Jaffna

Jaffna is the cultural capital of Sri Lanka's Tamil community, and it feels distinct from anywhere else on the island — in language, cuisine, architecture and the rhythm of daily life. The city was shaped over centuries by South Indian trade and settlement, then by Portuguese and Dutch colonial rule, and more recently by decades of civil conflict from which it's still steadily rebuilding.

Jaffna Fort, begun by the Portuguese and rebuilt by the Dutch, sits on the lagoon edge and is one of the largest forts on the island by area. Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil, a Hindu temple dedicated to Murugan, is the city's spiritual centre and one of the most important Hindu sites in Sri Lanka, particularly lively during its annual festival.

Jaffna's cuisine — built around seafood, palmyrah palm products and a different spice profile from the south — is reason enough on its own for many travellers to make the trip north.

Jaffna's library holds a difficult place in the city's modern history: the original collection, one of the largest in Asia at the time, was destroyed by fire in 1981 amid ethnic tension, and its rebuilding since has become a symbol of the city's recovery. Culturally, Jaffna cuisine — built around crab curry, palmyrah-palm products and a sharper use of spice than the south — remains distinct from the rest of the island.