Jaffna has played home to my ancestors for as long as my family can remember and it is also home to my family’s guru lineage. I have never had the privilege to visit this land. Sadly, it has been ravaged by 28 years of civil war and it was not until 2009 that this war ended allowing people like myself to visit in a safe way.
I will share in the blog posts to come my experiences in tracing family and spiritual roots and the many surprising and wonderful things that I discovered along the way with regards to this, my encounters with people who have so much to give even after having lost everything in the war, smiling orphans, courageous elders with hope in their eyes and God in their hearts, and a land soaked with spirituality.
Jaffna, is truly home to me, if not on paper then in heart and soul.
The Shanti Lingam temple was built by Rishi Thondunathan and his parents and is part of Subramuniya Kottam in Kopay (located approximately 4 km from the town of Jaffna). My guru, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami gifted and personally installed the Siva Lingam in the sanctum of this temple. This small colorful temple has a strong peaceful vibration to it and is surrounded by trees in a village setting.
