Attractions of Kandy City - "cultural capital" & "hill capital"

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic at Kandy Lake

This page is entirely about places of interest that are situated in the town of Kandy. Travelers staying in Kandy for more than a day, however, use to visit places in the surroundings as well, most importantly the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya, but also the Ceylon Tea Museum or the nearby International Bird Park in Hanthana and the scenic and colourful Nelligala Temple and the three so-called Western Temples from the Middlea Ages, to name a few. Those interested in Kandy paintings will be keen to visit the cave temples of Hindagala to the west or Degalduruwa to the east of Kandy city. So if you are looking for a list of highlights for Kandy holidays with excusions by car (or van or bus or tuktuk), not restricted to the town, please visit our page of Top 20 attractions in and around Kandy.

Mahaweli river in Peradeniya

Burmese Chedi of Nelligala

Sandagiri Seya in Hanthana

In contrast, what you find below is a list of attractions that are situated in a range that can be reached on foot, though admittedly most visitors of places such Senani viewpoint and Bahiravakanda Buddha statue and Gangaramaya Temple go there by tuktuk or car. Actually, if you are an ardent hiker or not sparing efforts, you can see all the places of our below list of Kandy attractions within only one day, theoretically, more comfortably on two consecutive days, of course. Anyway, we have arranged Kandy's places of interest in the list below in such a way that you could see the places in the same sequence on a loop trail, when starting at the Tooth Temple.

The entire walk from there in a large clockwise circle to Gangaramaya is 8 km long (if you always find the correct pathes right away). Till the entrance gate of the Udawatta Kele forest sanctuary (or leaving out Uddawatta Kele and Gangaramaya and instead returning to the Tooth Temple directly) it's a 6 km hike. If you want to finish the walk earlier, at the Kataragama Devale in the downtown, where market and restaurants and shopping malls are located, the route takes 5 km. That does not sound too much. But be aware: Walking in crowded streets and crossing them in Sri Lankan traffic takes more time and is more exhausting than 5 or 6 or 8 km only in the greenery. Moreover, you have to climb three different hills when walking the entire route to Gangaramaya, and two, if finishing the hike at the Kataragama temple in the downtown. So, here is our "localised" list of Kandy sightseeing attractions:

Shortlist of sightseeing attractions in Kandy City - as clickable internal links

Tooth Temple area:
Tooth Temple - Natha Devale - Archaeological Museum - Vishnu Davale - Pattini Devale - St. Paul's Church -
Ulupen Geya - World Buddhist Museum - National Museum - British Garrison Cemetery -

around Kandy Lake:
Queen's Hotel - Kandy Lake - Malwatta Monastery - Senani viewpoint - Wales Park - City Center Mall -

to the west and northwest of the town center:
Clocktower - Katukele Pillayar Temple - Bahiravakanda Buddha statue - Asgiriya Monastery -

town center:
Meera Maccam Jummah Mosque - Red Mosque - Kataragama Devale -

to the northeast and east of the town center:
Uddawatta Forest - Gangaramaya Temple

 

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, called Dalada Maligawa in Sinhala, is the most sacred Buddhist site in Sri Lanka, attracting Buddhist pilgrims from around the world and from Theravada Buddhist countries in Southeast Asia in particular. The Tooth Relic, the upper left canine of the Buddha Shakyamuni, is the national palladium of Sri Lanka. The ruler in possession of the Tooth Relic was regarded the rightful supreme king on the island during medieval and early modern periods. And the town harbouring the sacred Tooth was regarded as the capital. Wherever it was enshrined in a former capital, the Tooth Relic has not been kept in a monastery, but in a separate temple under the shared custodianship of the Buddhist Order and the king. Most Tooth Temples were erected close to the royal palace. This is the case in Kandy in particular, but only one wing of the former palace has survived. It’s the elongated building, now housing the Archaeological Museum, just north of the Sacred Tooth Temple.

