Sitharaman Visits Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil in Jaffna

Colombo, Nov 3 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday visited a famous Hindu temple in Sri Lanka's Jaffna city.

Sitharaman is in the country on a three-day visit.

"Smt @nsitharaman visits Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil in Jaffna during her three-day official visit to Sri Lanka," her office posted on X.

Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil or Nallur Murugan Kovil is one of the most significant Hindu temples in the Jaffna District of Northern Province.

The temple is a socially important institution for the Sri Lankan Tamils Hindu identity and many temples have been built in Europe and North America using the same name as a cultural memory. The presiding deity is Lord Muruga (son of Lord Siva aka Karthikeya) in the form of the holy Vel. The idol of the Nallur Devi or goddess was gifted to the temple in the 10 century AD by the Chola queen Sembiyan Mahadevi.

On Thursday, Sitharaman, a senior BJP leader hailing from Tamil Nadu, visited the main Hindu Temple in Trincomalee.