Jaffna District

Jaffna District is the one of the districts of Sri Lanka and the highly populated District of Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The district which is famous for the Tamil culture, with no doubt populated with Tamils to 98%. Although other religions namely Christians, Buddhists, Muslims exist, Hinduism influences more in the district.

Geographical Location

Geographical coordinates – 9 40’ 0” N and 80 0’ 0” E.

As the Jaffna District is located in the upper most part of the Island, its geographical identification is significant. The district is further subdivided into four as,

• Thenmaradchi
• Vadamaradchi
• Valikamam
• And the islands of Jaffna.

The land of Jaffna District is almost flat and slope with maximum height of 15 – 8m above sea level. Although the land is rich in lime stone, a variety of soil is available for cultivation. As because of the existence of lime stones, the Jaffna District is blessed with the ground water source.

Climatic condition

As the Jaffna District is comes under the dry zone division of the country, normally the temperature differs from 26degree to 30degree Celcius. But the months of March to May records the highest temperature. The district experiences the 90% of precipitation by the end of year.

How to reach?

Reach by air – Although the District has an airport, there are no direct flights to it from out of Sri Lanka. Tourists / Passengers should get a flight from Colombo to Palali, where the airport of Jaffna District is based, to step into the Jaffna District by plane. Nearly it will take a half an hour journey from Colombo. Air Senok, FitsAir or former Expo air, Helitours, Millennium Airlines are the charter flights available to serve the passengers from Ratmalana, Trincomalee and Bandaranayake International airport.

By Road – Mainly three routes available to access the Jaffna District. By taking Puttalam – Anuradhapura road or Dambulla – Anuradhapura road or Puttalam – Mannar road, the passengers can reach Jaffna District. Public and private bus transportation services are available from other parts of the country. Other than that luxury and semi luxury bus / van services are available from main cities of Sri Lanka during the night times. The passengers can get a “rent a car” service from service providers to plan the route by themselves and to manage the public transport issues. It’s better to arrange the entertainments like film, music or playing cards as because it takes minimum 7hrs travelling time.

By Train – The train service is available between Colombo Railway and Jaffna railways stations daily. Nearly 3 or 4 services are provided for each day including a fully air-conditioned express train which reaches the Jaffna station by noon. The train travel time varies from 7 – 10 hrs, to train to train. Train seats can be served 30days prior to your journey and the rate per seat varies depending on the class type. As the trains are provided with buffet car, the passengers can be free from carrying water bottles / snacks and etc.

To do’s in Jaffna

As a traveller, one can enjoy the travelling of Jaffna District by visiting places. Religious places namely, Nallur Kanthaswamy Temple, Dambakolapatuna Sangamiththa Temple, Nainativu, Maviddapuram Kanthaswam Kovil, Tellipalai Thurgai Temple, Selva Sannithi Temple and Vallipuram Azhvar Temple are the best point out venues of Jaffna District for the visitors. Especially in the Month of August Jaffna is filled with more trippers, as  Nallur festive falls on this month.

Other than these, Jaffna Fort, Kantharodai, Nallur Rajadhani, Delft, Idikundu, Keerimalai Kerny, Nilavarai Bottomless Well, Jaffna Library, Sungupiddy New Bridge, Casuarina Beach, Fort Hammenhiel, Thalsevana resort are some extra additional venues for the Jaffna visitors. There is variety of restaurant; hotel and snack bars exist to serve the taste of Jaffna to the tourists. No one like to miss the Jaffna toddy and other palmyrah preparation when visit to the Jaffna district for the first time.