Naagapooshani Amman Kovil - Nayinaatheevu

Rohan2 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 21, 2007 12:21 am

Naagapooshani Amman Kovil - Nayinaatheevu

Wednesday, 20 June 2007

The two week long annual festival of the Jaffna Naagapoosani Amman Kovil on the island of Nainativu is held in June every year. The annual festival is set to attract around 20,000 Hindu devotees to this Jaffna island. The Nainathivu Nagapooshani Amman temple is situated close to the famous Nagadeepa Vihara in the island.

Nagapooshani Amman Temple on the island of Nainativu is a very ancient Hindu temple. It is believed that this temple was originally erected many millennia before by the Nagas who were a pre-historic race of people of Sri Lanka. The temple was originally erected and dedicated for the worship of the Serpent God called "Nayinar" by the Nagas.

In the Nainativu temple, the object of worship in the sanctum sanctorum is a stone figure of a five-headed cobra.

Nainativu is a tiny island about three miles long and one mile across. It is situated about 25 miles south-west of the Jaffna city. One should travel first by road up to a point called Kurikadduvan on the nearby island of Punkudutivu which is connected to the mainland by causeways and take a boat from Kurikadduvan to reach the Nainativu island. The boat trip would take about 15 minutes.

At Nainativu, the annual high festivals at the Hindu temple are conducted in the Tamil month of Aani (June/July) for 16 days. The chariot festival which is celebrated on the 14th day would attract thousands of pilgrims from all over the world.

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