The political symbolism of the Tooth Relic can be seen even in modern times. The first hoisting of the national lion flag of Sri Lanka after independence was held on the Octagon of the Tooth Temple in Kandy. Traditionally, the first official visit of a newly inaugurated president of Sri Lanka is paid to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. Tragically, the symbolism of the Tooth Temple also was a reason why Tamil extremists carried out a terror attack by blasting a bomb at the main gate of the temple in 1998.

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Foreign and non-Buddhist guests are permitted to visit all rooms of the temple complex that are open to Buddhist pilgrims. Noone ecxept from the safekeeping authorities and their appointees is allowed to enter the shrine room known as Hansun Kunama where the Tooth Reilc is kept in the casket. Noone alive today has ever opened the innermost casket and seen the actual Sacred Tooth. However, Buddhist pilgrims and foreign guests alike can catch a glimpse of the golden outer casket of the Sacred Relic during the three daily rituals performed for the Tooth Relic. Such a ceremony, which is held under the supervision of monks from the two chapters of the Siyam Nikaya, is called Theva, which translates to Service. But the term Puja, also known from rituals for Hindu deities, is also commonly used to denote the ceremony. It’s an unforgettable experience to join a Theva performance that visitors of Kandy should not miss. The three daily services take place from 5.30 am to 7.00 am, 9.30 am to 11.00 am, and 6.30 pm to 8.00 pm. The Theva is held in the upper floor in the room in front of the main shrine.

Seen from a distance, the building containing the main shrine, the Handun Kunama, can easily be recognized by its gilded roof, which was added in 1987. The two-storey wooden hall, now standing in an inner coutyard surrounded by buildings added later, is one of the finest examples of architecture in the Kandyan style. The lower chamber is called Palle Male, whereas the upper chamber is the Uda Male or Vedahitina Maligawa. The wooden temple was constructed under Vira Narendra Sinha (1707-39), Sri Lanka’s last king of Sinhalese ethnicity. Predecessor buildings had already been erected on the same spot by Vimaladharmasurya, the founder of the independent Kandy Kingdom, and Rajasingha II, the longest reigning Kandyan king.

The drummers courtyard, Hevisi Mandapaya, from where staircases lead to to the upper floor, is reached from the western main gate via the so-called Ambarawa. This tunnel is richly decorated with murals.

The white building in front of the Handun Kunama was designed by the royal architect, Devendra Moolacharya, who constructed the Kandy Lake and the surrounding white so-called water waves walls resp. cloud walls. The front section is dominated by two features, namely the main gateway known as Mahawahalkada, and the Octagon, which is called Paththirippuwa. The main gateway was reconstructed in a plain and simple style, after the predecessor,, which ha more sculptural adornments, fell victim to the above mentioned terror attack. The iconic Octagon was constructed under the last Kandyan King, Sri Vikrama Rajasingha (1798-1815). It’s known as Paththirippuwa, which is a word of Tamil origin, which can be translated as „watching seat“. The name indicates the function. The king used the pavilion to present himself to his people and to exhibited the Sacred Tooth Relic on special occasions and also a comfortable viewing platform during festivals. In the succeeding colonial period the Octagon served as a library. It still houses the Tooth Temple's palm leaf manuscripts.

Behind the central courtyard, to the east of the main shrine, is the tallest building of the complex. It houses the museum of the Tooth Temple. Several exhibits are gifts from other Buddhist countries. The large hall on the ground floor has large paintings narrating the history of the Sacred Tooth. The main Buddha in the hall is from Thailand.

Leaving the courtyard to the north, the visitor arrives on a terrace surrounded by several more notable building. In the northeast, the royal assembly and audience hall, known as Magul Maduwa, is one of the finest examples of wooden halls from the Kandyan period. It was here that the Kandyan Convention was signed by the highland nobility on 2 March 1815, which marks the beginning of British rule over the entire island.

