This is my Vlog of our Srilanka Yatra which we completed this month. Its a bit lengthy, and hence I have also attached a pdf file of the same, which you can download and read any time.
Your feedback amd comments are welcome.
Ram Ram
Srilanka Yatra – 2026.
With the Blessings of Mahaperiyava, we embarked on a Sacred Yatra to Sri Lanka by the end of January’2026, with Mantra Yatra Travels, Chennai.
For quite a long time I was planning to visit the Five Shiva-Kshetras which were glorified as Pancha-Ishwarams.
Atleast three of them were mentioned in the Thevaram songs.
I found that Mantra-Travels had such an itinerary, including those Holy Places associated with Ramayana.
And we immediately booked our seats for the same..
**************************
A Word about Mantra Travels.
Mantra Travels is run by Sri Balaji Davey, and he has been conducting group tours for more than a decade now.
He has regular clients for all is tours and takes only a limited number of persons.
His planning and execution of each such tours was simply amazing.
Food, Stay and Travel was not only excellent, but every aspect was time-bound and planned to perfection.
Our group was predominantly filled with Senior citizen.
We were a total of sixty people and were accommodated two buses.
Every one of us enjoyed the Blissful Yatra to the Land of Ravana.
In one word, the Yatra was a ‘Soul-Stirring Journey’.
***************************
Contact :-
Mantra Yatra - https://mantrayatra.com/
Balaji Davey - +91 9840188430
+91 9840988430
****************************
Now a Few Words, about Srilanka.
Now, on to our actual Journey.
Day-1
We, a total of 60 Yatris, started by the Srilankan Airlines, at 9.45 am, which was late by 30 minutes on that day.
Balaji had arranged for a packed breakfast for all the Yatris.
We landed at Colombo Airport by 11.15 am.
We completed all the airport formalities and boarded the two buses waiting for us.
After a short travel we halted for lunch.
After a travel for two and half hours, we reached the Munneswaram temple, the first and the largest of the five Shiva-Sthalams of Srilanka.
It is said that Lord Rama, on landing in Srilanka for the war with Ravana, worshipped this Shiva first. (Munne = Earlier).
It is a beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, who is known as ‘Munnai-Natha Swamy, and the Devi is known as ‘Vadivambikai’.
Though there are no Thevaram Songs for this temple, this is one of the most popular Siva Temples of Srilanka.
The Portuguese invaded this temple in the fifteenth century and destroyed the temple completely.
Later the famous Sinhalese King, Rajasinghe reconstructed this temple.
The present one was re-constructed by a devotee Sri Kumaraswami Guruji, in the nineteenth century.
There are shrines for Ganesha, Devi, Murugan one for Lord Buddha, in this temple.
After a Blissful Darshan at this temple, we moved on.
Next stop was the Maanavari (Manal-Vaari-Piditha-Lingam) temple, which houses the Sand-Lingam created by Lord Rama, for curing His Brahma Hatthi Dosham, which he got afflicted after killing Ravana.
There are only two temples where Lord Rama had created/worshipped Shiva in Sand-Shivalinga form.
One is at Rameswaram and the next one is at Manavari.
Here the Lord is called as Ramalingam, and the Devi is known as Parvathi Devi.
The Sea is right in front of the Temple in Rameswaram, and in Maanavari it is behind the Shiva Temple.
Though there are no Thevaram songs for this temple, since it is associated with Lord Rama, it gains a lot of significance.
After spending considerable time in the Spiritual Atmosphere of the temple, we resumed our journey.
After another 2 ½ hour journey we reached our hotel, Alakamanda, at Anuradhapura by 8.30 pm.
We had a sumptuous Dinner and hit the bed, in our comfortable room.
*****************
Day-2
We all started after breakfast, by our bus, and reached Thiru-Ketheeswaram by 10.30.
It is said that this deity, was regularly worshipped by Mandothari Devi, spouse of Ravana.
This Great Temple, venerated by the Tamils, right from Treta Yoga, was razed to the ground by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century and its existence was almost forgotten by the locals.
It was in the nineteenth century that Arumuga Navalar, a great Saivite scholar and religions reformer of Srilanka, planned the grand restoration of this Holy Shrine.
Appar, Sambandar, and Sundarar have glorified this temple in their Thevaram Hymns.
The Lord is called ‘Thiru Ketheeswara Swamy’ and the Goddess as ‘Parvathy Devi’.
The Paalavi Theertham is a huge lake, recently restored, which is about 500 metres away from the temple.
The devotees take water from Paalavi Theertha Karai and perform the Abishekam to a lingam (Mahalingam), installed behind the main shrine.
There are also Shrines for various deities, in the temple.
This temple is open from 7 am to 7 pm.
Next, we visit Thiruvasaga Aranmanai at Sivabhoomi, near Jaffna.
The presiding deity of this Temple-cum-Library is Lord Dakshina Murthy.
