27/06/2017
The Jaffna Library was known as one of the best in Asia before it was burnt down during the civil war. Today, most of it is restored and is open for the public. This building is one of the monuments of Jaffna, located very close to Jaffna town.
The library complex was built around 1933, as a private collection of books. Furthermore it became fully assessed by the citizens and students of Jaffna. The Jaffna library was enclosed to the community by the Mayor of Jaffana Alfred Duraiappah. Narasiman from Madras, India is the architect who designed the complex. Thus he was advised by the Indian librarian S.R Raganathan. Both of them initiated to set up the building into an international standard library. As a result of that the library became very famous among both local and foreign people. However, due to the civil war the library was not in a position to be used.
The former President Chandrika Bandaranayke revamped the library again, with the support of Tamil people and international donations. At that time there were over 20000 books were collected. Therefore it was scheduled to be opened and handed over to the public in 2004. Currently the library is open to all the citizens as well as tourists. In the front yard, there's a statue of Saraswati – Hinduism’s goddess of knowledge and at the back there's an airy cafe.
PC : Kuruneelan Kuru
