Building sights in Jaffna

1. A Map

   Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil

   • Jaffna, Sri Lanka
   • Sights › Building

   Approximately 2km northeast of the centre, the Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil is the most impressive religious building in Jaffna and one of the most significant Hindu temple complexes in Sri Lanka. Its sacred deity, Murugan (or Skanda), is central to temple activity, especially during the punctual, cacophonic pujas (5am, 10am, noon, 4pm and 5pm), when offerings are made to his brass-framed image and other Hindu deities like Ganesh, Murugan’s elephant-headed brother, in shrines surrounding the inner sanctum.

   The kovil’s 15th-century structure fell victim to Portuguese destructive ruthlessness in the 17th century; the current one dates from 1734. Its beautifully maintained…

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