Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple

History

Literary mentions

Naka Nadu was the name of the whole Jaffna Peninsula in some historical documents. There are number of Buddhist myths about the interactions of people of this historical place with Buddha.

Inscriptions

A 12th century Tamil inscription was found in the temple premises, it contains an edict issued by the Sinhala King Parakramabahu I (1153–1186 A.D) addressed to his local Tamil officials in Jaffna, advising them on how to deal with shipwrecked foreign traders.

The people "snake-worshippers" of Nainativu, spoke Tamil based on Ptolemy's description. The interchangeable names Nayar and Naka or Naga, meaning cobra or serpent were applied to and self described by these snake-worshiping people from classical antiquity. The word Naga was sometimes written in early inscriptions as Naya, as in Nayanika - this occurs in the Nanaghat inscription of 150 BCE. Archaeological excavations and studies provide evidence of Paleolithic inhabitation in the Jaffna and Kerala region. The findings include Naga idols and suggest that serpent worship was widely practised in the Kerala and Jaffna region during the megalithic period. The name Naka as either a corrupted version of the word Nayanar or may have been applied to this community due to their head covering being the shape of a hydra-headed cobra in reverence to their serpentine deities; Sri Naayinar Swami and Sri Nagapooshani Amman. The rulers and society of Nainativu are described as an advanced civilization in the Vallipuram gold plate inscriptions. H. Parker, a British historian and author of "Ancient Ceylon" considers the Naka to be an offshoot of the Nayars of Kerala Many other archaeological inscriptions refer to the Chola-Naka alliance and intermarriage being the progenitor of the Pallava Dynasty of Tamilakam.

On the right side of the South Gopuram entrance is a large life saver-shaped stone - an ancient anchor. Arab ships used to carry such anchors.