Kanneliya rain forest is just one of the Galle's many landmarks to discover. Tourists whom are seeking adventure based tourism locations in Sri lanka tour the Kanneliya rain forest. Probably it is more appropriate for a natural bath, Hiking, waterfalls and beautiful landscapes. It is a low land forest extends about 5306 ha.
Galle is consisted of 3 major forest reservation complexes. Namely Kanneliya, Dediyagala and Nakiyadeniya(KDN Complex). Kanneliya rain forest located about 36 km to the northeast from Galle. And also it is tropical rain forest in galle district. The mean annual rainfall is around 3750 mm. Kanneliya forest is well enriched with bio diversity. It may be second listed just because of the Sinharaja Forest.
‘Gin ganga’ river is the main water supplement to the Kanneliya forest. Multitudes of endemic plants are preserved in the forest. As the forest is comprised with many attractions, you don’t have to investigate whole the area as they can be reached easily. The Anagimale fall is just 2km from the entrance.
By the way several forest conservation projects are carrying out to preserve this natural diversity. Hence ward the forest department is also supporting them. Due to a reforestation program carried out in early 1970’s has recovered a little. It is evident that once you harmed to the environment it takes more time to be recovered.
December to February is the most suitable months to travel as it gets the highest rain fall. Usually the streams are running with their full force of water through the jungle and create beautiful cascades and sceneries. It will make you sense. You can bath in cool natural streams. Eventually it will energize you. Somehow you will have to take care of leechs. Bring some lime with you and if you are beaten, put few drops on the leech and it will leave you at once.
Some of the popular pools located at the forest are the natural pool behind the Kanneliya forest resort, the pool in front of the Kanneliya conservation centre (KCC) and the pool behind the KCC. Tourists looking for hiking are encouraged to visit the forest during the months of March or April as it may get reduced the rain fall.
There are two traces used for hiking. You can select either route to Kabbale Mountain or the route through ‘Narangas’ ella. The gigantic ‘Navada’ tree is on the same way. A panoramic view of the entire area can be entertained at the top of the Kabbale hill. The light filtered through the forest canopy and tree leaves is unmemorable.
Would you like to go Kanneliya Rain Forest ? Please E-mail your comment in the my mail box below, ( basuratravels@gmail.com ) I can help you it. Thank you! If you like this blog post, or find it useful, please share it on social media!
Jaffna Fort was originally built by the Portuguese by the Jaffna lagoon in the year1618 under Philip De Olivera after Portuguese capturing the Northern Kingdom. It was surrounded by man made water passage except a small land route, where its entrance was guarded with massive wooden doors.
There are well planned fortresses to attack the on coming enemies on the lower ground with out much damage to the forces in side of the fort. Later in 1658 the Kingdom was captured by the Dutch under Raiclop Van Goins. The fort was made larger in to a complex where Church, prison, rest house and other buildings were built. In 1795 it was captured by the British and was kept under them till the Independence in the year 1948.
During the 30 years conflict period this place was targeted many times and many of its buildings were badly damaged.
As per today it is under renovation with the Dutch Government's assistance and the complex stays with the Governor's residence, Queen's House, the Garrison Parade Ground, Police quarters and several buildings from the Portuguese era.
It is located near to the Jaffna bus stand and the famous Jaffna library. You can walk over there and have a look around it in the morning or in the evening as the day time may be hot to enjoy the views.
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Jaffna public library is today seen as a tourist destination for Sri Lanka citizens rather than a real library used to increase the knowledge of the human beings. The reason was burning down of it in the year 1981 with large and rare collection of 95,000 books and works.. It was the largest library in the South East Asia and went in to ashes due to arson. Later it was built again and is serving the local community through its services. Lot of young students visits there to read and get reference from the available books.
On the other hand this place now had become as a tourist destination and nearly all the foreign tourist and people from the South to flock here to what it is really looks like. The massive white building is being photographed by them while standing in front it as to keep it as souvenir from their trip to the Jaffna.
If you like to take photo graph of the building it is better to be there before the noon as the evening sun will send light direct to your camera and shades will fall on your face.
