Naguleswaram Shiva Kovil

Jaffna & the North

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Just before Keerimalai spring is the 6th-century-BC Naguleswaram Shiva Kovil, one of the pancha ishwaram, five temples dedicated to Lord Shiva in Sri Lanka. Before the civil war, this was a thriving Hindu pilgrimage site with several temples and six madham (rest homes for pilgrims) and samadhi shrines for holy men. Only traces of the original buildings survived after the temple was bombed by the army in 1990.

Since 2011 there's been a lot of reconstruction with support from the All Ceylon Hindu Congress, meaning the Naguleswaram temple has reopened, along with a new madham for pilgrims. Work is ongoing to revive the complex further (a new central tower is taking shape).

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