The image is quite huge.
Behind it is a huge Sivalingam seated on a beautifully carved Ratham, with water surrounding the Ratham in a moat like structure.
Saint Manikkavachagar stands near the Sivalingam in a Worshipful pose.
108 Sivalingams surround these two central Shrines.
All along the wall, Thiruvachagam verses have been carved on slabs and affixed.
In one place of the hall, Siva Puranam in Thiruvachagam has been engraved in nine different languages.
After lunch, we started moving towards Jaffna.
The Naga-Pooshani Amman Temple on an island is one of the 51 Sakthi-Peetams, where the anklets (Golusu) of the Devi fell.
It is situated on the third island from the mainland.
While two islands are connected by road, the third island, which houses the temple, has to be reached only by a ferry.
It was an enjoyable drive through the first two islands with the ocean on both sides of the road, and the boat-ride to the temple was equally mesmerising.
This is one of the most popular and huge temples dedicated to the Devi, who was initially worshipped by the Snakes (Naga-Pooshani).
The Deity is a Swayambhu Murthy and is decorated beautifully on all days.
The temple complex is quite huge with a lot of sculptures and paintings adorning the walls of the temple.
There are close to 300 Thamizh families living on this island who take care of this temple.
After spending close to one hour on the island, we returned to the mainland.
We reached the ‘Tilko-City-Hotel’ at Jaffna by 8 pm.
Had a sumptuous (Spicy) dinner and hit the bed.
***********************
Day-3
In the morning, we started after our breakfast, by 8 am.
Our first halt was the famous Nallur Kandasamy Temple.
It is one of the Holiest and Richest temples of Srilanka, managed privately by one Family. .
It is quite a huge complex with Shrines for several deities and Paintings adorning the roof and walls.
There are three Vels, One Gold Vel in the middle and two silver Vels on each side, are kept in the Garba Griham.
Daily worship is offered to these Vels only.
There is also separate Sannadhi for Muthukumarasamy and Shanmugha Nathar.
After spending considerable time in this beautiful complex, we moved on towards Keerimalai.
Keerimalai Naguleswaram Temple is one of the Five Pancha-Easwarams’ of Srilanka.
This most ancient temple of Srilanka, is historically known as Thiru-Tambaleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai.
Like many other Hindu temples, this temple was also razed to the Ground by the invading Portuguese and subsequently by the Jesuit Missionaries.
It was unknown for almost 400 years, before Sri Armuga Navalar took efforts to re-construct the temple.
The civil war between 1983 and 2010 had its own impact on this temple, and finally it was re-built and opened for public in 2012.
Just near the temple there is the Keerimalai-Theertham, the temple tank, with medicinal properties.
The Lord is called as “Thiru-Naguleswara-Lingam’, and the Goddess is called ‘Naguleswari’.
This is one temple where you can see the deity at close quarters.
The temple is maintained exceedingly well.
We spent quite some time in the Divine Atmosphere.
The fifth Shiva-Kshetram ‘Thondeeswaram’ has been taken over by the Buddhists, and hence no formal worship is held in that temple.
The same is with the case of the famous Kadhirkamam Murugan Temple, which is now maintained by the Buddhists.
So, we could not visit these two temples.
We travelled further, and reached Killinochi for our lunch.
After another two hours travel, we reached the Lakshmi Narayana Perumal Temple at Thirukonamalai (Trincomalee).
It is another huge temple with Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi as the main Deities.
The idols of all the Parivara Devathas, Azhwars, and Acharyas are consecrated around the main shrine,
The entire complex is maintained very neatly.
Then we entered Trincomalee, for our night stay at Hotel Ananlamaa, a beach resort.
The Rooms are neat and tidy.
The entire complex occupies a huge area with a lot of greenery.
After dinner we hit the bed, after a day of Blissful Darshans and Tiring Road trips.
***************
Day-4.
Today we were asked to start around 8.45 am, after the breakfast.
Our first halt was the Holy Thirukoneswaram temple which is supposed to have been installed by Ravana himself.
The temple faces the ocean and is situated on a small hillock.
The priest said that Ravana worshipped this Shivalingam every day.
Another story says that Lord Rama installed this Shiva Ligam (It is a Swayambhu Lingam), to get rid of the Brahma-Hatthi-Dosham’.
The Lord is known as ‘Konesa-Naathar’ and the Ambal is called as ‘Shankari Devi’.
This Shrine of the Goddess is also regarded as a ‘Shakthi-Peetam’, one of the two such places in Srilanka.
This Goddess is particularly very popular with the Devotees coming from Andhra Pradesh.
There is a huge rock in front of the temple where Ravana used to meditate every day.
Once while he was meditating, he was informed that his mother had passed away.
In great anguish, he hit the huge rock with his fist, and the rock split into two.
Even today we can see the huge crack and the ocean flowing through it.
After that, we visit the seven hot springs created by Ravana for offering Tarpanam to his mother.
