Jaffna
Tamil Temples, Islands and Food of the North
The Tamil north's capital, closer to India than to Colombo in feel and food. The golden Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil (its 25-day festival is in August-September), the Dutch fort, the rebuilt library and the market fill a day; causeways and ferries lead to the islands, with Nainativu's Nagapooshani Amman temple, counted among the Shakti Peethas, and Delft's wild ponies. Vegetarian Tamil food is everywhere, with crab curry and Jaffna's odiyal kool for the rest. IndiGo flies daily from Chennai to Jaffna airport; a passenger ferry from Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu to Kankesanthurai, north of Jaffna, has run in the calm months since 2024 (check whether it is sailing).
Highlights
- Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil puja
- Nainativu temples by ferry
- Delft island's ponies and coral walls
- Jaffna Fort ramparts
- Public Library
- Keerimalai sea-side springs
- Jaffna crab curry and vegetarian thalis
- Casuarina Beach
Things to do
- Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil evening pujaEvening · 1h 30m
- Nainativu island temples by causeway and ferryMorning · 5h
- Jaffna Fort, library and marketMorning · 3h
- Keerimalai springs and Point PedroAfternoon · 3h 30m
- Jaffna food crawl: dosa, crab curry, ice creamEvening · 2h
Tours & tickets
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When to go
Best time: January – September
Heads up
Jaffna Rainy Season
October to December are the wet months in the north, with heavy downpours and some flooding round the lagoons; island ferries can be cancelled in rough weather. The ferry from Nagapattinam in India has stopped for these months in past years.
- Sinhala and Tamil New Year (Aluth Avurudu / Puthandu) — The national new year, at the auspicious times astrologers set: families go home, many shops, restaurants and buses stop for two or three days around 13-14 April, and trains and buses before and after are packed. Nuwara Eliya has its season of races and shows round it.
- Nallur Festival (Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil) — Twenty-five days of processions at Jaffna's great Murugan temple, building to the chariot (ther) festival and the water-cutting (theertham): huge crowds of Tamil devotees from Sri Lanka and abroad, kavadi dancers and devotees performing vows. Men enter the temple bare-chested; rooms in Jaffna book out.
- Thai Pongal — The Tamil harvest festival on 14 or 15 January: pots of milk rice boiled over at dawn in front of homes and temples, kolam patterns at doorways. Biggest in Jaffna and the Tamil east.
- Deepavali — A public holiday in Sri Lanka, celebrated by Tamil Hindus in Jaffna, Colombo's Wellawatte, Trincomalee and the tea-estate towns of the hills with lamps, temple pujas and sweets.