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Free of terrorism:
Jaffna comes alive
by Shirajiv SIRIMANE
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The historic Nallur
Kovil |
Jaffna, which was a sleepy town under the siege of terrorism for the
past three decades, is now repositioning itself to be one of the busiest
and most developed cities outside Colombo.
Jaffna was a self-sufficient and a well-developed city before
terrorism took away its glory and also the self-respect of the people.
But today after the ending of the war, rapid development is taking
place that has put a fresh leaf of hope among the people.
Condominium developers, enterprisers looking to build star hotels,
engage in power supply, and other infrastructure projects are underway.
While the business community and government is focusing on the
development of Jaffna, the Tamils in Colombo along with the Tamil
Diaspora which is estimated to be over 2 million are looking at
revisiting the peninsula after almost three decades in the coming days
to attend the historic Nallur Kandasamy Kovil grand festival which
concludes on August 17.
Built in 1749 Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil or Nallur Murugan Kovil is one
of the most significant Hindu temples in the Jaffna District of Sri
Lanka.
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A Heli Tours aircraft
that plies the Colombo-Palali sector |
Due to political reasons the temple was shifted from place to place
in Nallur. Interestingly, many temples have been built in Europe and
North America by the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora, using the same name as a
cultural heritage.
While Catholics in the country are expected to flock the Shrine of
Our Lady of Madhu by the thousands for the annual feast, thousands of
Hindus’ in the Jaffna peninsula, who were thwarted by the LTTE in
exercising their religious rights for several decades, will flock to the
historic Nallur Kandasamy Kovil to pay homage with a free mind.
The unofficial curfew imposed at nighttime till clearing out
operations by security forces are completed, will be lifted during the
kovil festival to enable the devotees to freely exercise their religious
rights.
Security authorities claim that there is no fear of threat at present
in the peninsula and troops are stationed only to strengthen the
security of the people, the government information department web site
said.
Sri Lanka Tourism has also taken a lead in promoting the event
globally mainly targeting the Tamil Diaspora.
“This is the first time that the Nallur Festival is being celebrated
with peace prevailing in the country,” said Faizer Mustapha, Minister of
Tourism Promotion.
“After the successful eradication of terrorism from Sri Lanka, Hindu
devotees are finally being able to perform their religious rights
without any hassle,” he said adding that last year over 50,000 attended
the event and this year over 100,000 are expected. He said that Director
General S. Kaleyselvam would be visiting UK next week to talk about the
arrangements for the event. “He would also visit kovils in UK to promote
the festival,” he said.
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Minister Mustapha, Director General -
Sri Lanka Promotions Bureau, Dilip Mudadeniya, Director Sri
Lanka Tourism, Kaleselvam and Wing Commodore Dayal Wijeratne
at a press briefing. |
Minister said that it was Defence Secretary, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa who
suggested to promote the Nallur festival to the Tamil Diaspora and the
response has been very good.
Minister Mustapha, with a delegation from the Tourism Ministry and
tourism industry, visited Jaffna last week to develop and promote the
tourism and hotel industry in the peninsula ahead of the festival.
“We will also provide training to hotel staff in Jaffna from the
Colombo Hotel School in a bid to increase standards,” he added.
“Sri Lanka Tourism, as an initiative to promote religious and
cultural tourism, has spearheaded the promotion of the historic Nallur
Festival, particularly among the Tamil Diaspora, which was encouraged to
come with their families and participate in the festivities,” said
Director General Sri Lanka Promotions Bureau, Dilip Mudadeniya.
“For the first time the event would be also marketed internationally
at all the international fairs in the future to attract tourists as
well,” he said.
Aerial route has been the best option to travel to Jaffna. However,
the two private domestic airline operators, Expo Aviation and Air Deccan,
which operate around three flights per day, are not in a position to
meet the demand of providing seats to Jaffna.
“Sri Lanka Air Force has taken the initiative to launch three flights
a day to Jaffna to ease the burden,” he said.
Minister said that the two private domestic operators too have been
very cooperative and are ready to increase flights according to the
demand.
“They have all agreed to offer a return air ticket at Rs. 17,500
which is very economical,’ he said.
Wing Commodore Dayal Wijeratne said that tickets for Heli Tours could
be purchased from the Air Force office opposite TransAsia Hotel, and
very soon these would be sold on the net and through travel agents.
In action, Heli Tours will operate weekly flights to both Trincomalee
and Sigiriya mainly to attract local and international tourists.
Air Force has also launched a Colombo Airport to Colombo City
transfer service and opened a counter for this purpose at the Colombo
Airport.
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Heli Tours counter at
the Colombo airport |
Heli Tours also plans to launch passenger flights to Weerawila,
Koggala and Ampara soon.
Enriched island
Jaffna District, the northernmost region of the Island of Sri Lanka,
is one of the oldest habitation sites in Lower South Asia, populated by
Tamil speaking people. Jaffna also known as Yarl Paanam is situated in
close proximity to the sub-continent of India and separated from it by
the Palk Strait and the Bay of Bengal.
The peninsula is actually almost an island; only the narrow causeway
known as Elephant Pass - for once elephants did wade across the shallow
lagoon here connects Jaffna with the rest of Sri Lanka. Jaffna is low
lying; much of it covered by shallow lagoons, and has a number of
interesting islands dotted offshore. In all it covers 2560 square km
(999 square miles). With just under 900,000 inhabitants, the district of
Jaffna was one of the most densely populated areas of Sri Lanka, second
only to Greater Colombo.
Jaffna has it all, friendly people, a rich culture, salubrious
climate and a picturesque environment go to make it a veritable
traveller’s paradise. Now that the guns have fallen silent and peace is
in sight, domestic tourism in this long forgotten northern retreat is
gradually catching on. After almost 20 years, travellers now can reach
Jaffna either by land or air.
The flight, from Colombo to Jaffna, is just under one hour and is
quite enjoyable as the plane does not travel at too high an altitude.
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