Jaffna

Jaffna is the capital of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, on the Jaffna peninsula at the island’s northern tip, with the Jaffna Lagoon to its west and south. Most of its people are Sri Lankan Tamils, and the town mixes Hindu temples, churches, a colonial fort and a food culture built on seafood and the palmyra palm.

Is Jaffna for you?

Go if you want to see Tamil Hindu temple life and festivals, walk a large colonial fort, take ferries out to the islands and eat food you won’t find in the south.

Think twice if you only have a few days in Sri Lanka: Jaffna is a long way north, around eight hours by train from Colombo, and it works best with at least two or three nights.

Jaffna Fort

The Portuguese built the first fort here early in the 17th century. The Dutch captured it in 1658 and rebuilt it as a five-sided fort; the British took it over in 1795 and kept a garrison here until 1948. Inside stood the governor’s residence, the Queen’s House and a parade ground. The fort was badly damaged during the civil war and is now being restored. Recent visitors (2025) report a ticketed entrance and walks along the ramparts and moat, with some areas closed for restoration work. Our Jaffna Fort guide covers its history and what you can see.

Nallur Kandaswamy Temple

Jaffna’s best-known Hindu temple, Nallur Kandaswamy Temple, is dedicated to the god Murugan. The present temple was built in 1734, during Dutch rule, and is known for keeping strictly to its puja times. Men enter bare-chested, a rule the temple has kept for decades. Its annual festival lasts about 25 days, usually starting in July or August, and ends with the chariot procession and the water-cutting ceremony.

The public library

The white Jaffna Public Library, run by the Jaffna Municipal Council, is one of the town’s landmarks. On the night of 31 May to 1 June 1981, during violence in Jaffna, the library was set on fire; most accounts blame members of the police and a mob. Its collection, including rare Tamil books and manuscripts, was largely destroyed, and many of the old manuscripts were never replaced. The library has since been rebuilt. In December 2016 Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe apologised in Parliament, saying the library had been burnt during a United National Party government in 1981.

The islands: Nainativu and Delft

Ferries to the islands west of Jaffna leave from Kurikadduwan jetty on Punkudutivu, which is linked to Jaffna by road. Sailings depend on the weather and the boats, so start early and check locally.

• Nainativu: a small island with two important shrines, the Hindu Nagapooshani Amman Kovil and the Buddhist Nagadeepa Purana Viharaya, where tradition says the Buddha settled a dispute between two Naga princes.
• Delft (Neduntheevu): about an hour by ferry, named after the Dutch city by Rijckloff van Goens. It is known for its feral ponies, descendants of horses brought in colonial times, for houses fenced with stacked coral stone, for baobab trees and for the ruins of a Dutch fort.
• Casuarina Beach: no ferry needed. Karaitivu is joined to the peninsula by the Ponnalai causeway, and its long beach has sea that stays shallow a long way out, which makes it good for paddling with children.

Food

Jaffna’s cooking leans on the sea and the lagoon. Look out for odiyal kool, a seafood broth with crab, fish, prawns and vegetables, thickened with flour made from palmyra roots, and nandu sodhi, the Jaffna-style crab curry. Odiyal itself, dried palmyra tuber, is a traditional snack on the peninsula.

Getting there

• By train: the Northern Line runs from Colombo Fort through Jaffna to Kankesanthurai. Cyclone Ditwah damaged the line in late November 2025; after repairs funded by an Indian grant, the Jaffna Intercity and the Night Mail returned on 9 April 2026, and the Yal Devi came back on 11 May 2026. Reserved seats can be booked on the official Sri Lanka Railways booking site.
• By air: Jaffna International Airport is at Palaly, north of the town. IndiGo flies there from Chennai, and since March 2025 from Tiruchirappalli. In September 2026 the government said it was working to set up scheduled flights from Colombo.
• By road: Jaffna is at the northern end of the A9 highway from Kandy.

Sources: srilanka.travel (northern sri lanka), tourismnorth.lk (jaffna fort), tourismnorth.lk (nallur kanthaswamy kovil), srilanka.travel (index.php), srilanka.travel (index.php), en.wikipedia.org (Jaffna), en.wikipedia.org (Jaffna Fort), en.wikipedia.org (Jaffna Public Library), en.wikipedia.org (Burning of the Jaffna Public Library), dailymirror.lk, en.wikipedia.org (Nallur Kandaswamy temple), sundaytimes.lk (nallur temple a powerful legacy…), sundaytimes.lk (why modi did not visit…), themorning.lk (jaffnas iconic temple nallur kandaswamy), en.wikipedia.org (Nainativu), en.wikipedia.org (Delft Island), ft.lk, en.wikipedia.org (Odiyal), newswire.lk (northern line train services to…), newswire.lk (northern railway line services resume…), newsfirst.lk, themorning.lk (bXqMpSZu5CCtv0Hkfxvj), english.newsfirst.lk, newswire.lk (seat reservations open for resumed…), en.wikipedia.org (Jaffna International Airport), sundaytimes.lk (new financing to boost jaffna…), tamilguardian.com and recent visitor reports. Header photo: Rehman Abubakr / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Last checked 2 October 2026