In the northwestern corner is a hall serving as the Museum of Raja Tusker. The recreated body of the large tusker called Raja was chosen to carry the casket of Sacred Tooth during the Kandy Peraheras. He served as the main tusker of the annual festival for around half a century. Raja died in 1988.

The royal palace was situated to the north of the temple. A palace had already existed here prior to the arrival of the Sacred Tooth Relic. The royal residence was called Maha Wasala or also Maligawa. The remaing wing of the former royal palace now serves as the Archaeological Museum of Kandy.

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Natha Devale

The shrine next to the main gate of the Tooth Temple is dedicated to Natha, the guardian deity of Kandy and surroundings. Natha is a regional god who was already venerated in this area during the  Anuradhapura period. He was also identified with the Bodhisattva Avalokteshwara, a Mahayana Buddhist Saviour. Mahayana Buddhism was widespread on the island in the Anuradhapura period, though the oldest and one of the three major monasteries of Anuradhapura, Mahavihara, regarded as at heretical. The Mahavahira form of Theravada became the only officially accepted branch of Buddhism in the Polonnaruwa period. Theravada knows a Bodhisattva, too, not as a saviour but as the future Buddha known as Maitreya in Sanskrit or Metteya in Sanskrit. So Natha became „more canonically“ identified with the Bodhisattva Maitreya, too. As the guardian deity of Kandy, Natha also became of the four major gods of the island during the Kandy period. These gods venerated by Sinhalese can be called Hindu gods, but they are interpreted mainly as guardian deities of Buddhist teachings and practices on the island. It’s not a contradiction for Buddhists to worship them, as these gods care about worldly affairs, wherea the Buddha found for himself and teaches to others a path to transmudane liberation. Sinhalese temples of deities are called Devales are Devalayas, whereas the name of Tamil Hindu shrines (without connection to Buddhism) is „Kovil“ or „Koil“.

The stone-made Natha Devale is the oldest building in Kandy. It dates back to the second half of the 13th century, the so-called Gampola period, King Vikramabahu III of Gampola (1357–1374) is considered the founder of a first city in the valley of Kandy, Senkadagalapura. The temple is built as an image house in the Gedige type. This means, all walls and the vaults are made of stone (or bricks in other cases). The Gedige type came up already in the late Anuradhapura period (last centuries of the first millennium AD). Earlier shrines were partly made of wood. Strictly speaking, only shrines with a Buddha sculpture as the main object of veneration are called image houses or Gediges. But the type of architecture of the Natha Devale is that of a Gedige. It’s inspired by the Chola architecture of Hindu temples in South India in particular, as can be seen from the form of the roof with a stepped pyramidical roof crowned by an almost circular small dome called stupika. The architecture of the Natha Devale resembles that of the Gadaladeniya temple, the classical Gedige from the same period.

In front of the said main shrine is a classical wooden hall in the typical Kandyan style. It’s the drummers’ hall known Digge in Sinhalese language. The compound of the Natha Devale also comprises another Hindu shrine, a new Buddhist image house, and a Bo tree.

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Archaeological Museum

The Archaeological Museum of Kandy, founded by the Department of Archaeology in 1965, is housed in the remaining wing of the former royal palace. It serves as one of a few dozens of regional museums exhibiting antiquities found in the specific region. The Archaeological Museum of Kandy has findings of the immediate surroundings of Kandy and some other parts of the Central Province on display. In contrast to the nearby National Museum, the collection of the Archaeological museum focuses on the ancient and medieval periods, whereas the National Museum represents the early-modern Kandy period for the most part. The artifacts exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Kandy include mainly ceramics and also stone carvings such as moonstones and sculptures. In the year 2023, the Archaeological Museum was undergoing restoration works.

