Nallur (; ) is an affluent suburb in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It is located 3 km south from Jaffna city centre. Nallur is most famous for Nallur Kandaswamy temple, one of Sri Lanka's most sacred place of pilgrimage for Sri Lankan Hindus. Nallur is also famous for being the historical capital of the old Jaffna Kingdom and birthplace of renowned philosopher and theologian, Arumuka Navalar. Etymology The name Nall-ur was colloquially used by natives in Jaffna to refer to the town as the 'place of high castes'. The first part of the word Nallur ( Nall ) derives from the Tamil word ‘Nalla’ which means 'good'. In the past, it was Tamil linguistic tradition to refer to somebody of a higher or more socially upward caste as 'Nalla akkal' (good people). The second part to the name ( Ur ) means place or region. This loosely used name for the town is believed to have been adopted in the 17th century, replacing its original regal name of 'Singai Nagar' after the collapse of the Jaffna Kingdom. History Nallur's proclamation as capital can be traced to the earliest origins of the Jaffna Kingdom by the first Aryacakravarti king, Kalinga Magha while Kopay was second capital of the Jaffna Kingdom. For years it was the focal point at which political, religious and cultural importance was built and domain of the ruling elite of royalty, ministers and other officials of the kingdom. Soon after its proclamation as capital, in 948 A.D the first temple was built by Puvenaya Vaku, chief minister to King Kalinga Magha for Lord Murugan in a place called Kurukkal Valavu in Nallur. The mid 15th century witnessed invading Sinhalese armies sent from the south to capture the capital Nallur and bring Jaffna under the suzerainty of Kotte. At the helm of this operation was Prince Sapumal Kumaraya (Bhuvanekabahu VI of Kotte) – who successfully ousted the native Tamil king of Jaffna Kanakasooriya Cinkaiariyan to India to instead instate himself as regional ruler. The early years of his rule were noted as being oppressive with the destruction of Nallur temple in 1450 and the renaming of Nallur with the Sinhalese name 'Srirangabodhi Bhuvanesubagu'. However, later regretting his actions Prince Sapumal Kumaraya embarked on building programmes to heighten the splendor of Nallur's past. Fueled by this, in 1457 efforts begun to reconstructing the temple a few kilometers eastwards from its original