In Jaffna, at the northern tip of Sri Lanka, Nallur is the heart of Murugan devotion for Sri Lankan Tamils. Its golden towers rise over a wide sandy courtyard, and in the sanctum Murugan is worshipped not as an image but as the vel.
What is special here
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Murugan worshipped in the form of the vel
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Rebuilt in 1734 after the earlier temple was destroyed
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Cared for by the same family for generations
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A twenty-five day festival that draws Tamils from around the world
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Known for keeping its poojas punctually
Chapter 1
A temple rebuilt
Tradition and old records speak of a temple at Nallur long before the present one, in the time of the Jaffna kings. In the fifteenth century a prince known as Sapumal Kumaraya, or Chempaha Perumal, built a temple here.
That temple was destroyed by the Portuguese in the 1620s. The Nallur that stands today was built in 1734, under Dutch rule, by Ragunatha Maapaana Mudaliyar. His family has looked after the temple ever since; the present custodian took office in 2021.
Chapter 2
The vel in the sanctum
At Nallur the main object of worship is the vel itself, the spear given to Murugan by his mother. It is one of the clearest places to see what the vel means in Tamil devotion: not a weapon, but the god's power in a form that can be held.
Worship here follows a strict order. Men remove their shirts before entering the inner shrine, everyone walks barefoot on the sand of the temple grounds, and women are asked to dress modestly.
Chapter 3
The great festival
Every year, usually around August, Nallur holds a festival that lasts twenty-five days. Each day the deity is carried out in procession, and near the end come the chariot festival and the water festival.
For Tamil families spread across the world, the Nallur festival is a homecoming. The temple has grown with them: a nine-storey Raja Gopuram was opened in 2011, and another golden tower in 2015.
Stories told of this place
Our reflection: Nallur was destroyed once and rebuilt, and has stood through hard times since. Standing before the vel here, it is easy to understand why it is called strength that was given.
Our own retelling of the temple's history and traditions.