Nallur Kandasamy Kovil
AB20
About
Nallur temple is one of the favorite destinations among tourists and is one of the beautiful temples in Jaffna. In 948 AD Bhuvanekabhu the chief minister to Chola Kulangai built this beautiful temple to worship Lord Kumaran. In the year 1450 the temple was demolished and was rebuilt in the year 1457. The temple represents the historical age with beautiful carvings and paintings. At Nallûr Kanta Cuvâmi Temple, Jaffna, vel alone is the mûlamûrti. According to the Yâlpâna Vaipava Malai, the origin is attributed to Bhuvenaka Vaku, Chief Minister to Kulangai Ariya Cakravarti, who reigned at Singai Nagar. However, several references give the entire credit for building the city of Nallur and the Kanta Civâmi Temple to Sempaha Perumal who ruled at Nallur under the name of Bhuvenka Bahu for 17 years from 1450 AD (Mayilvagana Pulavar,1739). In the battle of Vannarponnai after Sangili Kumara's defeat, the former Kanda Swami temple was leveled to the ground in 1620 by Philip de Oliveira, leaving no traces of its foundation. The present temple at Nallur originated during the period of Dutch rule by the effort of Mappana Mudaliyar. This temple may be said to be the most popular place of worship in the whole of Jaffna peninsula, with peak level of up to one million devotees at festival time. The annual Nallur Hindu Temple festival in Jaffna will take place on 15 August. The historic festival draws devotees from around the island as well as overseas. Meanwhile the festival organizers added that strict dress code guidelines will be in place for devotees entering the temple during the festival. Men will not be permitted to wear jeans into the Temple while women must wear a toe length dress or saree. Thousands of Hindu devotees are expected to attend the festival.