The water each of this hot-well is of varying temperature.
Next, we visit the Bhadra Kali Amman temple.
This temple is normally opened only from 5 am to 7 am in the morning and 5 pm to 6 pm in the evenings.
Since it was Thai-Poosam, on the day we visited, it was open till 12 noon, and we were blessed to have Darshan of the Amman.
It is a beautiful temple, very well maintained with exquisite colourful paintings on the roof and the walls.
Another feature of this temple is the sculptures of Devi and her manifestations on the inner roof of the temple
You need a considerable time to watch the paintings and the beautiful sculptures on the roof by straining your neck.
We were indeed lucky to have Darshan of the beautiful temple today.
Kanthalai Lake is about 25 Kms from Trincomalee.
It is a freshwater lake, which is 7 kms long and 3 kms broad.
It was constructed by the Kulakottai king who also rebuilt the Tirukonamalai temple.
This lake is a perennial lake and never dries up.
This place is also famous for curd made out of buffaloes’ milk.
We were told that each household, in this area, rears around 100-150 buffaloes.
The next place of visit was the Sigiriya Ravana’s Palace.
The ruin of this palace is situated on a Huge rocky mountain, and they said we have to climb almost 1700 steps to reach the place.
So, we just did some photo-shoot and left the place.
Habarna elephant park, near Dambulla is one of the biggest sanctuaries for elephants.
The charge is LKR-Rs 6,000/- per person and five people are seated in one open jeep.
The entire safari was of 1 1/2 hours duration.
We sighted a big herd of almost 20 Elephants including three infants.
The only redeeming feature of this Safari is that these elephants roam around without fear of the waiting humans, clicking photos.
Otherwise, there was nothing great in that bumpy tiresome ride.
Slowly we reached Hotel Kamara, Sigiriya, a resort type of independent villas, set in the same forest area.
The dinner served in their restaurant was truly great.
After a sumptuous Dinner, we hit the bed.
********************
Day-5
All of us started for the day, after our breakfast.
First, we visited Dambulla Buddha Temple.
There is a huge museum, with an entrance fee of LKR-Rs 3000/-.
We decided to skip visiting this place.
This Buddha temple is the place where young boys and girls of Buddhist families join the monastic life for their education and training.
Next visit is Mathalai Muthu Mariamman Temple.
It is another beautiful Amman Temple in Srilanka.
The place vibrates with Devotion and Spirituality.
After spending some temple in this temple, we moved to Kandy for our Lunch.
After another two hours bus ride, we reached the famous Ramboda Bhaktha Hanuman Temple.
This temple was constructed and is maintained by the Chinmaya Mission of Srilanka.
The temple rests on a small hillock
We can go up either by walk (2Kms) or by autos, which play regularly.
After reaching the hill, we must further climb around 50+ steps to reach the main temple.
The huge idol of Lord Hanuman, measuring Eighteen feet adorns the main Shrine.
The Puja is performed by the Brahmacharis of Chinmaya Mission.
There are several beautiful viewpoints on this hillock.
After the Puja and some clicks of the valley below, we started for Nuwara Eliya.
We could view some beautiful scenes, and water falls on our drive along the ghat road.
Finally, we reached Ashford Hotel at Nuwara Eliya, around 7 pm.
The climate here was quite cold.
After dinner, we retired for a much-needed sleep and rest.
***********************
Day-6
Today was a bit relaxed day as we started in the morning by 9 am.
Our first halt is Ashoka Vatika (Vanam) at Seetha Eliya.
Srilankans say that she was kept near his palace for 11 months and only in the last one month at Ashoka Vanam.
It was here that Hanuman met Seetha Devi.
The temple has the Swayambhu Murthy of Rama, Lakshmana and Seetha, where pooja is offered.
There are also Shrines for various deities including one for Lord Hanuman.
There is a small stream flowing behind the temple, which you can reach by getting down the steps.
On the banks of this river, there is a huge footmark of Hanuman, covered with Sindoor.
Divurumpola is the place where Seetha performed the Agni Pravesam and is now controlled and maintained by the Buddhists.
We can see the Huge Stupa and the Statue of Buddha all along.
Behind the Buddhists Shrines, there is a huge banyan tree.
It is supposed to be the place where Seetha Devi did the Agni Pravesam, after the killing of Ravana.
Then we were led to the small temple dedicated to Seetha Matha.
During our visit, a Buddhist Brahmachari accompanied us explaining the significance of every point in that area, which was intertwined with the Ramayana.
He also performed the aarti at the Seetha Temple.
We were indeed impressed by his voluntary act of guiding us and explaining the Ramayana, as he believed it to be.
For the Srilankans, Ravana was NOT an evil King.
He was a righteous King of Lanka, and along with his devoted wife Mandodari, and their illustrious son Megha Natha (Indrajit), ruled over Lanka, wisely.
