Hindu Temple of Jaffna, India

August 14, 2007 |02:23 | By : Taimur Ahmed

Hindu Temples of Jaffna There had been Hindu temples in Jaffna the northern region of Sri Lanka, for several centuries. However, when Portuguese captured Jaffna in 1620 AD, all temples existed at that time, without any exception had been demolished. Although, Potuguese rule lasted only 38 years, people could not build any themples, as the Duch who suceded Portuguese too did not allow to practice any relegions other than their own. It took about 175 years to build the first temple after 1620.

Towards the end of Dutch rule in Jaffna around 1796, they relaxed their policy and a few Hindu themples have been built. Although the basic temple buildings conform to the religious texts and very similar to the ones in Tamilnadu of India, from where most of the Jaffna population could have come in the remote past, Jaffna themples have a few regional characters. One of these characters which is absent in Tamilnadu temples is the Bell Tower.

One cannot see a proper Bell Tower in Tamilnadu temples. However, almost all temples of reasonable size in Jaffna cosist of a bell tower as an important feature. The first two photos show this difference.

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3 Comments

RMnathan

September 25, 2007 |22:00

This is an exact copy of the article I wrote in the Hub pages. See http://hubpages.com/hub/Bell_Towers_of_Hindu_Temples_of_Jaffna_-_An_influence_of_Christian_Churches