The Jaffna Clock Tower (Sinhala: යාපනය ඔරලෝසු කණුව; Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாணம் மணிக்கூட்டுக் கோபுரம்) is located in the middle of Jaffna town near the Public Library, Sri Lanka.
History
The clock tower was built to commemorate the visit of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales to Sri Lanka in 1875 and perhaps also Sir James Longden's administration of the island from 1877 to 1884 (Martyn, 2003; Pushparatnam, 2014; Wijebandara, 2014). The tower was designed by James Smither, the Government architect and the clock was gifted by Longden (Martyn, 2003; Wijebandara, 2014). The cost for the tower was met partly by the balance of the Jaffna Prince of Wales' Reception Fund (Rs. 6,000) and partly by further local contributions [(Rs. 4,000) Martyn, 2003; Pushparatnam, 2014].
The tower had been partly damaged as a result of the Sri Lankan civil war that occurred between the Government forces and LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), a militant group designated as a terrorist organization by a number of countries including Sri Lanka, India, the USA and the EU. Charles, Prince of Wales who visited Sri Lanka in 1998 offered assistance in restoring the damaged tower (Wijebandara, 2014).
Attribution
1) Clock tower, Jaffna by AntanO is licensed under CC BY SA 3.0
References
1) Martyn, J.H., 2003. Martyn's Notes on Jaffna: Chronological, Historical, Biographical. Asian Educational Services. pp.260-261.
2) Pushparatnam, P., 2014. Tourism and monuments of archaeological heritage in Northern Sri Lanka. Author Publication. ISBN: 978-955-0811-08-3. p.157.
3) Wijebandara, I.D.M., 2014. Yapanaye Aithihasika Urumaya (In Sinhala). Published by the editor. ISBN-978-955-9159-95-7. p.114.
Location Map
This page was last updated on 27 April 2027