Tamil film music blares from speakers; stalls sell piles of juicy mangoes, rambutan, bananas, pineapples, gargantuan jackfruit, brinjals, and other vegetables. Ladies in saris try to sell me local specialities like palmyra roots, packets of dried fish, bottles of gooseberry cocktail, and chunks of jaggery made from palm syrup. Palmyra bags, baskets, and mats, and clay pots entice me from other corners of the bustling market.
If your idea of Sri Lanka is emerald tea plantations, beaches, and stupas, then a visit to Jaffna will change your perception. Jaffna, also called Yalpanam in Tamil, is located in the island’s far north and for decades was at the heart of the devastating civil war and therefore long cut off from the mainland. After more than 25 years of war and isolation, and the scars of the 2004 tsunami, it’s slowly coming out and welcoming tourists who want to experience a Sri Lanka vastly different from the south.
Jaffna is closer to India than to the Sri Lankan capital and is strongly influenced by Tamil culture and traditions. Our drive from Sigiriya in the heart of the country towards the north passed emerald paddy fields, palm trees, and towns like Kilinochchi, which reminded us of the tragic civil war that devastated the country.
Jaffna’s population is predominantly Tamil Hindus who once migrated from the mainland. As we drive through the city and its surrounding areas, it reminds me a lot of interior Tamil Nadu in south India, with temples with brightly coloured gopurams, emerald paddy fields, palmyrah trees with fan-shaped leaves, and lagoons. A British-era clocktower stands tall, which commemorates the visit of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, to Ceylon in 1875. Modern hotels lie cheek by jowl with crumbling bungalows and Hindu temples, and pastel churches lie on the same stretch.
The showstopper of the town is the sprawling Portuguese-built century fort, standing sentinel on the edge of the Jaffna peninsula, which was later enlarged by the Dutch, ringed by a moat, with sweeping views of the Jaffna lagoon from its ramparts. The fort, which was also a British garrison, was constructed using stone and huge chunks of local coral, and one can still trace the delicate patterns of corals on its walls and floors. Years of civil war had left the port dilapidated, and many buildings were destroyed or damaged. We climb a flight of stairs to the ramparts for a panoramic view of the scrublands, glistening lagoons with fishermen’s houses on stilts, and endless mudflats.
History echoes from every corner of the city. We visit the white Indo-Saracenic Jaffna Public Library, designed by a Chennai architect, with domes and white walls, which housed countless rare Tamil literature and ancient manuscripts and was destroyed in a fire by angry Sinhalese mobs. The library, which is today a cultural beacon, started as a humble collection of a court clerk who wanted to help the community. The government began the process to rebuild it with contributions from across the world. The reconstruction project was completed in 2001.
Nallur Kandaswamy Temple, dedicated to Lord Murugan, originally from 948 AD, has been destroyed and rebuilt several times in its history. With Dravidian architecture, life-size murals, and vibrant sculptures of deities, it is the spiritual heart of the city. The evening puja is popular with oil lamps and the gods being taken in procession around the temple to drum beats.
“The town comes alive during the Nallur festival in August with ceremonies, processions, and devout devotees piercing their bodies with spears as an act of devotion. It is an extremely busy time of the year and a very colourful festival when faith and history converge,” says Nilanthi Wijesooriya, the GM of Jetwing Jaffna, who moved here 15 years ago from the south.
For a slice of local life, we visit the Keerimalai Springs, 25km from Jaffna, set against the backdrop of serene Keerimalai Bay, a site that is mentioned in ancient Tamil Sangam literature and famous for its healing spring waters. Today there are separate bathing sections for men and women just next to the sea, separated by a wall.
We drive across a maze of causeways, lagoons with pink flamingos, sandy roads, and islands. Salt flats glisten in the sun, palmyra trees stand like sentinels, and cows and goats wander freely in these sparsely populated parts. A crowded public ferry takes us to Nallur island that has both the Hindu Naga Pooshani Amman Temple and a Buddhist temple which Buddha is said to have visited. My favourite is the peaceful Casuarina Beach on Karaitivu, lined with casuarina trees, dotted with benches and colourful fishermen’s boats.
On our plates is the cuisine that Jaffna is famous for, with the use of a lot of spices and coconut. Jaffna’s cuisine is largely influenced by south India. Jaffna curry powder is a rich blend of fennel, red chillies, fenugreek, coriander, and cumin and used to flavour local fish and meat curries. We feast on Jaffna-style dosas laced with turmeric and served with chutneys and sambar. Meat eaters will love aromatic Jaffna crab curry with coconut milk and kool, the local seafood broth, packed with crab, prawns, fish, and vegetables. We also feast on buffalo curd with palmyra palm treacle and kottu roti, vegetables minced with bits of parotta and spices with a distinctive rhythmic preparation. A rite of passage is the visit to Rio Ice Creams, close to Nallur Temple, which has been a local institution for over 40 years through the years of conflict and stride.
A memorable drive is to Point Pedro, 30km from Jaffna, the geographical milestone marking the northernmost point in Sri Lanka. Once it was the hub of the cotton trade, but today it’s a fishing village fringed by a coral reef, bullet-ridden houses, a solitary lighthouse with a stark marking on its façade indicating the water level during the 2004 tsunami, a beach lined with nets and fishermen’s boats, and vast stretches of drying fish laid out on huge tarpaulins. Few tourists come up so far north, and that itself makes it attractive. This part of the country is still healing from the trauma of war, and when you are travelling here, remember that sensitivity matters.