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Vishnu Devale

All four major guardian deities of the island and the Buddhist nation are represented by their own Devales in Kandy. The group of Devales representing the uppermost level of the Sinhalese pantheon of regional gods is called „Hatara Devales“, which simply translates to „Four god-houses“. Three of them are in the same garden-like compound as the the Tooth Temple. Apart from Natha Devale in the center, the Devale of Vishnu further north and the Pattini Devale just to the west. The fourth Devale, didicated to Kataragama, is in the center of Kandy downtown.

The Vishnu Devale is situated just to the north of the Natha Devale, at the slope of the hill known as Udawatta Kele. The Vishnu Devale is also called “Maha Devale”, which simply translates to „grand god-house“. Vishnu is identified with the blue-coloured Upulvan, one of the four ancient guardian deities of the island and its Buddhist religion.  Robert Knox, the English prisoner of King Rajasingha II, has known the deity unter the name “Aluth Nuwara Deiyo”. The name indicates that the god was considered a kind of patron of the city Kandy, which was (and is) called „Nuwara“ in Sinhala, which simply translates to „town“.

The main shrine on the uppermost terrace of the temple compound is an oblong building with a storied sanctum at the upper end. A shrine dedicated to the local deity Dedimunda and a Bo tree etrrace can be found on the two sides of the main edifice. The wooden hall in front of the main shrine is a typical Digge, a so-called drummers hall, which also serves for ritual dances and performing puja ceremonies. The lower end of the complex is marked by a gateway building with a Kandyan style roof, the Vahalkada. It has a noteworthy flight of stone steps with the best preserved large moon stone carved in the Kandyan style, the designs of which are triangular instead of semicircular.

The annual festival period of the Kandy period starts with a small ceremony at the the Vishnu Devale. The elephant carrying a blue canopy behind the white canopy of the Tooth Relic represents the Vishnu Devale during the main processions called Randoli Peraheras.

By the way, the Vishnu Devale can also be considered a Ramayana Site, because the shrine is in possession a cloth painting depicting the Battle of Rama and Rawana, which is a rare theme in Sinhalese art otherwise.

 

Pattini Devale

The Pattini Devale, also belonging to the precincts of the Tooth Temple, id situated to the west of Natha Devale and closest to downtown Kandy. Among the four classical Devales, it’s the smallest shrine. Pattini os the Sinhalese version of Kannagi, the heroine of the clasic Tamil epic known as Cilappatikaram. The Pattini cult is said to have been introduced by King Gajabahu in the 2nd century AD, when he returned from southern India. However, it’s historically much younger, and Pattini became one of the four main guardian deities of the island only during the Kandy period. Robert Knox made references to the worship of Pattini.

Pattini is the goddess of chastity. Her simple and small rectangular temple is most popular with pregnant women and those seeking a cure from infections or for their children’s diseases. During the Kandy Perahera, she is represented by the white colour, whereas green and blue and red symbolize Natha and Vishnu and Kataragama respectively.

Kandy’s largest Bo tree stands on a high platform known as Wel Bodhiya in front of the Pattini Devale.

 

St. Paul's Church

Also belonging to the sacred precincts of the Tooth Temple is an Anglican Church. St. Paul's was founded in 1843 and completed in 1853. The building is made of brick. It houses Kandy’s only pipe organ. A beautiful stained glass window sits above the altar.  As St-Paul’s was originally used by British officials and the British Garrison, it has also been called the Garrison Church.

The Church of Ceylon, as the Anlican Church od Sri Lanka is called, has two dioceses on the island, Colombo and Kurunegala. St Paul's in Kandy belongs to the latter.

 

Ulupen Geya - Royal Bath

„Ulupen Geya“ translates to „well house“. The name indicates the function. The pavilion next to the Tooth Temple, protruding into the Kandy Lake and  embraced by the lake on three sides, served as the private swimming pool particularly of the queens, of which a Kandyan used to have more than one, plus the concubines. The building is therefore known as „Royal Bath“ or „Queens’s Bath“ in English, the latter is „Biso Nana“ in Sinhala. As „Geya“ is often abrriviated as „Ge“, you will also find the term „Ulpange“ for this bathing house.

