Jaffna-rising from the ashes 

Having lived through insurgent uprising, military occupation, extensive damage, expulsion and depopulation Jaffna, the administrative centre of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, is reclaiming slow normalcy since the end of a thirty year long civil war. 

Jaffna had always been a contested city.  Regularly invaded by South Indian Rulers, followed by Portuguese, Dutch and British rulers Jaffna experienced a short lull of peace with the independence. However it was occupied by LTTE terrorists since 1986, then by the Indian Peace Keepers and the Sri Lankan Army. 

It was once the educational capital in the country with the largest Library of Asia, many of country’s best educational Institutes and a vibrant and academic population. However the thirty of neglect and destruction had had its toll on Jaffna with its brightest brains leaving the country.  

Jaffna’s historical sites varying from Hindu temples in Nallur to Buddhist ones in Kadurugoda speak of a rich heritage and an era where Hindus and Buddhists lived in peace and harmony.