JAFFNA PENINSULA GRAND RAMAYANA TOUR 7 Nights / 8 Days

In the 16th century it was a capital during the reign of king Rajasingha. Legend has it that Sita was imprisoned by Ravana in a nearby grove, hence the name Sitawaka. A shocking episode is believed to have taken place here, too. In order to shatter Lord Rama's confidence to regain his consort Sita, Ravana's eldest son Indrajith beheaded a look-alike of Sita in front of Lord Hanuman. Furthermore there is a stone in the Sitawaka area called Rampathagala with one footprint believed to be left by Lord Rama himself.

This temple is most venerated of all Ramayana Trail sites in Sri Lanka, because it is believed to be the place where Sita lived most of the time of her captivity on the island of Lanka. After she refused to stay in Ravana's magnificent palace she was transferred to Ashoka Vatika or Ashokavanam where she lived under Ashoka trees. It was here that Ravana's wife Mandodari visited her and that Hanuman met her for the first time, identifying himself with the finger ring of Rama. Sita is said to have bathed in the nearby stream. There are remarkable holes in the rocks at the river bank believed to be footprints of Lord Hamunan.

Gayathri Pitam, also spelled GayaththriPeedam, inside Nuwara Eliya town is the first and foremost temple built for Gayathri Amman in Sri Lanka, Gayatri being an aspect of Saraswati and the Universal Mother. The temple was founded by the Gayathri Siddhar Swami Murusegu. The Shiva Lingam for this Tamil temple was brought from the Holy River Narmada. Gayathri Pitam is said to be the place from where King Ravana's son Meghanath propitiated Lord Shiva with penance and worship and in turn was granted super natural powers by the mighty god.

Divurumpola is said to be the location where Sita underwent the famous fire ordeal Agni Pariksha, in order to prove her chastity. From the flames arose the fire god Agni who was invoked by Sita. He lifted her from the flames unharmed and presented her to Lord Rama who explained this test was only necessary to prove the truth of her purity and innocence to everybody.

Mani Kattuther is a small and flat rock boulder within the tea plantations of Labookellie estate. It is believed that Lord Hanuman, after meeting Sitadevi, rested on this hill top on his way back to Lord Rama with the happy news of finding his missed consort. Nowadays an open temple with statues of Lord Rama, Sita, Lakshmana and Hanuman stands on top of it. Locals visit the holy place frequently.

The Sri Lanka branch of the Chinmaya mission, commited to promoting the Ramayana philosophy as well as Ramayana Trail pilgrimages, has built a temple with Hanuman as a presiding deity in Ramboda at the Kandy to Nuwara Eliyamainroad. There is a new five metres tall granite statue of Rama's devote supporter. Hanuman is believed to have started his searching for Sita in the Baroda hills. Hanuman traditionally was not as popular among Sri Lankan Tamil devotees as he indeed is in India, because he devastated parts of the island with his burning tail. But in recent times Hindu missionaries and local Tamil spiritual leaders began building shrines for worshipping Hanuman in Sri Lanka, too. The Tamil word for Ramboda, Rampadai, means "Rama's force", this is why Ramboda is believed the area where Rama collected.

Kandy's Tooth Relic Temple is the most significant Buddhist holy place in Sri Lanka, venerated by Buddhists from Southeast Asia as well. There are four shrines for gods connected to the Buddha's Tooth Temple. These Devales, playing an important role in the processions of the Buddha's Tooth Temple, are mainly Sinhalese places of worship, whereas Tamil Hindu temples are called Kovils. But the Devales are closely connected to Hinduism in many ways. The above mentioned world famous procession called Kandy Perahara, originates in the Ratha Yatras held for the Hindu deities. And the priests of the KataragamaDevale in the city centre are not Sinhalese Kapuralas, but Tamil Brahmins. In the rock garden area of Sigiriya there is the Cobra Hooded Cave. It is a rock-shelter surmounted by a boulder in the form of a cobra hood. It is one of the many spots believed to have been a place of Sita's captivity on Lanka. An inscription mentioning a Naguliya Lena is said to be a proof for it as Naguliya is identified with Sita as allegedly both names can have the same meaning "born from a furrow", because "Naguliya" could be derived from the words for snakes and for plough. But historians believe Naguliya to be the name of a local chieftain who donated the cave to the Buddhist order.The Ramayana Trail legend even the ancient rock fortress Sigiriya itself is sometimes claimed to have been a palace of Ravana,because historically it is connected to the cult of Kuwera. Kuwera was the step brother of Ravana who became his successor as king of Lanka.