The pool measures 19 m (62 feet) in lenth and 9.5 m in width and is 3.15 m (10 feet) deep. The upper level, which once housed the dressing chamber, is now used by archaeological authorities. The Royal Bath was commissioned in the year 1806 by the last king of Kandy, Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe (1798-1815). Due to its location and unique character, it’s one of the most charming monuments surviving from the Kandyan era.

 

World Buddhist Museum

The World Buddhist Museum is also called International Buddhist Museum. It’s located directly behind the Tooth Temple Complex and is managed by the temple authorities. The museum had sections representing all mainly Buddhist nations in Asia and others that have played a role in the history of the religion, such as today’s Muslim nations of Pakistan and Indonesia, altogether 17 countries. The museum also documents the expansion of Buddhism in the modern world.

The International Buddhist Museum is established in the former Kachcheri (district secretariat) of Kandy, which was built in a Victorian style during the British colonial period on the site of a wing of the former royal palace.

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National Museum

The National Museum of Kandy is a branch of the Colombo National Museum under the asministration of the Department of National Museums. The Kandy National Museum is located next to the World Buddhist Museum, in between the Tooth Temple complex and the British Garrison Cemetary.

The original Kandyan-style building building was established during Sri Vikrama Rajasingha, the last king of Kandy. The building was then known as “Palle Vahala” and housed the royal harem. It has been used as a depository of artifacts since 1882, which became a museum already in 1942. The National Museum today has over 5000 exhibits mainly from the Kandyan period (17th and 18th century). However, most important exhibits from this period, such as the throne, are on display in Colombo.

A statue of Sir Henry Ward, who as Governor of Ceylon 1855–1860 initiated the railway constructions on the island, is now placed in front of the museum. It was originally located in front of the Queen's Hotel.

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British Garrison Cemetary

The British Garrison Cemetery, nestles against the hillside of Udawatta Kele, can easily be found past the National Museum, it’s only a short walk up the hill. The cemetery opened in 1822 contains almost 200  graves. To avoid burials of corpses instead of cremations near the Tooth Temple, the cemetery was closed in 1873 due to a ban on burials within the municipal limits, but relatives of those already buried here were still admitted afterwards. The last burial is that of Annie Fritz in 1951, Today, the cemetery is maintained by volunteers under the custodianship of St. Paul’s Anglican Church of Kandy. The costs of the restaration in 1998 were covered by the UK Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The plot contains table tombs, raised tombs and foot stones. A large portion of inscriptions record short lifespans, including a sad number of infants. Many of the buried had fallen victim to tropical fevers, others to accidents. John Spottiswood Robertson was the last recorded death of a European killed by a wild elephant.

The most prominent grave is the obelisc-shaped one of Sir John D’Oyly (1774-1824), who represented the British colonial power at the 1815 Kandy Convention, sealing the fate of the Kandyan Kingdom as the island’s last independent territory and therby marking the beginning of British rule over entire Ceylon. John D’Oyly became the first British administrator of the Kandyan Provinces. He took residence in the former royal palace. D’Oyly was a scholar interested in the Sinhalese culture and fluent in the Sinhala language.

In the notheastern corner of the plot is the tomb of Lady Elizabeth Gregory (1817-1873), the wife of  William Henry Gregory, Governor of Ceylon 1872-1877, who after her death married Isabella Augusta Persse, known Lady Gregory, the Irish dramatist known for collecting Irish mythologies.

