Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil

The great Hindu temple of Jaffna, dedicated to Lord Murugan, and the spiritual heart of Tamil Sri Lanka. The gopuram — the towering ornate gate tower — rises above the surrounding streets in a cascade of painted deities and intricate carvings that makes it visible from well across the neighbourhood of Nallur, just east of the city centre.

Daily rituals take place at fixed times, and the temple is at its most atmospheric in the early morning and early evening when the priests conduct pujas with fire, flowers, and drumming. Non-Hindus are welcome to enter but must remove shoes and men must remove shirts before going inside. The annual 25-day Nallur Festival is one of the largest Hindu festivals in South Asia — if you are in the region in July or August and can time your visit, this is worth going well out of your way for.

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The original temple was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1620, then rebuilt by the Dutch, and eventually demolished again. What stands today was largely constructed from the 19th century onward, yet it feels ancient — the daily rituals, the chariot processions, and the annual 25-day festival in July–August draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. During the festival, male devotees pierce their bodies with metal skewers as an act of devotion and walk the processional route in states of apparent trance.