Pilgrims to Paalaitheevu St. Antony’s church annual festival asked to register with SLN

[TamilNet, Thursday, 04 March 2010, 18:41 GMT]
Jaffna Bishop House, instructed by Sri Lanka Navy (SLN), has requested the devotees who wish to attend the annual two days festival of Paalaitheevu St. Antony’s church on the 6th and 7th of March to register their names and the particulars of their boats, with local SLN authorities. Devotees are being allowed to attend this festival of this church which is also known as the ‘Pilgrims Church’ after a period of five years, sources in Jaffna said.



Paalaitheevu, located in the area between Jaffna peninsula and Mannaar was a place where fishermen went and stayed to engage in deep sea fishing.

People were not allowed into Paalaitheevu area during the war.

During the peace period between 2002 and 2005 pilgrims were permitted by SLN authorities to attend the annual festival.

The people of Ma’ndaitheevu in the islets of Jaffna are very much devoted to Paalaitheevu Pilgrims Church which is close to their place. They are being allowed to go there directly from Ma’ndaitheevu after a period of 20 years, the sources added.