 

Queen's Hotel

Apart from the complex of the Sacred Tooth Temple, the Queen’s Hotels is the second ancient landmark building at the northern bank of the Kandy Lake. Actually it shapes the cityskape of Kandy’s downtown more than any other edifice. Though designed in a typical colonial style, the building dates back to the period of Kandy’s last king, Sri Vikrama Rajasingha, under whom the Oktagon, which is also partly inspired by colonial fashions of the time, and the Kandy Lake came into existence, too. The building seems to have been intended to serve as a more modern royal residence. However, soon after the last king was dethroned and forced into exile by the highland nobility collaborating with the British colonial administration of the lowlands, the building became the highland mansion for the British Governor and annex buildings served as barracks of colonial troops. Under the name of Malabar House, it became a hostel already in 1840. It changed the name two times, first to Stainton Hotel, when managed by the Stainton family, then in 1869 to Queen’s Hotel, run by the Queens Hotel Company.

Queen’s Hotel is a 3-star hotel popular with travelers who prefer to stay in the town center and fully booked particular during the Kandy Perahera, when the hotel balconies are among the best places to attend the colourful procession.

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Kandy Lake

The Kandy Lake, besides the Tooth Temple the city’s landmark which contributes most to the charm of the hill capital, did not yet exist during most of the Kandyan period. Rather, it was a swamp and a stretch of paddyfield known as Tigolwela then. The dam was only constructed in the early 19th century under the last king of Sri Lanka, Sri Vikrama Rajasingha. Because the same otherwise unbeloved king also ordered the construction of the Octagon and Gatehouse of the Tooth Temple and the building that is now Victoria Hotel, one most say that he and his architect,Deveda Moolacharya, earned most merits in creating the iconic cityscape that makes Kandy so attractive today.

The Kandy Lake is known as Kiri Muhuda in Sinhalese, which transaltes to „Milk Sea“. There are deveral legends surrounding the lake. The most famous one is that the king first only decided to built a dam from his palace to the Malatta monastery to be able to reach the temple dry-footed. As a side-effect the dam stowed water. And the king loved that view so much that he ordered to enlarge the artificial lake by creating today’s dam further west. Another folklore has it that the small island at the center was used by the king's harem and was connected to the palace by a secret tunnel.

The extent of Kandy Lake is 19 ha (47 acres), with a circumference of 3.3 km (2 miles). The 625 m long parapet wall enclosing the lake in the north and west is popularly called Walakulu Bamma, the „clouds wall“.

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Malwatta Monastery

There is a second Octagon in Kandy. It’s near the gateway of the Malwatta Raja Maha Viharaya. Whereas the octagon of the Tooth Temple is to the north of the Kandy Lake, the Octagon of Malwatta is just at the opposite lakeside, to the south. The lake and the two flanking octagons are designed in the same period, around 1800, by the same royal architect, namely Devendra Moolacharya.

Malwatta is the headquarter of 80 or 90 % of the monks of the Syam Nikaya, altogether almost 5000 bikkhus, the remaining monks of the Syam Nikaya are mainly associated with the Asgiriya chapter. Most of the ancient temple of Sri Lanka came under the custodianship of Malwatta, although the Amarapura–Ramañña Nikaya is larger than the Syam Nikaya. Both Nikayas together represent almost the entire Buddhist Sangha on the island.

The Syam Nikaya is named after Siam, the ancient kingdom of what is now Thailand. The ordination line of this Nikaya was introduced by the Monk Upali from the then Siamese capital of Ayyuthaya, who visited Sri Lanka for this purpose of a Sangha reform on invitation of King Kirti Sri Rajasingha. The ordination ceremony took place in 1753.  

Ven. Weliwita Saranankara (1698–1778), who had been the leading figure of the Sangha reform movement that led to the founding of the Syam Nikaya, was re-ordained, too, and became the Sangharaja, the head of all monks of the island’s Sangha those days. He was the last Sangharaja in Sri Lanka’s history.

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The main building in the temple courtyard just behind the octagon is the temple’s ordination hall, recognizable by eight boundary stones, so-called Bai Seemas, surrounding it at the corners and the cardinal points. The ceilings of the wooden hall are decorated with large paintings.

