It is a coastal settlement located in the northwestern part of the island of Mannar. The Jump Bridge connects the rest of the island with the island of Mannar, and Talaimannar can be reached by traveling about 27km on the A14 highway that runs through the city of Mannar. This takes about an hour. Also, the area around this road was under the control of LTTE terrorists. Therefore, the road to Talaimannar is still being repaired.
There was a ferry service from Talaimannar to Dhanushashkodi on the island of Rameshwaram in India, which operated as part of the Indu-Lanka Railway. Anyone arriving in Talaimannar by train from anywhere in Sri Lanka can board a ship parked at the Talaimannar jetty and travel to Dhanushkodi, India. The other special feature of this train is that it can travel close to the jetty where the ship is parked. However, due to a severe hurricane in December 1964, the jetty was damaged and closed for about three years before reopening. It has been inactive since 1983 due to the increase in terrorist activities in the area.
The railway line from the land to the sea is about 265m towards the sea. The ‘Talaimannaramthota / Talaimannar’ railway station, which was built after the end of the war, is now operational and there is a morning train and a night mail train from Colombo. Morning and night mail trains also run from Talaimannar. The distance between Dhanushkodi and Talaimannar in India is about 18 miles and the sand plate or Adam’s Bridge, which acts as a land strip between the two countries, is also known as the only shallow land connection between the two countries.
The Sri Lanka Navy is in charge of the area as criminal activities such as drug trafficking and narcotics from India are rampant in the area. If you are traveling to Talaimannar, you can also visit the following tourist attractions around Mannar.
• Baobab tree with a circumference of about 21.1 M
• Doric Bungalow
• Allirani Fort
• Arippu
