The Kadurugoda ruins at Kandarodai are among the peninsula's most unusual sights: a cluster of small, dome-shaped stupas of grey coral stone standing close together on a low grassy mound near Chunnakam, a short drive north of Jaffna town. The archaeologist P. E. Pieris recorded 56 stupas here in 1917; around 20 remain visible today, the largest about 23 feet across and the smallest barely six.
Excavations by a University of Pennsylvania team in 1970 uncovered black-and-red ware pottery, a Brahmi-inscribed sherd, and Roman, Pandyan and Chera coins — evidence of settlement reaching deep into the first millennium BCE and of busy maritime trade. Local folklore links the stupas to sixty monks said to be buried here. Small and atmospheric, it rewards unhurried exploration.
Good to know
- Fifteen quiet minutes is enough, but photographers linger longer
- The site is open ground — hat and water recommended
- Easily combined with Nilavarai well and the northern springs
- Finds from the site are displayed at the Jaffna Archaeological Museum