Our History

 

Jaffna is a peninsula lying in the northern most part of Sri Lanka. The language spoken here is Tamil and the local population are predominantly Hindu. Jaffna has lot of history. Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, was ruled by the Portuguese then the Dutch and then by the British before finally gaining independence in 1948. In Jaffna, you can see the Fort and the clock tower built by the Dutch. Also many Portuguese word have become part of the Tamil language.

Jaffna still maintains the drainage system built by the Dutch together with the “balancing” lagoons which safeguards against flooding during the monsoon seasons.

 

Our Culture

 

Jaffna maintains a very traditional lifestyle and has been out of reach of tourists due to lack of promotion, lack of tourist accommodations and due to years of civil war.

 

Jaffna does not have any large - or even medium sized- industries. People of Jaffna mainly rely on small scale farming and on education followed by leaving Jaffna in search of white-collar jobs in the capital. During the times of British rule people of Jaffna learned English as many of the best paid jobs involved working alongside the British. English is still widely spoken in Jaffna.

In the past few decades, the younger generation have begun to emigrate in search of jobs elsewhere in the world and this has led to parents separating from their children.

 

Our Geography

 

Jaffna had been the safest place prior to the civil war and still is.

 

Jaffna is a beautiful city surrounded by sea with unspoilt beaches many small Islands linked by causeways. The unspoilt marshland brings in lots of migrating birds and you may be able see new flocks of birds arriving every so often.

 

Jaffna is also famous in Sri Lanka for its signature cuisine so we would recommend an early morning swim in an unspoilt beach followed by a traditional lunch and a stroll in Vellana’s palm tree forests.

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