The Koneswaram Temple is a Hindu shrine perched on Swami Rock, a promontory that falls sheer into the sea above Trincomalee harbour. The site is celebrated for its natural setting, its richly decorated gopuram tower and the sacred Lover’s Leap viewpoint at the cliff’s edge, where a Dutch colonial official’s daughter is said to have leapt to her death after learning of her lover’s deception. Koneswaram remains an active centre of Hindu pilgrimage and is one of the most beautiful and spiritually charged sacred sites in Sri Lanka.