Near to this library are Jaffna Central College, Dutch Fort, Subramaniam Park and Jaffna District Courts are located. The A9 road which was earlier known as Kandy road starts near to it. On the left side of it stands the Jaffna lagoon which can be seen from the top of the library. Right to the Jaffna library is the affna municipal council's open air stage where musical and cultural events to take place on special days.
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Remaining of the Jaffna king's Royal Palace and ancient bathing pool are still available for to see at the Nallur district. It is not a bigger area for you to view, but it stands as the monument of the last Tamil king who ruled the Yarlpana Kingdom where the capital was Nallur and the business city was Yarlpana Pattinam. Pattinam means the town located next to the sea and the Pattanam means the city located surrounded by land in Tamil. For example Kandy town is called as Kandy Pattanam in Tamil.
On the Point-Pedro road after passing the Nallur temple you can view Sangilean Thoopu where the remaining of the King's palace entrance and behind it you can view the perfectly constructed Yamuna aree which was the King's official bath place. From there on the same road you can go to view the minister's building which is called as Manthiri Maligai. It is well built building and remains in good condition.
You can reach this destination with any vehicle or with public transport system from the Jaffna town. Many people used to visit there by riding a bicycle or with motor cycle. it is best time to visit on any day at day light time.
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Nainativu - Nagadeepa - is an Island in the northern province of Sri Lanka where you can find historical Hindu temple devoted to goddess Nagapoosani Amman and popular Buddhist temple Naga Vihara too. The ancient Hindu temple was destroyed by the Colonial Portuguese in 1620 CE and later it was restored in the year restored in the year 1788. The Island is just 35 KM from the southern cost of India where people from there used to visit here till the passport system was introduced here.
Now the temple is run by a trust board, who used to be selected by election and they look after the daily poojas festival and maintenance of the temple. Everyday thousands of devotees used to come over here to worship the Amman God and the Buddah in the vihara. After the war has ended lot of Sinhala people too are coming here for worshiping.
If you want to visit this historical Island you must start your journey from the Jaffna central bus stand. The distance from the Jaffna bus stand to the Kurikattuvan Jetty is around 30 Km where the ticket price is Rs 80/- per person. There are boat service operating between Kurikattuvan and Nainativu. The boat service currently operates only in the day light time only. SL Rs. 30/- will be charged as boat fare. A larger passenger boat with lot of passenger transport capacity is available for Rs 50/- per head.
Take note there are boat services to other islands Delft, Analaitivu and eluvaitivu too from there. So check the destination of the boat before you board.
You can travel up to the jetty with van service or with private car.
In side of the temple people are not allowed to wear footwear and men are requested to remove their shirts and banians. Photographing inside of the temple is not allowed.
The island has a rest house where 200 people can stay comfortably. Lunch is served free as Annathanam by the Nagapoosani Amman trusty at the Amirthasurabi hall everyday. If you like you too can donate for this cause to help people to get free food. Tamil people who are living all over the world used to donate money and food stuff to this society to provide free rice and curry for the travelers.
This not a place for enjoyment and relax it is totally a religious village where nearly 3,000 people make it as their home. Very hot sun and white sand with little number of shady trees are too available around this Island.
For around Rs.500/- you can make a full round of the village through a three wheeler (tuk tuk) while there is a Government bus is servicing the common people.
Most of the people start their journey from Jaffna at around 6.00 AM and can reach the Jetty and stay in queue to get the boat service and in the evening they come back from the Island by 2.00 PM boat and reach Jaffna town around 4.00 PM.
If you are going to visit the island don't forget to wear white color loose clothing to with stand the hot sun and carry umbrella, cap and enough water to satisfy your thirst. Also mineral water is available for sale in small plastic bottles at small vendors in the island.
You can purchase coral and different kinds of beautiful conches over there. You can see them placed on a table for sale on the small jetty paths. If you don't see the seller look for him under the table as he may be sleeping over there, to escape the hot sun.
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Here you can find some of the Buddhist religious symbols which was practised by the ancient Tamil people.