Amidst the dwelling area of the monks is the monastic museum of Malwatta. It’s housed in a traditional Kandyan-style monks’ abode. A group of cells shares one coutyard that is shadowed by a roof, but has an oblong rectangular opening allowing sunlight and fresh air to fall into the court. Just below the opening is a dig filled with rain water. The combination of shadow and a fresh breeze and evaporation chill provided cool air for the comfort of the monks that once lived here. The exhibits and information boards of the small museum reflect the founding period and the history of the Syam Nikaya.

 

Upper Lake View - SEnani viewpoint

The Upper Lake View at the slopes of the hill to the south of Kandy Lake is a must on every Kandy itinerary, as it offers the best views to the Sacred Tooth Temple and the center of the city, with Kandy in the foreground and the mountains of Matale and Knuvkles in the background. Severeal restaurants and bars are situated in the vicinity of the observation platform, where buses and taxis use to stop. The vantage point is also known as the Senani viewpoint, as the upper floor of the restaurant of Senani hotel offered an even better view then the said viewing platform. However, this changed in recent years, because Oak-Ray Holdings, operating the Senani Hotel, were constructing an even larger hotel just in front of Senani. The same new multi-storey building also disturbes the views from the Fairview Residence further uphill, which otherwise also deserved a top ranking on the viewing hitlist. So we do not recommend one specific place, because of the fluid situation. It’s difficult to say which hotel or guesthose offers the very best views, because the ongoing constructions continue to change the character of the sights of the traditional best places. Not long ago, the well-kept garden of the Castle Hill Bungalow had the most wonderful of all views to Kandy. However, new buildings have narrowed this panoramic views in the meantime.  

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Wales Park - also known as Wace Park

Looking for a romantic site in the center of Kandy, Wales Park should be your first option. At least, it’s the favourite spot of young couples, who use to bashfully hide under large umbrellas, at least when still unmarried. Wales Park is located on a small hilltop just at the southwestern corner of Kandy Lake. This very place was known as Castle Hill in the British colonial period. Wales Park is one of the best viewpoints overlooking the Kandy Lake, though the Tooth Temple can only be spotted through a canopy of leaves. Almost all visitors of the Upper Lake viewpoints come along the entrance of the small butwell-maintained park, maybe without noticing it.

Wales Park is named after Queen Victoria’s eldest son, Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, commemorating his visitof  Kandy in 1872. The park is also known as Rajawasala Park, which translates to Royal Palace Park, because a first garden was established here by the last Kandyan king. However, it fell into decay in the early decades of the colonial period. Herbert Wace, the then Government Agent of the Central Province of Ceylon and acting Colonial Secretary, arranged the restoration of the park in 1880. It’s therefore also known as Wace Park.  

A Japanese howitzer, was captured by the British in Burma during World War II, is placed in the center of the garden. It was a gift of Lord Mountbatten,  the Supreme Commander in the Indian Ocean during World War II and later last viceroy of India.

 

Kandy City Centre - Shopping Mall

Kandy City Centre is a commercial and shopping complex in between the Kandy Lake and the traditional local food market. Kandy City Centre is designed with  modern features yet preserving the Kandyan architecture in the style of the roofs.

Boutiques, a large supermarket, a variety of restaurants, and an entertainment zone belong to the complex. The food loft on the 4th fllor is an open-air terrace with views to the Kandy Lake, cuisines of several nations are represented here.

 

Clocktower

The Kandy Clock Tower at an intersection of Sri Dalada Veediya leading to the Tooth Temple and roads two roads to Peradiniya, was built in 1950 by a Muslim citizen of Kandy in memory of his son, who had lost his life in an accident. This means, it’s a clocktower of the postcolonial period and not, like most other clocktowers in former British colonies, a symbol of British dominance.

The Kandy clocktower was designed by a Sri Lankan architect, who draw on the style of facades and roofs of classical Kandyan palace architecture.

