Nallur Kandaswamy temple
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Nallur Kandaswamy kovil or Nallur Murukan temple is one of the of the most significant Hindu temples in the Jaffna district. It is situated in a town called Nallur. The presiding deity is Lord Murukan or Skanda.
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[edit] Origins
Due to political reasons the Temple was shifted from place to place in Nallur area. Although it is believed that the first Temple was originally built in 948 A.D at the land called 'Kurukkal Valavu', due to foreign invasion the Temple had to be re-constructed number of times in different places.
The third temple was established by Chempaka Perumal an Indian Malayalee ruler in the services of the southern Kotte kingdom when he defeated the local Jaffna Kingdom ruler. The third temple was destroyed the Portuguese colonials after their arrival in 1505 A.D. in Sri Lanka.
[edit] Current temple
The fourth and the present Temple was constructed in 1749 A.D. during the benign Dutch colonial era by one Krishna Suba Iyer and Ragunatha Maapaana Mudaliyar in the 'Kurukkal Valavu', which is the original Temple premises. Initially the Temple was built using bricks and stones, and had a cadjaned roof. The original shrine had only two main halls and didn't have any Clock Towers, or any surrounding courtyard and an enclosing wall, or any ornately carved towers or gopuram.
The first Clock Tower was erected in 1899, and the main Hall where the Vel or lance of the deity resides was re-furbished using rocks in 1902. The first enclosing wall was erected in 1909. Likewise, the Temple has been gradually renovated from time to time with contributions of the general public. In 1964, the 'Vasantha Mandapam' or grand hall was renovated to have the present grand look and feel.
The temple has the main entrance in the east. It has an ornately carved five-storied tower or gopuram in the South Indian temple architectural style at the main entrance.
In the surrounding inner-yard, It has shrines for Lords Ganesh, Vairavar,Sun and Sandana Gopala. In the southern part of this Temple, the holy pond and Thandayudhapaani shrine dedicated to another aspect of Lord Murukan can be seen. In the northern side big holy garden is located.
[edit] Social significance
The temple is a socially important institution for the Sri Lankan Tamils Hindu identity of North Sri Lanka. In the Tamil diaspora many temples have been built in Europe and North America using the same name as a cultural memory.
It should be noted that within the temple complex there is a shrine dedicated to an Islamic sufi saint making the premises multi ethnic just like Kataragama temple complex.
The temple hosts Temple car festival.