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Casuarina beach is located in Karainagar in the Jaffna District. It is around 20 kilometers from the Jaffna town and it can be reached by well maintained road.. It will take nearly around 45 minutes of travel from the Jaffna town to reach the beach. You can use your own vehicle if you want to stay there till late hours.
Otherwise you can use the public or private bus where the fare is very low price.
This Beach in Karainagar is also called and written as Casoorina, Cashoorina and few other variants. This is one of the best known beach in the Jaffna distract and lot of people visit here on Sundays and holidays. There is not much bigger waves striking at the shore and it allows tourists to walk far deep in to the sea or to swim around without any fear. There is lots of Casuarina trees around the beach which offer you shade, if you want to escape from the burning sun while at the beach.
As it is located in a remote area you have to bring all the necessary things that you may need for you and your children while you are spending time there at this place.
This area is in the tropical region although it gets rain during the December season only. So you can have fun over there all the other months without the worry of the local climate. Watch out the month of April provides very hot sun in this area.
You can communicate with the visitors in Tamil language in this area and if you don't know Tamil, don't worry you can speak in English as most of them can communicate in English as their second language. People are very friendly over here. If you don't know swimming you can ask the local people to assist you by providing two fully dried coconut knotted between with short rope.
You can slip the coconuts through your armpit and can float in the sea as it will kep you floating in the sea. This is a popular method for starters at this calm sea to learn swimming.
After the sea bath in this sea you will feel very hungry and you can see that your skin turned in to dark color due to the sun light.
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Chaaty beach is one of the beautiful beaches in Sri Lanka with white sand and shallow water. You can walk in to the sea up to 10 meters and there after you can start to swim towards deeper part. The sea turns in to beautiful color according to sun light where the color can be blue to green.
There are no hotels available in the vicinity but the Jaffna town is not far from it. This beach is located in the Mankumban area next to the Kayts road. When you are going to visit there take all the necessary things with you as there are less shops available in this area.
It is better to visit this beach early morning or in the evening as the sun is very hot and can make you tired very quickly. You can visit there by vehicle, motorbike and bicycle or by public transport. If you travel by public transport some time you may have to walk some distance if the bus is not along the cross route.
There are some small resting places built by the Government for the benefit of visiting tourists and general public.
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Keerimalai is popular for its natural pond with fresh water just on the beach near to Kankesanthurai harbor. Only a wall is separating this fresh water pond from the Indian Ocean. The fresh water pond is the spiritual pool of the near by located Naguleswaram Sivan temple. There is a beach adjoining it but it is full of coral and not suitable for swimming unless you have to go deep sea to swim. There are two walled ponds where one is for men and the other one is for women. Women bathing pond is built with high rise wall for privacy of the bathing women.
There is no dress changing point for the men although there is a small open air building where you can keep your things from the vicinity of the pond.
On full moon days the pond may have sea water mixed with its fresh water causing salty taste. Keerimalai can be reached by bus or by any vehicle within one hour of travelling from the Jaffna Town.
Actually the pond is famous for its healing power where and Indian princess got cured her horse looking face in to human one.
According to Wikipedia article -
"Ma means horse; vidda means removed; and puram is holy city. Maviddapuram is the holy city where the horse face of the Chola Princess Maruthapuraveegavalli changed to a human face when she prayed to Lord Naguleswara of Keerimalai and took bath in the holy theertha (water) of the temple with the advice of the Saint Nagula. This is the place where the famous Maviddapuram Kandaswamy temple is found. The statue of the God Muruga is presented by the above the Chola princess, making it in her own country. The old name of the place is Kovil Kadavai, which was changed into Maviddapuram after the above event."
Maviddapuram - Wiki
Naguleswaram Temple:
Naguleswaram temple is historically known as the Thirutambaleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai is a famous Hindu temple in located near Jaffna of Northern Province, Sri Lanka. The Naguleswaram temple is situated adjacent to the mineral water springs. The legendary sage Nagula Muni, shrunk by age and austerity while meditating at a cave in Keerimalai was likened to mongeese that frequented the area. The sage bathed in the springs and was cured of his mongoose face. In gratitude, Nagula Muni constructed a small shrine and worshipped the Lingam enshrined there. This became the Naguleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai alluding to the sage.
