Hall Of Fame -Our History

Sanchare' was talented enough to receive The Presidential award for a consecutive period of 3 years. Without Ur helping hands i don't think v must have not succeeded the dream. Thanks you very much for making sanchare the No 1 programme.
- Nade Gura & D Nade -
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Jaffna Trip 02- jaffna town

Jaffna fort
The Jaffna fort, built in 1619 by the Portuguese Army to prevent enemy invasions from the sea, is a most popular site in Jaffna. The fort which was under "Yuan De Melo" during the reign of Portuguese was repaired by the Dutch in 1658 and Ian Vandelite was the officer in charge of the fort during the period of Dutch. The Dutch captured this fort from the Portuguese without much effort and the English, in their turn, captured the fort from Dutch in 1795. Though it is possible to walk around the Galle fort, it is not possible to walk around the Jaffna fort

Jaffna Library
Jaffna library which is still considered as the symbol of Jaffna, was established in 1935 and was completely destroyed by fire in 1981. The library was reconstructed and made open to the public again in 2004. Currently, the library has books worth around Rs 100 000.

The Jaffna library is open from 8.30 AM to 5.30 PM on everyday except for Mondays.

Jaffna Museum
The Jaffna museum, which is the home to many Sinhala and Tamil antiques, is open to public from 8.30 AM to 4.30 AM everyday except for Tuesdays.

Nallur Kovil
From jaffna town trip

The kovil is said to have been built by Prince Sapumal, under king Buwanekabahu who ruled Sri Lanka in 15thcentury. The Portuguese raised the kovil to the ground during their invasion in 1560 and king Sangili, the ruler of Jaffna at that time, had protected the celestial jewelry and other holy items, hiding them in a place about 01 Km off, in the road running to point Pedro.

The services are held at the kovil at 07.30 AM, 10.00 AM and 03.30 PM.

King Sangili
King Sangili is known as a warrior in the history and he is said to have protected Jaffna from all enemy invasions. The statue of a warrior on horseback, one will meet walking along the road before the Nallur Kovil, is believed to be a statue of King Sangili. Once the statue is passed, one will meet a huge gate, built by the Dutch and after the gate, the palace of king Sangili can be seen, bearing traits of a combination of Dutch and Indian architecture.

Naga Viharaya

Naga Viharaya, the only Buddhist temple in Jaffna, is situated in the Stanley road in Jaffna town. According to the history, king Devanampiyathissa and a group had been to Jaffna to receive Theri Sanghamiththa and the group bringing Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi's southern branch to Sri Lanka. On the group's way back to Anuradhapura, the king was requested by the 'Naga' tribesmen of Jaffna to let them keep the Bodhi tree branch with them for one week's time. Accordingly, the Bodhi branch had been planted in Jaffna for one week's time before it was finally brought to Anuradhapura.
It is this incident that is described in the famous verse used for worshipping the Bodhi,

"Dev lowa deviyan puda kala bodhiya,

Naa lowa sathiyak puda kala bodhiya"

Siri Vimala thero is the present incumbent of the Naga viaharaya.
Jaffna market
You can find the best Kotta kilangu, Palmyra jaggery, Palmyra yams, grape wine and Nelli crust at the Jaffna market. The most special is Jaffna ice cream, which is found only in Jaffna. 'Raja Ice Cream Parlor', 'Lingam Ice Cream Parlor and Rio Ice Cream Parlor are the most popular ice cream parlors in Jaffna. And for grapes and nelli crusts 'Arul Angram' is the best place in Jaffna.

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Jaffna Trip 03 -Out Of The Town



POINT PADRO , பருத்தித்துறை, පේදුරු තුඩුව

The point Pedro is at 432 Km distance from point Donra and most people coming to Jaffna and visiting Nagadeepa and Nallur kovil, like to visit point Pedro as well. Many of them like to take photographs at this beautiful place.

Dambakola Patuna

A text saying, "Lankeshwara Narendra, uttering merry words, got in to water with the people belonging to 16 different castes, bearing the maha bodhi on his head…" can be seen near the 'bodhi' at the entrance to Dambakola Patuna. The wonderful white sandy beach with dents in Dambakola Patuna is added more beauty by the bays making their way in to the land. Dambakola Patuna with its beautiful beach is a most suitable for anyone coming from India or any other country to land in and for us Sri Lankans it is an important place as it was here that Theri Sangamiththa landed in with the Sri Maha Bodhi plant. So it wouldn’t be wrong to call Dambakolapatuna the place through where Buddhism came to Sri Lanka.

Keerimali,கீரிமலை

The Keerimalai pond is situated in Keerimalai devala premises. The two ponds known as Keerimalai pond are just a few feet away from the sea but contain fresh water and even more surprisingly the water in these two ponds are blue in colour. There's a belief that it is the wall that separates the ponds from the sea that keeps their water fresh. The word 'Kiramalei' means the mountain of mongoose ('Kira' meaning mongoose and 'Malei' meaning the mountain)

According to the legend, a prince and a princess came to Sri Lanka from India and when they landed here their faces had turned to horse and mongoose faces as the result of a curse of gods. Later the prince's face had become normal again in the place called "Mawattapuram" while the princess' face turned normal after she bathed from the " Keerimalai" pond. The devala was later raised in respect of this miracle. The Hindus venerate this place with great respect and they float the ash of their cremated relatives in the sea near the pond. As they believe that the water in these ponds have the power to rejuvenate the old people and fertilize the infertile people. They venerate the ponds with such respect that some of the devotees can be seen worshipping the water as they get in to water. The Kiramalei pond was last repaired in 1969.

