Friday 12 Feb 2016

Today was an early start.  Consecration ceremonies at temple was beginning at 6am.  It should be finished by 7:30am.  Timing is important for Hindus who look to astrologers for auspicious times.  The temple is known as the Sri Katpaga Vinayagar Temple in the village of  Varivalavu.

After the temple proceedings, we decided to do a tour of Karainagar, the island from which my ancestors came from.  First stop was the famous Casuarina Beach.  It is more relaxed here now.  The last I was here 3 years ago, there an army sentry stationed here.  This  was followed by a visit to my maternal ancestral homeland.

After Casuarina Beach, it was time to head for Kovalum, the village my maternal grandmother came from.  It is rough road that is unsealed.  No many live in the village now except for a few.  Our van driver could not make the trip due to road conditions.  We decided to use a Tuk-tuk to make the journey.  Vijaya negotiated a price of 600 rupees with a Tuk-tuk driver for us to make the journey.  My cousin Sangaran, Palini a close family friend and myself decided to make the journey.  We went to the first property that belong to one of our relatives.  Then we made the trip to the beach front where the actual land is.  Part of the land, as we thought, was occupied by the navy.  We later realised upon surveying the land, it was not the case.  To our surprise, the navy personnel were friendly and helpful.  This really surprised me.  The end result is that we were able to inspect our ancestral land with great ease.  Paling who can speak Sinhalese facilitated this.  We were also advised by the navy personnel to register our interest in the land with the Grama Niladhari, who is local village level government official who is meant to keep track of land in his allotted area.  This way if others came to ask about the land or try to assume ownership, this official could advise them accordingly.

We decided to end the day by relaxing and recovering from the events of the day back at the hotel.  We needed it especially because of the early start.  Needless to say, I had a nap which I most enjoyed.

Thursday 11 Feb 2016

We had a late morning start at the temple on Karainagar island, our ancestral homeland.  There was a festival at the temple, a precursor to the consecration of the temple following some renovations.  We were annointing oils on the deities and this was the only time we were allowed to enter the inner chamber of the temple.  Following this we had lunch at the temple.

In the afternoon we decided to explore Jaffna town, slighter further from our hotel.  The first stop was Nallur Kandasamy Temple, the most famous temple in Jaffna.  The original temple was built between 1450 to 1467.  It was levelled to the ground by the Portuguese in 1620.  The present temple was built during the Dutch period, around 1807.  It was not rebuilt on the original site.  The original site is occupied by St James Church.

The next stop was Mandri Manai (Ministers House).  It was built in the fifteenth century.  It is deserted now but in has cellars and underground rooms where the inhabitants stored their valuables.

We then visited one of the largest church in Jaffna, St Patricks Catholic Church.

We finished with a visit to Rio Ice Creams, the most famous ice cream parlour in Jaffna.  Despite it’s popularity, the system within the parlour is chaotic.  We took some take-away to have it in the van.  The ice cream is very sweet and has inconsistent texture.  We enjoyed it though.  That evening Susie, Shantini and I had dinner at Susie’s uncle’s place.  He was an interesting man and kept us most amused with his stories.