Sri Lanka Kandy proud heritage and splendid lakeside setting has long made it a favourite haunt for Sri Lanka travelers. This bustling hill-country capital is the natural gateway to a lush central region of tea plantations, gurgling streams and stirring Sri Lanka Kandy history.
Sri Lanka Kandy was made a world heritage site in 1988. It lies on a plain surrounded by towering hills, with evocative names such as Bible Rock, Camel Hill and Balloon Rock in Sri Lanka Kandy. It is never busier than during the annual Perahera in Sri Lanka Kandy, a fortnight’s festival in late July and August, when the town is enlivened by parading elephants, acrobats, drummers and dancers in Sri Lanka Kandy. This is one of the finest festivals in Asia and hotel space is limited months in advance.
The pink-painted Temple of the Tooth houses Sri Lanka’s in Sri Lanka Kandy most sacred religious relic – the tooth of the Buddha, hidden beneath six caskets of diminishing size – and it attracts a steady stream of visitors throughout the year. The national museum lies alongside in Sri Lanka Kandy.
The lake itself, built in 1807, forms an attractive centerpiece to the town; the island in the middle was used by the last Kandyan king as his personal harem.
Sri Lanka Kandy
Peradiniya botanical gardens, 6km outside the town, and bounded on three sides by the Mahaweli River, are the largest in Sri Lanka Kandy and before colonial times were used as Royal pleasure gardens. Udawattakelle Sanctuary in Sri Lanka Kandy, a forest reserve on the northern outskirts, and the Royal Palace Park are other areas where you can take a relaxing stroll, away from the bustle of the town.
Golfers should not miss the opportunity to sample Victoria Golf Club, Sri Lanka Kandy which for its sweeping vistas alone deserves its fast-won reputation as one of the finest courses in Asia.
About an hour from Sri Lanka Kandy, on the Colombo road at Kegalle, lies the ever-popular Pinnewela elephant orphanage. This government-run centre was set up to save abandoned young elephants and train them to become working animals. The daily feeding and washing rituals offer a popular tourist attraction.
The Sri Lanka Kandy “Kandyan” kingdom withstood European invasion for more than two centuries and still proudly regards itself as the bastion of Buddhist philosophy. The Sri Lanka Kandy town is easily explored by foot, with the climate a little cooler and less humid than in the capital, Colombo.
History of Sri Lanka Kandy
Sri Lanka Kandy Historical records suggest that Kandy was first established by the King Wickramabahu (1357-1374 CE) near the Watapuluwa area, north of the present Sri Lanka Kandy city, and named Senkadagalapura at the time, although some scholars suggest the name Katubulu Nuwara may also have been used to Sri Lanka Kandy. The origin of the more popular name for the Sri Lanka Kandy city, Senkadagala, could have been from a number of sources. These include naming after a brahmin named Senkanda who lived in a cave near the city, after a queen of King Wickramabahu named Senkanda or after a colored stone named Senkadagala.
In 1592 Sri Lanka Kandy became the capital city of the last remaining independent kingdom in Sri Lanka Kandy after the coastal regions had been conquered by the Portuguese. Invasions by the Portuguese and the Dutch (16th, 17th and 18th century) and also by the British (most notably in 1803) were repelled. The last ruling dynasty of Kandy were the Nayaks of Sri Lanka Kandy. Sri Lanka Kandy preserved its independence until it finally fell to the British in 1815. The British deposed the king, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha is the last king of Sri Lanka Kandy, and all claimants to the throne, thus ending the last traditional monarchy of Sri Lanka Kandy, and replaced it with their monarchy.
View of the lake from Rajapihilla Mawatha, Sri Lanka Kandy on the right the golden roof of the Temple of the Tooth, top left a Toque Macaque
Sri Lanka Kandy
As the capital, Sri Lanka Kandy had become home to the relic of the tooth of the Buddha which symbolises a 4th-century tradition that used to be linked to royalty since the protector of the relic was seen fit to rule the land. Thus, the Royal Palace and the Temple of Sri Lanka Kandy were associated with the administrative and religious functions of the capital Sri Lanka Kandy city. Even after its conquest by the British, Sri Lanka Kandy has preserved its function as the religious capital of the Sinhalese and a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists, namely those belonging to the Theravada school Sri Lanka Kandy.
Portuguese invasions in Sri Lanka Kandy in the 16th century and 17th century were entirely unsuccessful. The Sri Lanka Kandy kingdom tolerated a Dutch presence on the coast until 1761, when Kirti Sri attacked and overran most of the coast, leaving only the heavily fortified Negombo intact. When a Dutch retaliatory force returned to the island Sri Lanka Kandy in 1763, Sri abandoned the coastline and withdrew into the interior. When the Dutch continued to the jungles the next year, they were constantly harassed by disease, heat, lack of provisions, and Sri Lanka Kandy “Kandyan” sharpshooters, who hid in the jungle and inflicted heavy losses on the Dutch. The Dutch launched a better adapted force in January of 1765, replacing their troops' bayonets with machetes and using more practical uniforms and tactics suited to speedy movement. They were initially successful, capturing the capital, but they took a deserted city, and the Sri Lanka Kandy Kandyans withdrew to the jungles once more, refusing to engage in open battle. The Dutch, worn down by constant attrition, came to terms in 1766.
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