The Nalanda gedige is geographically located in the very centre of the island. It is a Buddhist temple in the first place, but in many respects exceptional. The images of this temple prove Mahayana Buddhist and even Tantric influence on this Theravada dominated island during its late Anuradhapura kingdom period (7th to 10th century). Furthermore the architectural style of this Gedige is obviously influenced by the Dravidian architecture of the Pallava and the Pandya kingdoms of Southern India. So the Nalanda Gedige resembles very much an ancient Hindu shrine.

Sri MuthumariammanThevasthanam is a Hindu temple located in Matale city that is known for the colorful chariots located here. Its history goes back to the early 1800's. The location of the present temple was used by the south Indian immigrants, who came to the island looking for employment. Today, it is one of the biggest Hindu temples in the island.

Dambulla is a World Heritage Site (1991) in Sri Lanka, situated in the central part of the country. It is the largest and best-preserved cave temple complex in Sri Lanka. The rock towers 160 m over the surrounding plains. There are more than 80 documented caves in the surrounding area. Major attractions are spread over 5 caves, which contain statues and paintings. These paintings and statues are related to Lord Buddha and his life. There are a total of 153 Buddha statues, 3 statues of Sri Lankan kings and 4 statues of Gods and Goddesses. The latter include two statues of Hindu gods, the god Vishnu and the god Ganesh.

Commemoration is placed on that spot now. And it is believed that the original idol of the goddess has been preserved and replaced, being venerated now in this nearby new Shankaridevi temple

Vil means bow, and Undri means resting. This is why the Tamil name of this place, Vilundri, is believed to have been a spot where Lord Rama, returning home with Sita to Ayodhya, stopped on his way to ThiruKoneswaram and rested with his bow on the ground.

Adjacent to Trincomalee's famous Koneshwaram temple there is another shrine it is small in size but of some significance for Hindu pilgrims. This Shankaridevi temple is a reconstruction at a new place. The original Shanakridevi temple, said to be built by Ravana, was the first in the list of AshtaDasha (18) Shakti Pitas written down by Adi Shankara, but it's whole cliff was destroyed by Portuguese cannon balls. Only a pillar for period. Nallur is renowned for the strict discipline, order and timing of its puja ceremonies and became a landmark of Tamil Hindu cultural pride.

ThiruKoneshwaram, lovely located on a rock promontory of Trincomalee, was built by Rishi Agastya on the instructions of Lord Shiva who was impressed by the devotion of King Ravana. This place is unique in this respect, the Lord building a temple for his devotee as a reward for his devotion. Lord Rama is believed to have offered his prayers here, too, in order to get rid of the malediction of killing Ravana who was a Brahmin, meaning BrahmahasthiDosham. The famous temple built here during the glorious era of the Tamil Pallava and Chola and Pandya empires, was destructed by bigoted Portuguese Christians between 1622 and 1624.

NagapushaniAmmanTemple is a historic Hindu temple located on the island of Nainativu, west of the Jaffna peninsula. It is dedicated to Parvati who is locally known as Nagapushani and to her consort Shiva who is named as Nayanar here. Adi Shankara, India's great 9th century Vedanta philosopher, identified it as one of 64 Shakti Pithas. For Tamil people this temple for the goddess traditionally is eminently respectable. An annual 16 dayMahostavam festival of this Nagapushani Amman temple on Nainativu Island held in June is usually attended by more than 100,000 pilgrims.

The historic Kandaswamy Temple in Nallur, not far away from Jaffna's town centre, is dedicated to Lord Murugan in the form of the divine spear Vel, a well-known symbol of Tamil religiousness. Founded in the 10th century this Skanda Temple was enlarged during the 13th to 15th century when Jaffna was a major principality of the island, especially under ChempahaPerumal, who later on became the Sinhalese king Bhuvenaikabahu VI in Kotte. The original Nallur temple was destroyed by the Portuguese and replaced by a church. But within the former temple premises, called KurukkalValavu, the current temple building was erected in 1749, during the Dutch colonial. Sinhalese name means a �marketplace of oath�. Today the temple is respected as a suitable place for oaths that can be helpful settling disputes between parties.