The reason for the kidnapping of Seetha Devi, as per them, was because Lakshmana had cut of the nose of Surpanaka, sister of Ravana.
To avenge this, Ravana captured Seetha and brought Her to Lanka.
Our guide repeatedly said that Ravana never touched Seetha, during her entire stay in Lanka.
Despite their praise and respect for Ravana, the Srilankans, hold Lord Rama and Seetha in high reverence.
After lunch at Queensberry hotel at Nuwara Eliya, we reached the Gregory Lake, at Kalukele.
There is one park maintained by Govt which costs Rs 1000/- Srilankan rupees, as entry fees.
You can also opt for boat ride by paying separately.
Nearby there in another Boat jetty where they charge Rs 6000/- Srilankan rupees for 8 people.
We went for a long boat ride and enjoyed the serene atmosphere.
We were back in our hotel room by evening, for dinner and rest.
*******************
Day-7
In the morning, we started by 8 am to Colombo.
Winding down the ghat road, we halted at a place where we could view the Puna Waterfall.
Then, after a short ride, we halted at the ‘Spice Garden’, near Kandy.
They have a huge garden where they grow a variety of medicinal plants and manufacture herbal medicines. .
Tourists are first explained about a few common illnesses; How it affects us; How it can be cured; Their products to cure these illnesses; and how good it is ,,,, and so on.
(A Very Good Marketing tactic).
We found that most of their products were quite costly.
After lunch we proceeded further and reached a Teagarden where they prepare and sell export-quality tea.
Again, the price was quite high.
The tour organizers of Srilanka, make it a point to take the tourists to both these places (Spice Garden and Tea Garden).
But my take is that things were quite costly in both these places, despite them claiming that their products are of ‘Export’ quality and blah,, blah,,,
So, think twice before buying anything.
We get better quality of the same product at lesser cost in our country itself.
After another hour’s travel, we reached hotel Anarva Mt Lavinia by 6.30
The hotel is quite comfortable and very well maintained.
We had an early dinner and hit the bed.
*****************
Day-8
Today morning we had an early breakfast (by 7 am) and started for city tour.
Our first stop was the Marine drive.
Railway line from Colombo to Kandy goes exactly adjacent to the sea.
We enjoyed the Ocean View, the trains running very close to the Ocean and our road running parallel to the track.
It was indeed a delightful journey, with ocean and railway track running adjacent to the road. .
Our next halt was the famous Shiva Temple of Sivakamasundari sametha Ponnambalvaneswarar.
A beautiful stone-constructed temple with just like any other temple of South India.
The main deity is Lord Shiva called ‘Ponnambalavana-Easwarar’.
There are also shrines for other Parivaara-Devathas.
Like all other temples of Srilanka, this temple is also maintained exceedingly well.
Adding to the Glory of this temple, Swami Vivekananda visited this temple in 1897 and offered prayers to the Lord.
Then we were taken to a shopping mall.
Compared to the one’s in India, this appeared to be a smaller in size, but none the less, it was quite attractive.
Adjacent to this mall is the Official Shop of the Ceylon Tea Board, where varieties of Tea Leaves/dust are sold.
After spending almost two hours, in this area, we reached Hotel Shanmuga, for our lunch.
We found to our surprise, the food served here was very much like that served in our own country.
Everyone enjoyed the delicious lunch.
Then we were taken to the Colombo Airport by 3.30 pm.
Colombo Internation Airport is quite small, compared to those in our country.
Security Check is done just one hour before the scheduled departure of your flight.
The security check is quite hassle-free.
Our flight was on time (6.45 pm) and we landed at Chennai Airport, sharp at 7.45 pm.
We were back home, drenched in the sublime memories of this Yatra.
Thanks for reading.
R Sridhar
+91 9094029290
Your feedback amd comments are welcome.
Ram Ram
Srilanka Yatra – 2026.
With the Blessings of Mahaperiyava, we embarked on a Sacred Yatra to Sri Lanka by the end of January’2026, with Mantra Yatra Travels, Chennai.
For quite a long time I was planning to visit the Five Shiva-Kshetras which were glorified as Pancha-Ishwarams.
Atleast three of them were mentioned in the Thevaram songs.
I found that Mantra-Travels had such an itinerary, including those Holy Places associated with Ramayana.
And we immediately booked our seats for the same..
**************************
A Word about Mantra Travels.
Mantra Travels is run by Sri Balaji Davey, and he has been conducting group tours for more than a decade now.
He has regular clients for all is tours and takes only a limited number of persons.
His planning and execution of each such tours was simply amazing.
Food, Stay and Travel was not only excellent, but every aspect was time-bound and planned to perfection.
Our group was predominantly filled with Senior citizen.
We were a total of sixty people and were accommodated two buses.
Every one of us enjoyed the Blissful Yatra to the Land of Ravana.
In one word, the Yatra was a ‘Soul-Stirring Journey’.
