KANDY

Kandy is the last capital of the Sinhala monarchy. World recognized city in Sri lanka by nomination to the list of 8th World Heritage sites called Wonders of Asia in Sri lanka for its traditions, cultures and legend. Kandy, the last royal capital of Sri Lanka is a major tourist destination. (115km from Colombo at 465 meters above sea level) and lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is both an administrative and religious city and is also the capital of the Central Province.

Thus, the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Tooth were associated with the administrative and religious functions of the capital city. The replica that has been left is the temple of tooth relic in Kandy; name as Sri Dalada Maligawa. It was the palace of King Wimalasurendra. Our sinhalese kings lovingly protected the Tooth Relic. The most important relic of Lord Buddha has placed in here. In history our kings has been pay mutual respect by an event of annual pageant called “ Esela Perahera”. It is the greatest festival of Sri Lanka on month of August butits vibrant cultural life and attractions more than justify a visit at any time of year.

1. Lake Round

The beautiful lake in front of the Temple of the Tooth is Kandy Lake also known as Kiri Muhuda or the Sea of Milk.

The nicest part to walk along is the area around the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. The lake is artificial and was created in 1807 by King Sri Wickrama Rajasinha, the last ruler of the kingdom of Kandy. There are many legends and folklore regarding the lake. One such is that the small island at its center was used by the king’s helm for bathing and was connected to the palace by secret tunnel.  Over the years, it was reduced in size. It is a protected lake, with fishing banned. 

2. Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha (Sri Dalada Maligawa)

The Temple of the Scared Tooth Relic constitutes the premier Buddhist Institution of Sri Lanka and remains the cynosure of the world Buddhist and is a great tourist attraction.  It was the palace of King Wimalasurendra. The relic is considered the ultimate symbol of Sri Lankan royalty, and was thus highly sought after by those seeking political power. This is kept in the upper floor in the chamber called “Vadahitina Maligawa” The door of this chamber is covered with gold silver and ivory. The tooth relic is encased in seven gold caskets studded with precious stones. The outer casket is studded by precious stones offered to the tooth relic by various rulers. It’s only brought out of its chamber once a year for the Esala Perahara. Sri Dalada Maligawa is a UNESCO designated World Heritage site and millions of Buddhist from whole over the world visit this place annually.

3. Peradeniya Royal Botanic Gardens

Peradeniya Botanic Gardens, botanical garden in Peradeniya, near Kandy, Sri Lanka, noted for its rich and varied collections of tropical woody plants. There are over 315,000 plant species around the world. King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1780) created the garden as the Royal Pleasure garden and later came to live here. The gardens showcase all of Sri Lanka’s flora and representative species from around the tropical world. Luminaries as varied as Queen Elizabeth II, Marshal Tito and Yuri Gugarin have planted trees to mark their visits to the garden. Highlights include a fine collection of orchids, a stately avenue of royal palms, the extraordinary, aptly named cannonball fruit tree and 40m-high banks of giant Burma bamboo, an Octagon Conservatory, fernery, and numerous flower borders with cannas, hibiscus, chrysanthemums, croton and colourful bougainvillaea. The tank has water plants including the giant water lily and papyrus reeds.

4. Embekka Temple

Temple dedicated to God of Kataragama with magnificent Sri Lankan Architecture in Wood. This is a deistic shrine with magnificent wooden architectural elegance belonging to the 14th century. The temple consists of three main areas. The first is the Sanctum of Garagha which is the inner sanctum where the statues of the god is located. Next is the Dance Hall or Digge and the final section is the Drummers’ Hall. It is said that some of the wood work utilized for the “Drummers’ Hall” came from an abandoned “Royal Audience Hall” at Gampola. There is every possibility the hall has seen repairs during the reigns of the Sinhalese Kings of Kandy. Specialty is that they use wood for everything, without any metal parts. Nails also wooden nails. Decorations includes flowers, swans, dancers, solders and lots of mythical animals. the main hall with wood carving The columns, pillar and doors are decorated with wood carving and even the roof was done with the special design.

