Island of Mannar

Map of Mannar – click to enlarge

This was my first ever visit to Mannar and one of the most awaited trips. Initially I wanted to join Niroshan on his Mannar journey but had skipped it because of my wedding. Though I missed out on it I did a good copycat journey. For further information on locations please do read his report. This will be more of a picture report.

We left early as possible from Chilaw and reached Thantirimale around 7.30am. After having breakfast we took off towards Madu church. The church was about 10Km’s from the A 14. After visiting Madu we headed towards Mannar and on the way we didn’t forget to stop by and have a glimpse of Giant tank which was dried out.

on oya maduwa rd

madu

another view

mother Mary

glass art

Ave Maria

Dried out giant tank

grassland

Just before entering the Mannar causeway we took the Pooneryn road and at one point took another left hand turn which brought us towards the historical Thiruketeeswaram kovil. After visiting the kovil we took the road to the right which took us towards Manthota ancient temple. If you are a Buddhist don’t forget to visit this place.

Tirukkētīsvaram

sacred

ruins at Tirukkētīsvaram

side view

our team

Manthota temple

ruins at manthota

parts of statues

more ruins

gangsters at mannar

By crossing Thallady Bridge we reached the main island of Mannar and visited the Old Dutch church which was found at the end of the bridge. It had a superb view towards the ocean and Thallady Bridge. After visiting the fort we took the first road to the right which took us towards the ancient Biobab tree. There are about 30 trees scattered around the island and most of these trees are found while traveling to Talaimannar.

mannar fort

Thallady bridge

entrance

monument at the fort

partitions

mannar lagoon

another view

guard post

bell tower

towards the mainland

giant biobab tree

its branches

too big for them

We arrived at Four Tees Inn at around 12pm and had a superb meal prepared my Mr. Rohan’s chef. Mr. Rohan was a terrific guy and had a good knowledge on birds too. After having a small nap we decided to head towards Talaimannar. Our first attraction was Talaimannar light house close to the jetty.

On our way back from Talaimannar we took the road between Talaimannar police station and the school which led us towards Urumalee. On the way we came across a by road to the left which had a statue of Christ at its beginning. We took this road and ended up at the Giant tombs called Adam’s Mausoleum. Next we set off towards Urumalee beach where one could view an old light house. If the skies were clear we could have even seen Rameshwaram. This is one beech I would revisit. The sand was like concrete and we drove very close to the ocean and spent many hours in to the night before getting back to Mannar. That night we had a wonderful dinner consisting of “Poori” and “Sambaru”.

mini lakes in the island

bullock cart at thalei mannar

Talaimannar pier

decaying

Thaleimannar light house

an alter

adams Mausoleum

beautiful urumale beach

old light house at urumale

wow

what a beach!

setting sun towards india

hard as cement

sand been blown away

adventure seeking lonely foreigner

evening walk

parked here for few hours

Next day after thanking Mr. Rohan for his great service we departed towards Silavatura. On our way we came across the Arippu fort which was few hundred meters away from the road. After visiting it we went towards the famous Dorric which was been washed away to the ocean with time. After having a chat with the navy guys we returned back to the A 14 and took off towards Chilaw to end up our brief visit to Island of Mannar.

intresting biobab tree found close to talaimannar rd

capturing

spacious

new leaves

dried out

yummy breakfast

new road to silawatura

lonely donkey

Arippu fort

Arippu fort lateral view

without its glasses

Doric bungalow

steps towards heaven

a door way

washed away

inside it

hidden passage

doric tower

close up

wow

the old church near the doric

yummy