Jaffna Peninsula, The North

Point Pedro

A modest town with an outsized claim: standing at the very northernmost tip of Sri Lanka, marked today by a lighthouse and a simple concrete marker bearing the national flag.

📏 Sri Lanka’s northernmost point 🏖 Also called Paruthithurai 👤 Recaptured from LTTE control, 1995 🌱 Cotton grown in surrounding red latosol soils

Point Pedro doesn’t offer much in the way of conventional sightseeing, but its geography alone earns it a place on any thorough Jaffna Peninsula itinerary: this is quite literally the farthest north a traveller can stand on Sri Lankan soil.

Quick Facts

Location	Northeastern tip of the Jaffna Peninsula
Also known as	Paruthithurai (Tamil), meaning roughly ‘cotton port’
Population	About 31,000 (2011)
Local economy	Cotton cultivation in fertile red latosol soils
Civil war history	Under LTTE control briefly in the early 1990s, recaptured by government forces in 1995
Notable landmarks	Point Pedro Lighthouse, Theru Moodi Madam rest house

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The End of the Island, Marked Simply

Point Pedro’s claim to fame is entirely geographic: it marks the northernmost point of Sri Lanka, a fact commemorated modestly rather than dramatically, a simple concrete marker painted with the national flag sits along the road between Kankasanthurai and Valvedditturai, with a small tiled roof offering the marker some protection from the elements. For travellers who’ve made their way the full length of the country, standing at this specific point carries a genuine, if understated, sense of accomplishment.

The town’s Tamil name, Paruthithurai, translates roughly to “cotton port,” a direct reference to the area’s agricultural economy, cotton has long been cultivated in the fertile calcic red latosol soils surrounding the town, an unusual crop within the broader Sri Lankan agricultural landscape and a distinctive part of the peninsula’s economic identity.

A Traditional Rest House and a Working Lighthouse

Point Pedro’s most notable built landmark is the Theru Moodi Madam, a traditional travellers’ rest house on the town’s east side, featuring a roofed stone archway with pillared shelters built directly across a road, a design historically important for sheltering pilgrims and traders passing through the area on longer journeys. A short distance further east, the Point Pedro Lighthouse marks the country’s actual northernmost tip; while photography is prohibited at the site, simply standing at the edge of Sri Lanka offers its own quiet, symbolic reward.

A Town Touched by Conflict

Like much of the Jaffna Peninsula, Point Pedro came under Tamil Tiger (LTTE) control briefly in the early 1990s, before Sri Lankan Army forces recaptured the town in 1995. The December 2004 tsunami also affected the area, raising the salt content of the region’s underground water table, itself an estimated one billion litres of fresh water sitting beneath the town’s porous soil, a detail underscoring just how significant the area’s freshwater resources are to local agriculture.

That combination, agricultural significance, wartime disruption, and now a slow return to ordinary civic life, mirrors the broader pattern found across much of the Jaffna Peninsula’s smaller towns, each carrying its own specific local history within the wider story of the region’s recovery.

Visiting Tips

Visit the Theru Moodi Madam rest house for a genuine sense of the area’s traditional travel and pilgrimage infrastructure.
Respect the photography restriction at the lighthouse and surrounding grounds.
Combine with nearby Manalkadu Desert and Vallipuram, both within easy reach along the same coastal stretch.
Treat the visit as a brief, symbolic stop rather than expecting extensive conventional sightseeing.