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நல்லூர் கந்தசுவாமி கோயில்Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil

DeityMurugan (Kandaswamy, worshipped as the Vel)கந்தசுவாமி (முருகன் – வேல்)
ConsortValli and Deivayanai
LocationNallur, Jaffna, Jaffna, Northern Province, Sri Lanka
FestivalsAnnual 25-day festival (Aug-Sept), Ther (chariot) festival, Kodiyetram, Kailasavahanam, Manjam

Sthala Mahātmyam

Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil in Jaffna is the pre-eminent Hindu temple of Sri Lankan Tamils and a living emblem of their cultural and spiritual identity. First founded by tradition in 948 CE and rebuilt in grandeur under the Jaffna kings, it was destroyed by the Portuguese in 1621 and re-established at its present site in 1749. Murugan presides here in his most sacred aniconic form, the Vel, the divine spear itself enshrined in the sanctum, with consorts Valli and Deivayanai in subsidiary shrines and a Dandayudhapani form worshipped without consort. The temple is renowned for its towering golden-ochre Rajagopuram and multiple gateway towers. Its celebrated annual festival extends twenty-five days, among the longest in Sri Lanka, opening with the Kodiyetram flag-hoisting and building to the spectacular Ther (chariot) festival, Kailasavahanam and Manjam, drawing vast crowds of devotees from the island and the global Tamil diaspora. Devotees traditionally worship here with great humility and prescribed observance.

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