From jaffna out of the town


Kadurugoda temple
Route- if coming from Kiramalei, you have to turn to left from the 'Chunnakam' junction and go toward 'Sankani' to see the 'Kadurugoda' temple which is better known in the area as 'Kandarodei'.
According to the past records, there had been 60 stupas in this temple. The 60 stupas had been built to place the ash of 60 arhath theros from 'Punkudativ'. The Department of Archeology has found 56 of the stupas so far and thus the Kadurugoda temple bears a significant historical importance due to these archeological factors.

The well with no bottom.

The well with no bottom is situated in the Point Pedro- Puthur road and the well is so called because its bottom has not been discovered yet by any. There is a belief that the 'Kiramalei' pond is connected to this well beneath the ground. It is believed so as a lime, put in to this well once, had come up from the Kiramalei pond.

Casuarina beach
The beautiful shallow beach with sand was an extremely popular destination before the war. Paying just Rs 500, you can go on a boat ride in the sea near Casuarina beach.

Few of the places you can visit in Jaffna
Welikandu, Kodikaman kovil, Vallipuram stone inscription, Hanuman kovil are a few of the most popular sites in Jaffna. You can have accommodation facility at the rest house at Naga Viharaya. A single room can be taken at a price between Rs 300 to Rs 500 while a double room can be taken at Rs 750. In addition to that, there are several other places you can select to for accommodation.



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Jaffna Trip -Nagadipa and Delft Island-නාගදීපය, ඩෙල්ෆ් ,

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Nagadeepa

'Nagadeepa' is probably the recognized landmark in the Jaffna peninsula for the Southeners since Buddhists, the majority of the southerners believe that lord Buddha visited Nagadeepa during his second visit to the country. According to legend Lord Buddha visited the site to resolve a conflict between 'Naga' tribesmen who build the temple to honour the settlement.

Over time the temple which has been repaired by kings like Dhathusena, Saddhathissa, and Dutugemunu. But the temple was also destroyed periodically during various invasions. The most recent of such incidents occurred in 1958 when angry Tamil rioters broke down the statue of Lord Buddha, a present from Myanmar, and threw it to the sea. The statue was later retrieved from the sea bottom and was reinstalled at Kareinagar Army camp.

'Naagapushani Amman' kovil is the other important tourist attraction in Nagadeepa. As it is said in legends, the old god statue in this kovil emerged from the earth, thousands of years ago and Indian merchants who frequented Jaffna constructed this kovil. Contributors' board of Naagapushani Amman kovil hold a 'Dansela' to provide free lunch to Buddhist and Hindu pilgrims visiting Nagadeepa and the rest house there can provide accommodation to 200 people.
To reach Nagadeepa Island, one has to take a boat from Kites, Karikattuwan jetty. One passenger is charged only Rs 20 for this 30 Km tour which lasts nearly 20 minutes.


Delft Island

To reach Delft island , one can use Karikattuwan jetty where he can take the ferry (a large boat with motors) to the island free of charge. The boat which belongs to the Road Development Authority leaves the jetty at 09.00 AM and reaches Delft in about one hour. The boat leaves Delft at 03.00 PM.
The entrance to Delft is decorated by a huge pandol. One CTB bus operates in the island and if you intend to tour the island, you can use Lorries, land masters and three-wheelers also.
The island still bears evidence of its Portuguese, Dutch influence; there are two forts, one of which is built in Portuguese time while the other one was built during the Dutch period.
The Dutch Fort which was also used as a prison has very small rooms and 2 ½ feet thick walls.
In the past, pigeons served as the medium of communication between the islands and there still is a vast pigeon population in the Portuguese fort. Limestone can be seen everywhere in the island and walls surrounding the houses in the island have been raised with these stones. Delft, which has a population of about 5000 people, is the only place with this sort of walls.
The other important sight in this island is the "growing rock'. The 'growing rock', situated fenced around at a Devala premises, grows in size according to the islanders.
The Christians believe Adam left his footprints in the island. The island has the ruins of a few old temples as well.

Labugama and Kalatuwawa Reservoirලබුගම ජලාශ, කලටුවාව ජලාශය

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As you progress along the Colombo-avissawella main road, you shall find the kaluaggala junction from which when you take a turn to the left and go on for a mere 14km, it will lead you to the labugama tank. This place of great beauty is also a place of great importance as it gives the life form for the country’s commercial capital’s water needs.
As the people have brought forward the story behind the great existence of the tank, from their ancestors, it was the Prince of Wales in 1875 who had proposed this tank and showed the feasibility of satisfying Colombo’s water requirement from Labugama. And thus, the construction of the tank commenced in 1882.
By 1886 the tank was able to commence the flow of water to Colombo and it holds a remarkable capacity of 1960 million gallons of water. It provides 16% of Colombo’s water requirement.
So, how does one find water for a tank; you find a reliable source such as the Kelani River, go along the course till it branches off to create the Wak Oya and place the tank at the tip of this brook. The Labugama province receives approximately 3000ml of water with the monsoon rains and with that you have the story behind water for the tank.