Traveling about 900 meters on the Point Pedro road from the Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil in Jaffna you will come across a arch of a colonial building right next to the road with a canopy covering it from the elements of nature. This lone arch is know as the Sangili Toppu or Poothathamby Arch. Some believe that as the entrance to the place of the last regional king of Jaffna, King Sangili. The general consensus is that this was the entrance to mansion of a wealthy tamil individual Poothathamby, a local administrator from the Dutch period. Thus this arch is known as Poothathamby Arch. Irrespective of its origin, few hundred feet away from this structure you will come across foundation of a building which is generally thought as a part of the Sangili Toppu building complex. Next to this lies a large artificial pool now restored after the war. This foundation has been now designated as a protected archaeological monument.

Facade of a king Sankali's palace. Interestingly, with influences of Dutch Architecture! Beyond the facade, as a seperate unit are ruines of the palace building proper. Unfortunately, only the foundation and footings remain.

Recently renovated and now looks really cool....

Poorly maintained history place of a Tamil king. The building are damaged very badly. It seems like, there is not even a minimum security for this heritage.

One of the great king's place and now it's a historical figure

This is conserved as a monument to remember the Nalluar kingdom and called by the name 'sangiliyan' tha last king who ruled Nalluar kingdom. It is situated on the Jaffna - point pedro road close to mantirimanai.

Cankilian Thoppu facade is an ancient facade, and one of the remnants of the Jaffna kingdom. The arch is located on the Jaffna-Point Pedro Road, near Nallur, Jaffna. The Cankilian Thoppu is an archaeological protected monument in the Jaffna District and was listed as such by the Sri Lankan government in 2007. This facade was abandoned for several years but now A senior surgeon and the head of the Surgery Department of the Medical Faculty Dr. Subramanium Raviraj had been funded with his own money to renovate it. Must visit place.

There may have been a castle a long time back but there no visible signs of any of it other than this gate. Sitting next to the main highway everyone passes through it but no one really seem to appreciate it. Some form of a shelter is added to the top of the gate to protect from weather. Behind the gate is what I believe is a private property with a house so any clues to the hisptory are all lost. Gate itself is not very decorative but quite plain. Kings’ ministers residence nearby is far prettier and is still somewhat intact.

This is believed to be the façade of King Sangiliyan's palace. It is situated right at the road side, hence you can easily spot this place. Behind this, you can see what is believed to be the foundation of King Sangiliyan's Palace. Unfortunately, these buildings have not been preserved properly.

Chain grove

Nice to take a look but don't expect to spend time there either

Beautiful place. Now it's doing repairs. It's very wonderfully

This separate curve is called chain grove or Bhoothampi curve. Some believe that this is the entrance to the palace of the last regional king of Jaffna, the Chain King. The consensus is that it was the entrance to the mansion of a wealthy Tamil named Bhootthambi, a local administrator from the Hollander period. Hence this curve is called Bhoothampi Curve.

It’s only the entrance we can see when we visit there. If you want to visit the building, you want to go little bit further on main road

Sadly Only the front entrance is remaining.

Remnants of an ancient love affair, the ruins are now covered with graffiti presumably of modern love affairs. This the house of one of the ministers of the last king of jaffna, sangillian. The house is said to be connected to a water hole via an underground tunnel about 1km so that the minister can meet his mistress. The tunnel is now walled up so you can't see that, but the ruins itself are mysterious on its own.

The provenance of this Jaffna Kingdom relic is fairly secure. This archway is thought to be one of the palace’s original entrances. Among its weathered yet intricate carvings is an inscription to King sangili from 1519

Ruins of a long lost kingdom is left without proper maintenance. Local people used to engage in various activities around this site. Not much is left now. There is a statue of King Sangiliyan within 100m from this site, who believed to have constructed this palace.

The entrance of the Tamil king Sangiliyan's Palace who ruled the Jaffna kingdom for centuries