In the Jaffna peninsula lies a total of 4 lighthouses along with numerous forts built by our colonial masters to protect the precious cargo moving out of Pearl Island. On the far left of the northern border lies the Kovilan Point Lighthouse on the Karaitivu Island. Next is the Kankesanthure Lighthouse (Kankesanthurai Lighthouse) and at the far right lies the Point Padro lighthouse. Othe south of the Jaffna peninsula lies this rather odd lighthouse at Pungudutivu Island.
Point Pedro lighthouse lies in the North Eastern corner of Sri Lanka. Built in 1916, this is 32 m (105 ft) tall. Access to the lighthouse was restricted for the last 30 years due to the Tamil Terrorists in the area. After the defeat of the last strongholds of the terrorists at the end of 2009, the public can now have access to this area. Currently, this lighthouse is inside a Navel Base and is used as a watch tower. All the glass and the lamp are destroyed and are covered by black polythene. Unfortunately, the lighthouse is also dwarfed by a gigantic telecom tower built right next to it.
The road that was closed (as you can see in the 2013 photo) is now open the normal life prevails in the area.
Also See
- Lighthouses of Sri Lanka
- Attractions of Sri Lanka
- Heritage of Sri Lanka
- Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity
Map of Point Pedro Lighthouse
The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites
Zoom out the map to see more surrounding locations using the mouse scroll wheel or map controls.
Travel Directions to Point Pedro Lighthouse
Jaffna can be reached through 2 directions. The first one is over the Elephant Pass which is the normal route to Jaffna. The other entrance is from Pooneryn over the newly built Sangupiddi Bridge. This road connects to Mannar.
Route 01 from Colombo to Jaffna (Through Kurunegala) | Route 02 from Colombo to Jaffna (Through Puttalam) |
Through : Kurunegala – Dambulla – Anuradhapura – Vavuniya Distance : 400 km Travel Time : 7-8 hours Driving Directions : see on Google map | Through : Puttalam – Anuradhapura – Vavuniya Distance : 400 km Travel Time : 7-8 hours Driving Directions : see on Google maps |
From Jaffna to from Point Pedro Lighthouse |
Though : Jaffna – Point Padro Rd distance : 37 km Travel time : 1 hours Driving directions : see on google map |