Adam’s Peak is sacred to Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims and Christians, each tradition with its own name for the footprint at the summit and its own understanding of what it records. The pre-dawn climb, with lanterns on the stone steps and thousands of people from all four traditions ascending together in the dark, is an experience with very few equivalents. The triangular shadow cast westward at dawn is the payoff.
Nallur Kovil, Jaffna
The most important Hindu temple in Sri Lanka - at the spiritual heart of the Tamil north
A towering Dravidian gopuram in the tradition of great South Indian temple architecture, in Jaffna at the northern tip of the island. The evening puja fills the outer courtyard with conch shells, oil lamps and sacred ash. During the 25-day Nallur festival in August, it becomes one of the most intense pilgrimage concentrations in South Asia.