Nagapushani Amman Temple is a historic Hindu temple located on the island of Nainativu, west of the Jaffna peninsula. It is dedicated to Parvati who is locally known as Nagapushani and to her consort Shiva who is named as Nayinar here. Adi Shankara, India's great 9th century Vedanta philosopher, identified it as one of the 64 Shakti Pithas. For Tamil people this temple for the Goddess traditionally is eminently respectable. An annual 16 dayMahostavam festival of this Nagapushani Amman temple on Nainativu Island held in June is usually attended by more than 100,000 pilgrims.

SelvaSaniddhi is the most northern temple along the famous Pada Yatra pilgrimage route. The temple is located in Thondaimanaru 25 outside Jaffna, and in only 9 kms distance to Point Pedro, the northernmost spot of the island. SelvaSaniddhi is a place of Vel worship. The venerated silver spear once has been brought here from its main sanctuary in Kataragama, called Katirkaman by Tamils. SelvaSannidhi is Sri Lanka's Murugan temple farthest away from Kataragama/Katirkaman.

Nilawari, also spelled Nilavarai, is located in Puthur 14 kms northeast of Jaffna town. Nilawari is popular among locals and tourists on a pilgrimage because of its giant natural underground water well of unknown depth. The water is a little bit salty, but drinkable. The well never dries up, not even during severe droughts. It is told that when Lord Rama's army entered Lanka they took positions on different sides. The army situated in the northern dry zone faced a severe water crisis. But Lord Rama shot a magic arrow into the ground and water sprung out immediately. Another version of the legend has it that the arrow was shot by Hanuman to satisfy the thirst of Rama.

Kachchativu is a small island in the middle of the Palk Strait, halfway between Jaffna and India's Rameswaram. It is one of the spots associated with the much-loved story of Hanuman carrying through the air a part of the Himalayas to Lanka in order to cure Rama and Lakshmana from otherwise never-healing wounds. Only special herbs from the Himalayas could help, but Hanuman had forgotten their complicated names when he arrived in the Himalaya Mountains, so he took a whole hill of it back to Lanka. But on the way he lost some parts of it. one of these rocks fallen down from the air is Kachchativu island.

The IsurumuniyaViharaya, a rock temple in the southern outskirts of Anuradhapura, probably was a place of worship already before the advent of Buddhism on the island. Isurumuniya is well-known for it's variety of stone carvings and their quality. One enigmatic rock-cut sculpture depicts a resting person with the head of a horse behind his shoulder, a unique subject in Sri Lanka's art. It is commonly called "Man and Horse" because of the uncertainty of it's interpretation. Some regard it as the South Indian god Ayanar, others as Parjanya, a personification of the rain cloud. The Ramayana Trail interpretation of this rock carving identifies the depicted man as Ravana's father, Rishi Visravasmuni with his white horse, and Isurumuniya as a temple built by Ravana in commemoration.

Manavari, about 6 kms north of Chilaw, is the first place where Lord Rama installed a Lingam, as a remedy to Lord Shiva after commitingBrahmincide by killing the king Ravana who was a Brahmin. This Shiva Lingam in Manavari is called Ramalingam because it was made by Lord Rama. There are only two Lingams in the world named after Lord Rama, the other one being that of Rameswaram in India.

The MunneshwaramKovil close to Chilaw is one of the 5 major Shiva temples of Sri Lanka and Rameshwaram islands, called Ishvarams. According to a Tamil legend, the temple is situated at a place where king Rama prayed to Shiva after committing the worst crime according to Hindu Dharma, namely Brahmahasti, the killing of a priest, because Ravana who had to be killed by Rama in order to liberate Sita, was of Brahmin caste. Rama stopped the Vimana vehicle at Munneshvaram because of his impression the Doshana sin was not following him at this place. So he ascended from the vimana and prayed to God Shiva asking for a remedy. Shiva advised Rama to install four lingams at Manavari, Trinco, Mannar and Rameshwaram for this purpose.