Keerimalai Springs

At Keerimalai fresh water rises through the limestone right at the shoreline and is caught in walled pools beside the sea, so that bathers sit in fresh water with salt water breaking a few metres away. The springs have a long reputation for healing and are tied to a story about a princess whose face was cured here. There are separate pools for men and women, and the Naguleswaram Shiva temple, one of the oldest in the region, stands just inland.

Background

Keerimalai lies in the suburb of Kankesanthurai, north of Jaffna and west of Palaly, at 50 feet above sea level. Hindus hold that the spring water heals, and irrigation studies link this to a high mineral content drawn from underground. The adjoining Naguleswaram temple is the most northerly of Sri Lanka's Pancha Ishwarams of Siva. Its present building dates from 1894 and was rebuilt after a fire in 1918. On Aadi Amaavaasai, in the Tamil month of Aadi, large crowds, mostly men, come to bathe and perform rites for their ancestors. The princess Maruthapura Veeravalli, said to have been cured at the springs, built the Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple two miles away in 785 CE.

Source: Wikipedia, "Naguleswaram temple"

What's there

• The spring pools - fresh water rising and pooled directly beside the sea.
• The separate bathing - divided pools for men and women.
• Naguleswaram temple - an ancient Shiva temple a short walk inland.
• The coast - the northern Jaffna shore with the pools built into it.

When to go

December to March is the most comfortable. Mornings are quietest. Festival days at the temple bring crowds to the pools.

What to expect

The pools are basic with minimal changing facilities. Dress conventions are conservative and should be respected. The site is busy on temple festival days.

Nearby

Kandarodai is south, and Jaffna town is southeast.

Key facts