Mannar

Why Visit

A quiet, little-visited landscape of baobab trees, donkeys and a Dutch fort, plus the starting point for viewing Adam's Bridge.

An island connected to the mainland by causeway, at the Sri Lankan end of Adam's Bridge, the chain of shoals reaching toward India.

History

Mannar's fort was originally built by the Portuguese in 1560 to control this strategic crossing point toward India, then captured and rebuilt by the Dutch in the 17th century, part of a chain of coastal defences guarding the Palk Strait approach to the island. The island's baobab trees, unusual for Sri Lanka and native to Africa and Madagascar, are generally believed to have been introduced by Arab traders centuries ago, reflecting the area's long history as a waypoint on trade routes rather than a native ecosystem feature. Adam's Bridge, the chain of limestone shoals stretching toward India, is described in the Hindu epic Ramayana as a causeway built by Rama's army to rescue Sita from Ravana — a piece of religious tradition that has shaped how the strait has been understood for centuries, alongside its more prosaic and equally long history as a shallow, historically walkable crossing point between the two landmasses until storms deepened the channel in the 15th century. The Doric Bungalow, a ruined colonial-era house on the island, and the wetlands around Mannar, an internationally recognised stopover for migratory birds including flamingos, add further layers to the island's history and present-day appeal.