#

The annual festival of the Sri Nagapooshani Amman Kovil on Nainativu Island was held from the 04th to the 19th June 2008 under the patronage of the Sri Lanka Navy. This year’s festival, attended by a large number of Hindu devotees from and around the Jaffna Peninsula, was a grand success.

Sri Lanka Navy extended its fullest assistance and cooperation to the civil authorities to conduct the festival smoothly.  The naval personnel deployed for the occasion under the Northern Naval Area command, fully ensured the safety of the devotees who attended the festival. Transportation and medical facilities were made available to the devotees who thronged the Kovil in large numbers to perform their annual religious observances.

The Sri Nagapooshani Amman Kovil which is located on Nainativu, an islet in the Jaffna Peninsula, is much revered by Hindu devotees whose majority are Tamils. The festival of the Sri Nagapooshani Amman Kovil is generally held in the Tamil month of Aani (June/July) each year for fifteen days.

During the festive season, many childless couples come on pilgrimages to the Kovil to receive the blessings of the Nagapooshani Amman, the patron Mother Goddess of the Kovil. The devotees, whose wishes are bestowed, too come with their new born babies to fulfil their vows. As such, the Sri Nagapooshani Amman Kovil becomes a place of high activity during the festive season. Sri Lanka Navy, which is always concerned about the peace loving Tamil civilian populace, readily gave its fullest support to make this year’s festival a huge success. The devotees who attended the festival expressed their gratitude to the Navy for facilitating them to engage in the performance of their annual religious rituals and observances at the Kovil freely.

Nainativu is a unique islet which houses the religious places belonging to all main religions practised in Sri Lanka, namely Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. The famous Buddhist temple, “Nagadeepa Vihara”, is also located on the same island in close proximity to the Sri Nagapooshani Amman Kovil, symbolising religious coexistence among peace loving citizens in the country irrespective of their ethnic differences.