Must see attractions in Jaffna

Long the gatehouse of the city, the vast Jaffna fort, overlooking the Jaffna lagoon, has been fought over for centuries. Today you can wander its walls,…

This huge Hindu temple, crowned by a towering god-encrusted, golden-ochre gopuram, is one of the most significant Hindu religious complexes in Sri Lanka…

The provenance of this Jaffna Kingdom relic is fairly secure. This archway is thought to be one of the palace’s original entrances. Among its weathered…

Tellingly, one of the first major buildings to be rebuilt after the 2002 ceasefire was Jaffna's Public Library. It had been burnt down by pro-government…

An architectural curiosity, the spindly Clock Tower has a Moorish domed top, which makes it look like it belongs somewhere in North Africa. It was erected…

Set back from the road, it's easy to sense the beauty that was once part of this building's soul. Completely derelict now, and with walls covered in…

This U-shaped pool made of carved stones is neglected but still intact – it’s thought to have been the women’s bathing pool of the royal family. The tank…

Glistening in the sun, this gold-hued statue was first erected in 1974. It portrays Cankili II, the last king of the Jaffna Kingdom (he died in 1623)…

This small, unkempt but interesting museum is hidden away at the end of a messy garden behind a concrete events hall. At the door are a pair of rusty…

A grand expanse of grass with very old, huge shade trees, first laid out by the British in 1829. Besides a playground and the cute Dora Cafe, it has the…

Built by the Dutch along classical lines in the 1790s, St Mary’s Cathedral is astonishingly large, but it’s curious to see corrugated-iron roofing held up…

An elegant modern park with impressive fountains. It reopened in 2010 after war damage was repaired. It has a fun children's play area.

This is the grandest church in Jaffna, a classical Italianate edifice used by Anglicans that dates to 1827.

This unusual structure looks like a whitewashed version of a Gloucestershire village church.

Easily overshadowed by the nearby Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil, this temple tries hard to be noticed with especially vibrant colours.

The solitary Sri Nagavihara International Buddhist Centre was quickly rebuilt after government forces retook Jaffna in 1995.

This beautiful temple with a restrained colour palette dates back to the Dutch colonial period.