Nallur, Sri Lanka

Nallur is a town in the northern Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. It is located 3 km south from the city centre of Jaffna. Nallur is famous for the Nallur Kandaswamy temple a popular place of worship and respectively the largest Saiva temple on the peninsula. It is also famous for being the historical capital of the old Jaffna Kingdom and birthplace of renowned philosopher and theologian Arumuka Navalar.EtymologyThe name Nallur is Tamil; Nall derives from the word ‘Nallathu’ which simply means good probably indicating it is a place of affluence or fertile lands, and ‘Ur’ which means place or city. So Nallur in Tamil translates good county, city or village. The name Nallur is said to have come into light some time after the fall of the Jaffna Kingdom around the 17th century from a village in Tamil Nadu, replacing its original courtly name ‘Singai Nagar’ from when it functioned as the capital of the Jaffna KingdomHistoryNallur’s proclamation as capital can be traced to the earliest origins of the Jaffna Kingdom by the first Aryacakravarti king, Kalinga Magha. For years it was the focal point at which political, religious and cultural importance was built and domain of the ruling elite of royalty, ministers and other officials of the kingdom. Soon after its proclamation as capital, in 948 A.D the first temple was built by Puvenaya Vaku, chief minister to King Kalinga Magha for Lord Murugan in a place called Kurukkal Valavu in Nallur.