Nagadipa (Nagadeepa), Sri Lanka.

Nagadeepa — also known as Nagadipa or Nainativu — is a small, sandy island set within a cluster of islands in the Palk Bay, off the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. Despite its modest size, it carries enormous religious significance for both Buddhists and Hindus, drawing thousands of pilgrims each year to two shrines that stand no more than 300 metres apart on the same shoreline.

The island is sheltered by groves of coconut palms and Palmyrah palm trees, and its two main jetties serve as the arrival points for the faithful who make the journey from the mainland. In a quietly telling detail of the island's plural character, the boat captain moors at whichever jetty suits the majority of passengers — the one closer to the Hindu Kovil, or the one leading directly to the Nagadeepa Vihara.

Getting to Nagadeepa

The journey begins in Jaffna, the city located 404 km north of Colombo at the northernmost tip of Sri Lanka, reached via the A3 road linking to the A9 main northern highway. From Jaffna, a causeway crosses the Palk Bay to Kayts, the largest island of the local cluster. A second causeway then connects Kayts to the island of Punkudutivu, from whose village of Kurikattuwan (Kurikadduwan) a 20-minute boat ride carries visitors across the Palk Bay to Nagadeepa itself. The total distance — land and sea combined — from Jaffna to Nagadeepa is approximately 30 km.

The Shore Between Two Faiths

Along the motorable coastal road that runs past both shrines, a string of stalls has grown into a modest bazaar stretching for roughly a hundred metres between the Buddhist temple and the Hindu Kovil. The island's resident population numbers approximately 2,500 Sri Lankan Tamils and around 250 Muslims, yet the island also receives thousands of Sinhalese Buddhist pilgrims, drawn by the temple's standing as one of the 16 holiest Buddhist sites in Sri Lanka.

History and Legend

According to the Pali chronicles of Ceylon, Nagadipa is first mentioned in connection with the Buddha's second visit to Sri Lanka in the 6th century B.C. The Mahavamsa (ch. 1, vv. 44–70) relates that during this visit the Buddha pacified two Naga kings of Nagadipa who had arrayed themselves in battle over a gem-set throne. In the ancient chronicles, the pre-historic Naga tribes are represented as non-human beings possessed of an advanced civilisation — a tradition the text preserves rather than resolves.

The Buddhist Temple

The ancient temple that once encompassed image houses and a stupa in which the gem-set throne was said to have been enshrined has been destroyed, and the Buddhist temple standing today is a modern structure. Its stupa is notably painted in silver — an unusual departure from the whitewashed stupas found throughout the rest of the country — an approach taken to protect its limestone fabric from the persistent sea wind. The temple premises include two shrine rooms: a main shrine room situated behind the stupa, and a smaller shrine room that features a bronze Buddha statue.