***************************
Contact :-
Mantra Yatra - https://mantrayatra.com/
Balaji Davey - +91 9840188430
+91 9840988430
****************************
Now a Few Words, about Srilanka.
- Srilanka is an Island Country, connected within, mainly by road.
- Srilanka has a two-language policy. Both Sinhalese and Tamizh are official languages.
- Boards in most places are also written in Sinhalese, Thamizh and English.
- Most of their tourist buses are China-Made ones (Sunlong), and very comfortable to travel, though I felt that the leg space could have been a little more.
- Roads are single roads only, but very well paved and maintained.
- So, road travel is hassle-free, without any bumps. In fact, though we travelled almost 6-8 hours daily by bus, we did not feel any discomfort.
- Their Bus Drivers are very good; They follow the traffic-rules; No indiscriminate honking; No sudden brakes; and giving a lot of attention to the passenger-comfort.
- Their Drivers, Helpers and the two guides (Nirul and Rumesh), jelled with the passengers with good understanding and friendliness. The knowledge level of these two guides was excellent.
- The biggest problem we faced is regarding food. 98% of the people in Srilanka are non-vegetarians. So, finding decent Vegetarian food, especially down south, will really be a problem. For our group Balaji had arranged for vegetarian food, at every place of our stay.
- Further in our group many couples carried varieties of home-made Pickles and podis.
- Tea/Coffee in Srilanka may not be to our liking, as in almost all places, they prepare it only with Milk-Powder.
- Their Capital, Colombo, has some Vegetarian Restaurants, including our own A2B.
- All the temples are clean and maintained exceptionally well.
- The temples follow all the rituals (Saiva-Agama) meticulously and with great sincerity and devotion.
- We never saw anyone in these temples (even in remote areas), asking for money from devotees.
- The Hindus of Srilanka are very devotional and strictly adhere to the traditions.
- Men wear Dothie and women wear saree, while visiting these temples.
- Though it is claimed that an agreement was reached by the two Governments (India & Srilanka) regarding UPI payments, we saw that the shops mostly do not have this facility.
- Many shops accept Visa/Master cards. For that, better to enable the option for ‘overseas payment’ on the debit card.
- Easier option would be to carry enough Srilankan currency. You can convert INR to LKR in the airports itself.
- However, in many places, I also saw that they accept Indian currency, especially in urban centres.
- Most of the hotels have free Wi-Fi, but in most places, the signal is quite weak in the rooms. So, better to take a ‘roaming pack’ for your stay in Srilanka. (A 10 day pack would be ideal).
Now, on to our actual Journey.
Day-1
We, a total of 60 Yatris, started by the Srilankan Airlines, at 9.45 am, which was late by 30 minutes on that day.
Balaji had arranged for a packed breakfast for all the Yatris.
We landed at Colombo Airport by 11.15 am.
We completed all the airport formalities and boarded the two buses waiting for us.
After a short travel we halted for lunch.
After a travel for two and half hours, we reached the Munneswaram temple, the first and the largest of the five Shiva-Sthalams of Srilanka.
It is said that Lord Rama, on landing in Srilanka for the war with Ravana, worshipped this Shiva first. (Munne = Earlier).
It is a beautiful temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, who is known as ‘Munnai-Natha Swamy, and the Devi is known as ‘Vadivambikai’.
Though there are no Thevaram Songs for this temple, this is one of the most popular Siva Temples of Srilanka.
The Portuguese invaded this temple in the fifteenth century and destroyed the temple completely.
Later the famous Sinhalese King, Rajasinghe reconstructed this temple.
The present one was re-constructed by a devotee Sri Kumaraswami Guruji, in the nineteenth century.
There are shrines for Ganesha, Devi, Murugan one for Lord Buddha, in this temple.
After a Blissful Darshan at this temple, we moved on.
Next stop was the Maanavari (Manal-Vaari-Piditha-Lingam) temple, which houses the Sand-Lingam created by Lord Rama, for curing His Brahma Hatthi Dosham, which he got afflicted after killing Ravana.
There are only two temples where Lord Rama had created/worshipped Shiva in Sand-Shivalinga form.
One is at Rameswaram and the next one is at Manavari.
Here the Lord is called as Ramalingam, and the Devi is known as Parvathi Devi.
The Sea is right in front of the Temple in Rameswaram, and in Maanavari it is behind the Shiva Temple.
Though there are no Thevaram songs for this temple, since it is associated with Lord Rama, it gains a lot of significance.
After spending considerable time in the Spiritual Atmosphere of the temple, we resumed our journey.
After another 2 ½ hour journey we reached our hotel, Alakamanda, at Anuradhapura by 8.30 pm.
We had a sumptuous Dinner and hit the bed, in our comfortable room.
*****************
Day-2
We all started after breakfast, by our bus, and reached Thiru-Ketheeswaram by 10.30.
