Janet's Journal

This time visiting Jaffna I travelled from Colombo on the Intercity Train leaving at 11.50 and arriving just after 6.30 that evening.  With a seat in second class reserved carriage I was able to have the big windows open and a cool breeze blowing through.

There is plenty to see in and around the town in walking distance.  Some of the streets still hint at the elegance of days gone by.

The fishing harbour has nets spread out drying along the road and colourful, shallow draft boats bob gently in the calm waters.

Goats, cows and dogs freely roam, miraculously avoiding traffic and people

Jaffna Fort   – A wealthy place during the Jaffna kings’ period (14^th– early 17^th century) used as a trading centre with ramparts built of soil.  The Portuguese built a four sided stone fort with rampart, corner bastions and moat.  In 1658 the Dutch captured it and converted it to a pentagon shape using lime and coral stones.  

The Fort covers 62 acres.  Inside the walls were artillery posts, a protestant church, a prison, the Queen’s house, and twenty one dug wells.  Three drawbridges span the moat.  In 1795 the British captured the fort, made a few renovations and used it as their administrative garrison and Governor’s residence. During the civil war it was the scene of several battles and sieges.  In the early 1990s the LTTE were in control and they destroyed several of the key buildings.  

The long slow process of renovation is underway. Standing on the walls looking across you get great views of the beautiful Jaffna Library and surrounding areas

Kruys Church – A Christian Church was built inside the Fort by the Portuguese.  The Dutch rebuilt it in the shape of a Greek Cross in 1706 with entrances through the north and south gates.  

The LTTE destroyed it along with other Dutch era buildings to prevent reoccupation.  A massive project is underway to reconstruct the church using as much of the original material as remains on site

Jaffna Public Library – The public library was opened in 1934 an impressive collection of more than 100,00 books and priceless ola leaf manuscripts.  Tragically it was burnt down by an anti Tamil mob in 1981 and all was lost.  

The Moghul style building was rebuilt and thousands of books donated, mainly by France and India.  In the garden is a statue of Reverend Long, the founder.  It is said he died on hearing of the destruction of the original library. In front of the entrance is a statue of Saraswati the Hindu goddess of knowledge with a tamoura

Clock Tower – Between the Fort and the Library stands the Clock Tower.  Designed in 1875 to commemorate the visit of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales.  Badly damaged in the 1980s it was renovated with help from the British Government after another Prince of Wales, Charles, visited.  Prince Charles donated the clocks and the Tower reopened in 2002.  One of the few clock towers I have seen in Sri Lanka with all four clocks telling the correct time!

The markets in the centre of town are full of colourful displays of sweets, snacks, spices, fruits and vegetables. 

 Mobile phone shops sit side by side with displays of exquisite textiles and clothes.Of course no trip to Jaffna should be without sampling the ice cream.  There are two specialist parlours to choose from.  The famous Rio Ice Cream near Nallur Kovil is always busy, if a little lacking in charm.  The other is Lingam which has two shops, one also near the kovil and the other in the centre of town.  

Purely for the purpose of research for this blog I did feel duty bound to sample offerings from them all and was not disappointed