:
Casuarina beach is situated in one of the top most part of Sri Lanka . After that , starts the pak strait . This beach was named after the dense formation of the Casuarina trees.
The waves in this beach are very mild and it is the perfect relaxatation space for the tourists . This beach is praised for the clean water and garbage free calm beach . You can hire a local fisherman to go to the reefs .
Sanghamitra temle :
In the 3 rd century BC sanghamitra (Daughter of the famous Indian emperor Ashoka ) landed in the port Dambula Patuna . So in this place Buddhists makes a small pagoda . She comes with a holy sapling of Bodhi tree under which goutam buddha got enlighted .
Later this tree has been planted in the Anuradhapura. Which is one of the holiest sites for Buddhists. It was maintained by the sri Lankan navy .
Pedro point :
Pedro point is the northen most point of Sri Lanka . From here india is just 231 km and seperated by the pak strait.
In Ancient times, it was used to trade cotton and one of the prominent trade port . There is a small lighthouse in this place for an observation point .
Nowadays, it is a fishing zone and military zone . There were some beaches in this area also .
Summary :
Jaffna has been the northern most city of Sri Lanka . It is mainly dominated by the tamil culture and there were some famous Hindu as well as buddhiest temples . Jaffna Fort , nallur kondaswami temple , nagpoosan temple and nagdeepa purana Vihara are one of the prominent places to visit in this place . It has lots of islands which are touristy place . Among them Nainatavu island and the Delft island has ferry services . Here beaches are crystal clear and good for relaxing for the tourists .
