Jaffna

Jaffna is the cultural town of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka. Jaffna District, the northernmost region of the Island of Sri Lanka, is one of the oldest habitation sites in Lower South Asia, populated by Tamil speaking people. Jaffna is situated within ten degrees of latitude to the north of the equator. It is in close proximity to the sub-continent of India and separated from it by the Palk Strait and the Bay of Bengal.

Travel to Jaffna - Visa Requirements

Flights and airtickets to Jaffna

Jaffna is the northern capital and has an airport based in Palali. Due to the current circumstances there are no international flights to Palali. To get to Jaffna one must fly into Colombo the southern capital and get a domestic flight to Palali.

There is air service to and from Colombo, provided by the national airline Sri Lankan Airlines. Flights are available from origins throughout Europe, United States, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, the Middle East, India, and Pakistan. Other airlines, include Qatar Airlines and Emirates. Colombo's international airport is at Katunayake.

Buses to Jaffna

There are several private bus services operating from Colombo to Jaffna, cost varies from 9,000 Rupees onwards for a person. The drive takes half a day to complete (9 hours +) following the A9 motorway which runs through the middle of Sri-Lanka.

By train

Before the escalation of the war there was a train service running from Colombo to Jaffna but now it only runs half way to Vavuniya from where you will have to get a bus towards Jaffna.

Tours and Getting around Jaffna

Once in Jaffna there are several modes of transport.

By auto (tuk-tuk)

these are three wheelers which are very common in south east asian countries. These are the quickest and probably the cheapest way to get around to places.

By bus

Public transport system available in Jaffna are the buses.

By Mini-Van

These are private hire mini-vans, best if you need transportation for the whole day.

Other

The locals get around on cycles and Mopeds, Cycling is not safe with the number of dogs on the street.

Jaffna tourist attractions and sightseeing

Kopaiy Maaveerar Thuyilum Illam

Nallur Temple

Selva Sannithi Temple

Nagapoosani Temple (Nainatheevu)

Jaffna Library

vaddu kannaki amman temple -vaddukoddai

Festivals

• Nallur Kovil Thaer Thiruvizha (Chariot Festival) This is one of the biggest festivals in Jaffna at the greatest temples in Sri-lanka. This is a feast for the senses while the faithful are praying and the chariot is being pulled through the temple grounds.

• Thai-Pongal (harvest festival) Thai Pongal happens on January 14th and it is the celebration of good harvest. There will be fireworks and celebrations all thorugh the day and night. All temples hold special Pongal poojas where people make pongal in front of the temple.

'*Theepavali' The festival of light.

Jaffna city tours

There isn't a lot to do on Jaffna unless you arrive at festival times. Nallur Kovil Thiruvizha (festival) is the biggest event in the Jaffna calendar when all the faithful come home to pray.

Jaffna souvenirs and shopping

Jaffna Restaurants: cheap, moderate and expensive

Jaffna nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs

The Local brew is toddy, from Coconut tree or the Palmyrah tree. Toddy from the Palmyrah tree is sweeter.

Jaffna cheap and luxurious hotels, youth hostels and lodging

Contact

Get out

This page was last edited by Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. Based on work by Denis Yurkin, David and gajen3@gmail.com, Wikitravel user(s) Morph and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. - Content on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 1.0 license