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Nallur Kandasamy Temple is one of the popular places in Jaffna where lot of people visit here daily for to offer prayers to Lord Muruga.
Nainatheevu is an Island with worshiping places which were built in the ancient times. It is called Nagadeepa in Sinhala.
7:08 AM 4/9/2024
Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil (Temple) in Jaffna is one of the popular destinations to visit in Sri Lanka. This Temple's annual festival used to take place in the month of July/August according to Tamil first moon day which is called as "Aadi Amavasai". Nallur Murugan temple is not a tourist destination for entertainment. It is a place of worshiping for the Tamil Hindu community and other believers in God Skanda. Worshipers coming to this temple used to attend poojas in their Tamil traditional dresses. So if you are going to visit here, take necessary precautions not to harm the feelings of the devotees coming over here to attend to worship their god. You can stay outside of the temple complex with any dress. But most of the European visitors used to follow the local tradition and enter in to the temple. What means Nallur? Nallur is a Tamil name meaning Good Village. Best time to visit the temple is in the morning and in the evenings. At these times you can view the poojas held by the Temple priests. Fridays are considered as special pooja days and most of the people living nearby used to gather here to participate in the morning and evening poojas. On normal days you can't walk a full round around the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple. It is because there is a blockade is erected near to the Manonmani Amman temple on the Nallur Veethy.
In the month of June the "Vaikasi Visakam" Festival is used to be celebrated in the Nallur Murugan Temple. This is the Birth date of Lord Muruga the son of Lord Shiva and Godess Parvati. On this date special poojas are held to get blessing from Lord Muruga all over the world where Tamil people are living.
Nallur Kandaswamy will celebrate the Tamil New Year on 13th April 2024 and there will be special poojas will be held on 14th April 2024 to clebrate the newly flourished New Year.
Ten's of thousands of devotees are expected to attend these poojas on these days.
Nallur Kandaswamy Temple Location.
Nallur Kandasamy Temple is located in the Jaffna Town in Sri Lanka. Distance from Colombo to Nallur, Jaffna is 353 Km. Colombo to Jaffna is connected by road, Train Track and by Air Route. From the Jaffna town you can reach the temple within 20 minutes of time with a tuk tuk. Or can use public transport on the Point Pedro road bus route.
Normally the temple opens in the mornings and kept open till noon. And then in the evening it will open again and will close early night. During the festival days all the roads connecting the Nallur temple will be closed for the benefits of the worshippers. 2023 Annual Nallur Kandaswamy Temple was recently concluded after Two years of low profile festival. It was celebrated with Hundreds of thousands of devotees as was in the year 2015.
You can reach Nallur by road, Train and by airline. People can travel with government Trains, buses, private luxury buses or private vans that are operating between Jaffna and Colombo. Colombo to Jaffna Bus time table is not in operation but used to start from the morning and nights and need around 6 - 8 hours depending on the condition of the coaches. The tickets are priced depending the seat and mode of travel. Uttara Devi A/C, Yarl Devi, Yal Nila and the Intercity A/C trains used to reach Jaffna railway station by 5:30 - 8 hours of running time from the Colombo Fort Railway Station. Reserved Seats only available at Rs 3,200/- Furthermore Yal Devi and Mail Trains are running daily between Colombo and Jaffna cities. Available classes are 3rd, 2nd and 1st class in each train. During the Nallur Festival season it is better to advance book, up and down Train tickets at the Fort or Wellawatte Railway Station. Can fly from Ratmalana Airport, Colombo to Palaly airport in Jaffna. The ticket price is Rs 22,000/- for a person for one way journey. In the festival days it is difficult to book train tickets at the last minute. Nallur is covered by summer and rainy seasons where April is the hottest month. There is no cold or snow in this area. Additionally Jaffna Odyssey train is expected operate during the Nallur Annual Festival period. The Price is expected to be Rs 4,000/- for a passenger.
Once you are in Jaffna town, get a Tuk Tuk (3 Wheel) and reach the temple from the town for around Rs 500/-. There is no need to keep the Tuk Tuk waiting for you. You can find lot of them in that area for your return journey. If you have enough time, go to the central bus stand in Jaffna Town, get one of the Point Pedro SLTB bus and ask the bus driver to drop you near to the temple. You can reach the Jaffna hospital and walk along the hospital road and then turn at the left at the Naga Vihara temple. Keep walking along the pond side if you walk straight you can reach Nallur temple. Hikking will take around 15 - 20 minutes to reach the Nallur Temple with normal traffic,.
Nallur Temple Opening Time, Sunday to Thursday.
6.00 AM - 12.00 Noon | 3.00 PM - 5.45 PM
Fridays: 6.00 AM till 5.45 PM
Normal days: Early morning 06:00 am- 10:00 am and in the evenings 16:00 pm - 19:00 pm
Special Days: 5:00 am till 10:00 am. Evenings 15:30 pm until 19:00 pm
No entrance Tickets. Totally Free. (Some time you have to pay for your footwear watcher.
This Nallur Murugan Kovil is located 1.5 away km from the Jaffna central bus stand and 1 Km from the Jaffna train station on the Point Pedro Road. It was built in 15th century by Sanpaha Perumal the king of Kotte. Later king Kanagasuriyan and his descendants managed the Nallur Temple till to the arrival of the Portuguese. Still now during the ceremonial events King Bhuvanekabahu's name used to be praised by the chief priest everyday during the annual festival days as "Kattiyang Kooral".
Portuguese captured Jaffna in 1560 and one of the Portuguese General Philip de Olivera demolished the historic Kandaswamy Temple in 1610 the temple and erected a Christian Church. Still you can view the Base Structure of the Sivalingam from the old Hindu temple. Later Jaffna fell to the Dutch in 1658. During their time Don Juan Ragunatha Mappana Mudaliyar built the temple in this new position with stone and brick in the year 1734. His descendants are carrying duties as trustees of the temple after his period.
During the civil unrest period in Jaffna nothing had happened to this majestic temple complex. Also the temple administration used to make new construction for the temple every year. All the Hindu festivals including Pongal, Deepavali, Tamil New Year, Thai Poosam and other Hindu festivals are celebrated with special poojas and according to the Hindu calendar.
In the Month of August 2022, Nallur Kubera Vasal Koburam was declared open under religious ceremony. With this Kopuram the temple is having 3 Smart Raja Kopurams on the main entrance and each on the left and right of the temple complex.
Nallur Video.
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Popular Nallur Temple in India.
