Sri Lanka was further able to strengthen its cultural and historical friendship with its Indian counterparts by organizing the first ever ‘’Murugan Trail ‘’ from South India, which was a Media FAM Tour organized by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Deputy High commission in Chennai, from 3rd to 13th August 2022.
This was seen as a good initiative as the country is recovering slowly from its economic crisis, where the Tourism sector also suffered a considerable setback, with several countries issuing travel advisories. Sri Lanka Tourism is back on track with the hope of bringing one million tourists this year, where tourist arrivals are on the rise with the gradual relaxation of travel advisories at the same time. India has been exceptionally helpful towards its neighbor during this crucial period, by bringing the most number of tourist arrivals to the destination, recorded as 74,792 for the month of July 2022.
The main purpose of organizing this FAM Tour was to promote the ‘’Murugan Trail’’ to South Indian tourists, who have a deep connection with Lord Murugan and the festivals as Hindu devotees. Nallur festival in Jaffna and Kataragama Esala Festival are held annually to pay homage to Lord Murugan. Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil or Nallur Murugan Kovil is one of the of the most significant Hindu temples in the Nallur, Jaffna. The Nallur Festival in Jaffna in August is the island’s longest festival. Spanning 25 days of vibrant chariot processions, drumming, dancing and acts of self-mortification, held in honor of the war god Skanda.
Kataragama temple is mostly worshipped by Sinhalese and Hindu devotees. Kataragama plays a very pivotal role as it is a religious place of worship by both Sri Lankans and South Indians alike. Murugan, is the Hindu god of war, the son of Parvati and Shiva, the brother of Ganesha and a god whose legends have many versions in Hinduism. Skanda has been an important deity in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times, worshipped as Mahasena and Kumara in North India and is and predominantly worshipped in the state of Tamil Nadu and other parts of South India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia as Murugan. He is also known as the God of the Tamil people’’. Therefore, the Kataragama Esala Festival is also a crucial part of the Murugan Trail.
In this regard, the Kataragama Esala Festival is a crucial celebration where Kataragama temple is dedicated to lord Murugan and is also known as ‘’Skandha’’ who is known among the Sinhalese as the “Kataragama Deviyo”. The Kataragama Esala Festival also holds an important place in the ‘’Murugan Trail ‘’ because of its historic connection. Due to this reason, many South Indians come to Sri Lanka as Pilgrims to worship.
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