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- Neduntivu Island. (Delft Island)
Neduntivu Island is popular for its feral ponies and remains of a 1000 year old ancient temple built by the Chola Dynasty, as well as the ruins of a Dutch colonial fort built as a guard point, they named it with the Dutch town name Delft, as they did to the other islets over here. If you happened to visit to Nainatheevu Island then it is easy to travel from there to this island where small number of Tamil families living with the presence of the SL armed forces.
Important places to visit.
Portuguese Fort :
This fort is used to defend the northern part of Sri Lanka from the invading forces and to promote their export and import businesses during the Portugues ruling here.
Baobab Tree :
Don't miss this African origin tree in the island.
Banyan :
A wide open banyan tree which extends its canopy over a large area.
Quindah Tower :
This tower used to be a mariner's support.
Wild Horses :
Lot of wild horses are there. Actually they were from the Protuguese rule over this island where you can find the old stables too here.
Sarapiddy :
This is the place for water source for the whole island.
Foot Print :
Large footprint that measures nearly a metre.
Old Stables :
Stables in Sarapiddy were said to be built by Englishman Nolan. Now you can see the remaining of its only.
Pigeon Nest (Delft Island)
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The Nallur Temple in Jaffna is a Hindu temple. This is one of the most important temples in the Jaffna Peninsula and the most well-known. Main deity of the temple is Lord Murugan. The Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil is situated on Point-Pedro road in the Nallur place of the city.
Point Pedro is a town, located in Jaffna District at the northernmost point of the island.
Cotton is produced around Point Pedro in the fertile calcic red latosol soils. The eastern coast of Point Pedro forms a 3 mile wide, 20 mile long beach with sand dunes up to 100 feet high, extending to Thalayady.
The name of the town in Tamil is 'Paruthithurai', which translates to 'Cotton Harbour'. It has exported cotton to South India for centuries.
Hotel Jaffna offers information on accommodation, food and interesting places in the Jaffna town, Jaffna district and in Sri Lanka. Currently there are no 5 star hotels in this town. Although there are some star class hotels functioning to serve the foreign dignitaries and tourists who want to make this town as one of their top tourist destination. Recently it was announced that a new hotel named Hotel Nallur and will be constructed soon with 80 rooms and facilities at a cost of 400 million rupees in Jaffna.
Many small hotels, lodges, motels and Inns are available for you to stay comfortably around the town with good facilities. Most of the Hotels and Lodges offer A/C and simple rooms, hot water shower, breakfast, lunch, dinner, telephone, internet and Wi-Fi.
Some hotels are located just in the heart of the city while many of them are located around the outer city. You can find motels which are offering ample parking facility. Also if it is necessary, they provide cheap lodging facility for your driver too at low price.
Nallur which is part of this region is another place where you can find lodging with dining facility. Here most of them offer European style rooms with breakfast. It is better to make advance booking, if you are going to visit there during the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple festival season.
Most of the hotels offer local transport service with or without A/C for their customers at an affordable rate. You can hire or self drive Japanese cars and vans for transport around the district from your accommodation providers.
Visitors can get vegetarian and Non-vegetarian meals from their hosts. Most of the people reside here are Hindus and they don't eat non-veg food around the month of August as they used to celebrate their local temple festivals. There are many top class restaurants that can offer you Eastern, Western and popular Srilanka dishes in good atmosphere. Fresh vegetables fresh fruits, freshly brought seafood and high standard meat are available for you from them.
Jaffna is famous for its untouched virgin silver sand beaches, golden sand beaches around Indian ocean and lagoons, Palmyra trees and their products, fresh seafood and local traditional dishes.
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Would you like to go This Tour? Please E-mail your comment in the my mail box below, ( basuratravels@gmail.com ) I can help you it. Thank you! If you like this blog post, or find it useful, please share it on social media!
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