It is said that this deity, was regularly worshipped by Mandothari Devi, spouse of Ravana.
This Great Temple, venerated by the Tamils, right from Treta Yoga, was razed to the ground by the Portuguese in the fifteenth century and its existence was almost forgotten by the locals.
It was in the nineteenth century that Arumuga Navalar, a great Saivite scholar and religions reformer of Srilanka, planned the grand restoration of this Holy Shrine.
Appar, Sambandar, and Sundarar have glorified this temple in their Thevaram Hymns.
The Lord is called ‘Thiru Ketheeswara Swamy’ and the Goddess as ‘Parvathy Devi’.
The Paalavi Theertham is a huge lake, recently restored, which is about 500 metres away from the temple.
The devotees take water from Paalavi Theertha Karai and perform the Abishekam to a lingam (Mahalingam), installed behind the main shrine.
There are also Shrines for various deities, in the temple.
This temple is open from 7 am to 7 pm.
Next, we visit Thiruvasaga Aranmanai at Sivabhoomi, near Jaffna.
The presiding deity of this Temple-cum-Library is Lord Dakshina Murthy.
The image is quite huge.
Behind it is a huge Sivalingam seated on a beautifully carved Ratham, with water surrounding the Ratham in a moat like structure.
Saint Manikkavachagar stands near the Sivalingam in a Worshipful pose.
108 Sivalingams surround these two central Shrines.
All along the wall, Thiruvachagam verses have been carved on slabs and affixed.
In one place of the hall, Siva Puranam in Thiruvachagam has been engraved in nine different languages.
After lunch, we started moving towards Jaffna.
The Naga-Pooshani Amman Temple on an island is one of the 51 Sakthi-Peetams, where the anklets (Golusu) of the Devi fell.
It is situated on the third island from the mainland.
While two islands are connected by road, the third island, which houses the temple, has to be reached only by a ferry.
It was an enjoyable drive through the first two islands with the ocean on both sides of the road, and the boat-ride to the temple was equally mesmerising.
This is one of the most popular and huge temples dedicated to the Devi, who was initially worshipped by the Snakes (Naga-Pooshani).
The Deity is a Swayambhu Murthy and is decorated beautifully on all days.
The temple complex is quite huge with a lot of sculptures and paintings adorning the walls of the temple.
There are close to 300 Thamizh families living on this island who take care of this temple.
After spending close to one hour on the island, we returned to the mainland.
We reached the ‘Tilko-City-Hotel’ at Jaffna by 8 pm.
Had a sumptuous (Spicy) dinner and hit the bed.
***********************
Day-3
In the morning, we started after our breakfast, by 8 am.
Our first halt was the famous Nallur Kandasamy Temple.
It is one of the Holiest and Richest temples of Srilanka, managed privately by one Family. .
It is quite a huge complex with Shrines for several deities and Paintings adorning the roof and walls.
There are three Vels, One Gold Vel in the middle and two silver Vels on each side, are kept in the Garba Griham.
Daily worship is offered to these Vels only.
There is also separate Sannadhi for Muthukumarasamy and Shanmugha Nathar.
After spending considerable time in this beautiful complex, we moved on towards Keerimalai.
Keerimalai Naguleswaram Temple is one of the Five Pancha-Easwarams’ of Srilanka.
This most ancient temple of Srilanka, is historically known as Thiru-Tambaleswaram Kovil of Keerimalai.
Like many other Hindu temples, this temple was also razed to the Ground by the invading Portuguese and subsequently by the Jesuit Missionaries.
It was unknown for almost 400 years, before Sri Armuga Navalar took efforts to re-construct the temple.
The civil war between 1983 and 2010 had its own impact on this temple, and finally it was re-built and opened for public in 2012.
Just near the temple there is the Keerimalai-Theertham, the temple tank, with medicinal properties.
The Lord is called as “Thiru-Naguleswara-Lingam’, and the Goddess is called ‘Naguleswari’.
This is one temple where you can see the deity at close quarters.
The temple is maintained exceedingly well.
We spent quite some time in the Divine Atmosphere.
The fifth Shiva-Kshetram ‘Thondeeswaram’ has been taken over by the Buddhists, and hence no formal worship is held in that temple.
The same is with the case of the famous Kadhirkamam Murugan Temple, which is now maintained by the Buddhists.
So, we could not visit these two temples.
We travelled further, and reached Killinochi for our lunch.
After another two hours travel, we reached the Lakshmi Narayana Perumal Temple at Thirukonamalai (Trincomalee).
It is another huge temple with Lord Vishnu and Lakshmi as the main Deities.
The idols of all the Parivara Devathas, Azhwars, and Acharyas are consecrated around the main shrine,
The entire complex is maintained very neatly.
Then we entered Trincomalee, for our night stay at Hotel Ananlamaa, a beach resort.
The Rooms are neat and tidy.
The entire complex occupies a huge area with a lot of greenery.
