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Jaffna

Jaffna District is the northernmost region of Sri Lanka, and one of the oldest inhabited places on the island. It is populated mainly by Tamil speaking people. Wikivoyage

Population 88,138 (Wikidata)

Live guide From your hotel

Before you go

Emergency numbers in Sri Lanka

Visas and entry What your passport needs for Sri Lanka

Getting there

Remembered in this browser only, with the last few you used.

Best-documented sights

All of them in the guide

Within a kilometre of the centre, ordered by how well documented each is — not by a "best" anyone decided. Each opens on the map in the guide. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited there.

Through the year

  1. Thai-Pongal (harvest festival)

    January

    Thai-Pongal (harvest festival) every January 14th the harvest is celebrated with fireworks and celebrations all through the day and night. All temples hold special Pongal poojas where people make pongal in front of the temple

  2. Nallur Kovil Thaer Thiruvizha (Chariot Festival)

    July – August

    Nallur Kovil Thaer Thiruvizha (Chariot Festival) 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.

Annual events from Wikidata and Wikivoyage (Jaffna); descriptions from Wikipedia where it has one, photos from Wikimedia Commons. Dates move year to year — check before you plan around one.

Somewhere to run

Getting around

More train stations: Punkankulam 4.2 km, Kondavil 5.6 km

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Places © OpenStreetMap contributors, as of 9 October 2026. Description from Wikivoyage (CC BY-SA). Events from Wikidata and Wikivoyage, population from Wikidata.