5. Gadaladeniya Temple (Gadaladeniya Rajamaha Viharaya)

The Gadaladeniya temple is located in a small hilltop, but can easily reach from the main road and it was built by king Wickramabahu in 1344 during the Gampola Kingdom time. According to historical evidence the chief architect of this Viharaya was Ganesvarachari, south Indian. Gadaladeniya was home to the celebrated scholor monks Daharamakirti the second and Vimakiriti the first whose contributions towards the literary development times was of immense value to the nation. It houses a fine seated statue of Buddha framed by a Makara Torana (Sinhala: dragon arch) decorated with numerous images of gods, over it. such as Brahma, Suyama, Santhusthika, Maithri and Natha. Standing statues of the Buddha can be found on either side of the seated Buddha statue. In the middle of the temple compound, is a secondary shrine with wings extending in cruciform angles. Each wing is a small Buddha shrine with a sikhara in matching proportions and weight mounted over it surrounding the larger sikhara mounted on the hub of the wings.

6. Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

It is an orphanage, nursery and captive breeding ground for wild Asian elephants located in Kegalle. It was established in 1975 by the Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife Conservation  to care for injured elephants found in the jungle, to care and protect the many orphaned unwanted wild elephants found wandering in and near the forests of Sri Lanka.  Also for feeding and providing care and sanctuary to orphaned baby elephants that were found abandoned by their mothers in the wild. They hence need to be hand raised for their survival.

7. Elephant Bathing Position

Nowadays Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage has become one of the largest tourist attractions in the country due to these lovable animals in a natural habitat and its distinctive population of elephants and easy to see why so many local and domestic tourists flock there. You will have the highlighted experience through watching the majority of the herd of elephants playing in the river for bathing.

8. Pinnawala Zoo

This is a zoological garden which is situated closer to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was opened for public on 17 April 2015. This is the first open-air zoo in the country and second zoo in Sri Lanka after Dehiwala zoo. Pinnawala Zoo has a rich diversity of animals across the country and also has a very large area spreads over an expanse of 44 acres where animals are kind of in their natural habitats. Also it has been landscaped without harming the natural beauty and home to nice collection of native animals, such as deer, leopard, crocodiles, species of monkeys, birds, turtles and many more.

9. Sembuwatta Lake

Such a nice place for outing also Sembuwatta Lake is a man-made lake created from natural spring water. Alongside the lake is a natural swimming pool. Lake on top of the mountain. You can experience boat and ski rides as well. Calm and quite environment.

10. Bahirawa Kanda

There are many beliefs in folklore pertaining to the ancient history of this mountain. Now a Temple is built in the top of the mountain with a massive statue of Lord Budda. When you get to the top you will get a remarkable view of Kandy Town, mountain line connected with each other and the inside of the Bogambara Prison.

11. Laksala

The state run-handicrafts emporium in Sri Lanka is called Laksala and has a number of branches all over the country. You can pick up anything here and objects made from brass and silverware, wooden artifacts, buffalo horn, natural fibers, and even rush and reed abound. There are also products made from coconut shells, cane, and bamboo as well as toys, pottery, artificial flowers and costume jewelry.

12. KCC Shopping Complex

Kandy City Centre, the most modern and innovative commercial and Shopping Complex in Kandy. The Complex is designed with ultra-modern features yet preserving the iconic Kandyan architecture. Several leading banks, a fully equipped supermarket, a variety of restaurants, an entertainment zone, a well-designed state of the art food court will also feature in the Complex.

13. Gem Museum

The luxurious jewelry collections available include white diamonds, colored diamonds, blue sapphires, star sapphires, rubies, star rubies, white sapphires, yellow sapphires, cats eye, and other precious and semi-precious stones; that are meticulously handcrafted in-house and artfully set into precious metals ranging from gold to sterling silver.

14. Wood carving factory visit

Sri Lanka, which is famous for handicrafts, holds a long history of craft heritage. Or if you have any shape of wood and you want to turn it into some kind of furniture or any design or any decoration that suits to your place, they are very clever at this free art tradition even- “Ruk kala” and you can get it done and what is more…….. it’s their talent…!! So, visit it, see the difference, and get it done for a reasonable price.