After dinner we hit the bed, after a day of Blissful Darshans and Tiring Road trips.
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Day-4.
Today we were asked to start around 8.45 am, after the breakfast.
Our first halt was the Holy Thirukoneswaram temple which is supposed to have been installed by Ravana himself.
The temple faces the ocean and is situated on a small hillock.
The priest said that Ravana worshipped this Shivalingam every day.
Another story says that Lord Rama installed this Shiva Ligam (It is a Swayambhu Lingam), to get rid of the Brahma-Hatthi-Dosham’.
The Lord is known as ‘Konesa-Naathar’ and the Ambal is called as ‘Shankari Devi’.
This Shrine of the Goddess is also regarded as a ‘Shakthi-Peetam’, one of the two such places in Srilanka.
This Goddess is particularly very popular with the Devotees coming from Andhra Pradesh.
There is a huge rock in front of the temple where Ravana used to meditate every day.
Once while he was meditating, he was informed that his mother had passed away.
In great anguish, he hit the huge rock with his fist, and the rock split into two.
Even today we can see the huge crack and the ocean flowing through it.
After that, we visit the seven hot springs created by Ravana for offering Tarpanam to his mother.
The water each of this hot-well is of varying temperature.
Next, we visit the Bhadra Kali Amman temple.
This temple is normally opened only from 5 am to 7 am in the morning and 5 pm to 6 pm in the evenings.
Since it was Thai-Poosam, on the day we visited, it was open till 12 noon, and we were blessed to have Darshan of the Amman.
It is a beautiful temple, very well maintained with exquisite colourful paintings on the roof and the walls.
Another feature of this temple is the sculptures of Devi and her manifestations on the inner roof of the temple
You need a considerable time to watch the paintings and the beautiful sculptures on the roof by straining your neck.
We were indeed lucky to have Darshan of the beautiful temple today.
Kanthalai Lake is about 25 Kms from Trincomalee.
It is a freshwater lake, which is 7 kms long and 3 kms broad.
It was constructed by the Kulakottai king who also rebuilt the Tirukonamalai temple.
This lake is a perennial lake and never dries up.
This place is also famous for curd made out of buffaloes’ milk.
We were told that each household, in this area, rears around 100-150 buffaloes.
The next place of visit was the Sigiriya Ravana’s Palace.
The ruin of this palace is situated on a Huge rocky mountain, and they said we have to climb almost 1700 steps to reach the place.
So, we just did some photo-shoot and left the place.
Habarna elephant park, near Dambulla is one of the biggest sanctuaries for elephants.
The charge is LKR-Rs 6,000/- per person and five people are seated in one open jeep.
The entire safari was of 1 1/2 hours duration.
We sighted a big herd of almost 20 Elephants including three infants.
The only redeeming feature of this Safari is that these elephants roam around without fear of the waiting humans, clicking photos.
Otherwise, there was nothing great in that bumpy tiresome ride.
Slowly we reached Hotel Kamara, Sigiriya, a resort type of independent villas, set in the same forest area.
The dinner served in their restaurant was truly great.
After a sumptuous Dinner, we hit the bed.
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Day-5
All of us started for the day, after our breakfast.
First, we visited Dambulla Buddha Temple.
There is a huge museum, with an entrance fee of LKR-Rs 3000/-.
We decided to skip visiting this place.
This Buddha temple is the place where young boys and girls of Buddhist families join the monastic life for their education and training.
Next visit is Mathalai Muthu Mariamman Temple.
It is another beautiful Amman Temple in Srilanka.
The place vibrates with Devotion and Spirituality.
After spending some temple in this temple, we moved to Kandy for our Lunch.
After another two hours bus ride, we reached the famous Ramboda Bhaktha Hanuman Temple.
This temple was constructed and is maintained by the Chinmaya Mission of Srilanka.
The temple rests on a small hillock
We can go up either by walk (2Kms) or by autos, which play regularly.
After reaching the hill, we must further climb around 50+ steps to reach the main temple.
The huge idol of Lord Hanuman, measuring Eighteen feet adorns the main Shrine.
The Puja is performed by the Brahmacharis of Chinmaya Mission.
There are several beautiful viewpoints on this hillock.
After the Puja and some clicks of the valley below, we started for Nuwara Eliya.
We could view some beautiful scenes, and water falls on our drive along the ghat road.
Finally, we reached Ashford Hotel at Nuwara Eliya, around 7 pm.
The climate here was quite cold.
After dinner, we retired for a much-needed sleep and rest.
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Day-6
Today was a bit relaxed day as we started in the morning by 9 am.
Our first halt is Ashoka Vatika (Vanam) at Seetha Eliya.
Srilankans say that she was kept near his palace for 11 months and only in the last one month at Ashoka Vanam.
It was here that Hanuman met Seetha Devi.
The temple has the Swayambhu Murthy of Rama, Lakshmana and Seetha, where pooja is offered.
There are also Shrines for various deities including one for Lord Hanuman.
There is a small stream flowing behind the temple, which you can reach by getting down the steps.
On the banks of this river, there is a huge footmark of Hanuman, covered with Sindoor.
Divurumpola is the place where Seetha performed the Agni Pravesam and is now controlled and maintained by the Buddhists.
We can see the Huge Stupa and the Statue of Buddha all along.
Behind the Buddhists Shrines, there is a huge banyan tree.
It is supposed to be the place where Seetha Devi did the Agni Pravesam, after the killing of Ravana.
Then we were led to the small temple dedicated to Seetha Matha.
During our visit, a Buddhist Brahmachari accompanied us explaining the significance of every point in that area, which was intertwined with the Ramayana.
He also performed the aarti at the Seetha Temple.
We were indeed impressed by his voluntary act of guiding us and explaining the Ramayana, as he believed it to be.
For the Srilankans, Ravana was NOT an evil King.
He was a righteous King of Lanka, and along with his devoted wife Mandodari, and their illustrious son Megha Natha (Indrajit), ruled over Lanka, wisely.
The reason for the kidnapping of Seetha Devi, as per them, was because Lakshmana had cut of the nose of Surpanaka, sister of Ravana.
To avenge this, Ravana captured Seetha and brought Her to Lanka.
Our guide repeatedly said that Ravana never touched Seetha, during her entire stay in Lanka.
Despite their praise and respect for Ravana, the Srilankans, hold Lord Rama and Seetha in high reverence.
After lunch at Queensberry hotel at Nuwara Eliya, we reached the Gregory Lake, at Kalukele.
There is one park maintained by Govt which costs Rs 1000/- Srilankan rupees, as entry fees.
You can also opt for boat ride by paying separately.
Nearby there in another Boat jetty where they charge Rs 6000/- Srilankan rupees for 8 people.
We went for a long boat ride and enjoyed the serene atmosphere.
We were back in our hotel room by evening, for dinner and rest.
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Day-7
In the morning, we started by 8 am to Colombo.
Winding down the ghat road, we halted at a place where we could view the Puna Waterfall.
Then, after a short ride, we halted at the ‘Spice Garden’, near Kandy.
They have a huge garden where they grow a variety of medicinal plants and manufacture herbal medicines. .
Tourists are first explained about a few common illnesses; How it affects us; How it can be cured; Their products to cure these illnesses; and how good it is ,,,, and so on.
(A Very Good Marketing tactic).
We found that most of their products were quite costly.
After lunch we proceeded further and reached a Teagarden where they prepare and sell export-quality tea.
Again, the price was quite high.
The tour organizers of Srilanka, make it a point to take the tourists to both these places (Spice Garden and Tea Garden).
But my take is that things were quite costly in both these places, despite them claiming that their products are of ‘Export’ quality and blah,, blah,,,
So, think twice before buying anything.
We get better quality of the same product at lesser cost in our country itself.
After another hour’s travel, we reached hotel Anarva Mt Lavinia by 6.30
The hotel is quite comfortable and very well maintained.
We had an early dinner and hit the bed.
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Day-8
Today morning we had an early breakfast (by 7 am) and started for city tour.
Our first stop was the Marine drive.
Railway line from Colombo to Kandy goes exactly adjacent to the sea.
We enjoyed the Ocean View, the trains running very close to the Ocean and our road running parallel to the track.
It was indeed a delightful journey, with ocean and railway track running adjacent to the road. .
Our next halt was the famous Shiva Temple of Sivakamasundari sametha Ponnambalvaneswarar.
A beautiful stone-constructed temple with just like any other temple of South India.
The main deity is Lord Shiva called ‘Ponnambalavana-Easwarar’.
There are also shrines for other Parivaara-Devathas.
Like all other temples of Srilanka, this temple is also maintained exceedingly well.
Adding to the Glory of this temple, Swami Vivekananda visited this temple in 1897 and offered prayers to the Lord.
Then we were taken to a shopping mall.
Compared to the one’s in India, this appeared to be a smaller in size, but none the less, it was quite attractive.
Adjacent to this mall is the Official Shop of the Ceylon Tea Board, where varieties of Tea Leaves/dust are sold.
After spending almost two hours, in this area, we reached Hotel Shanmuga, for our lunch.
We found to our surprise, the food served here was very much like that served in our own country.
Everyone enjoyed the delicious lunch.
Then we were taken to the Colombo Airport by 3.30 pm.
Colombo Internation Airport is quite small, compared to those in our country.
Security Check is done just one hour before the scheduled departure of your flight.
The security check is quite hassle-free.
Our flight was on time (6.45 pm) and we landed at Chennai Airport, sharp at 7.45 pm.
We were back home, drenched in the sublime memories of this Yatra.
Thanks for reading.
R Sridhar
+91 9094029290