 

Katukele Pillayar Kovil - Ganesha Temple

The largest Hindu temple in the downtown of Kandy is the Kattukalai Pillaiyar Kovil behind the clocktower and close to the police station, passed when climbing u to the Bahirawakanda statue.. Kattukalai is the location, „Pillaiyar Kovil“, also transcribed „Pullayar Koil“, is the Tamil name of „Ganesha Temple“. The elephant-headed son of Siva is a very popular deity in Sri Lanka’s Tamil communities. The temple is owned by members of the famous Chettiyar community of Tamil traders living in India and around the Indian Ocean.

The Ganesha temple is also considered subsidiary Devale by Sinhalese. The day procession of the mainly Sinhalese Hatara Devales on the final day of the Kandy Perahera starts from the Kattukalai Pillaiyar Kovil after the water cutting ceremony, which marks the end of the festival season.

According to the folklore, the royal Dobhi (cloths washer caste) of Kandy’s last king, Sri Vikrama Rajasingha, used to wash the cloths at a small waterfall originating from the Bahirawakanda hill. One day, when he was doing his work at the waterfall, Lord Shiva appearing to him in a dream and  suggested to build a temple at this very site at the foot of the hill. When later on the king came to know about this dream, as it was reported him by a trusted intermediary, he ordered to built the Kovil at the place of the waterfall.

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Bahiravakanda - colossal Buddha Statue

The hill called Bahirawakanda, 100 m above Kandy town, is easily recognizable by the huge seated Buddha statue overlooking Kandy from the very top of it. Bahirawakanda is also the name of the respective village, the western suburb next to Kandy city.

The temple on the top of Bahirawakanda is called Maha Bodhi Viharaya. It’s in about 1.8 km distance from the Temple of the Tooth Relic by road and 1.2 km, as the crow flies.

The construction of the temple and the gigantic statue was commenced in 1972 on an initiative of Ven. Ampitiye Dammarama Thero, a monk from the Amarapura Nikaya. It was opened on 1 January 1993 by then President Ranasinghe Premadasa.

The seated Buddha statue measures 27 m (88 feet) in height. A flight of stairs at the back of the Bahirawakanda statue allows visitors to climb higher up. But to be honest, it's not one of Landy's best outlooks, because the views to the city and the city are blocked by nearby trees.

The hill is named after Bahirawa, the „frightful“, a local form of the pan-Indian Bhairava, who is a manifestation of Shiva’s powers of annihilation. Bhairawa is venerated not only by Hindus but also by Tantric Buddhists in the Himalayas. Sinhalese Buddhists usually do not worship Shiva in any form, but Sinhalese folk religion has known many threatful demons in charge of specific territories, who have to be appeased in rituals to avoid the consequences of their destructive forces. Bahirawa was such a guardian demon of this hill marking the western edge of Kandy town. As Bahirava is considered to take the shape of a dwarf, the hill is also called the „gnome mountain“. Actually, also Bahirawa is frequently personified as a furious dwarf, particularly in Nepal. As the Bahirava gnome   on the hill was a bloodthirsty demon, another English name for his abode is „Devil’s Hill“.   

In the Kandyan period it was believed that the evil gnome devoured unsuspecting humans. In order to appease the sanguinary demon, the Kandyans had to sacrifice virgin girls on the hill. The innocent girls are said to have been led to the forested hill in an annual procession and left there alone to be devoured by the demon.

However, one of the numerous version of the legend surrounding the hill has it, that one day the addianced of the officer in charge of the royal mahouts was selected as the virgin to be sacrificed to Bahirawa. He managed to rescue her and to bring the human sacrifices to an end forever.

If human sacrifices were ever practiced during the Kandyan kingdom, is unlikely from a historical perspective. For example, the famous 17th century British sailor who was held many years in captivity in Kandy, Robert Knox, does not report such incidents, though he was much interested in describing obscure practices.

 

Asgiriya Monastery

A footpath leads from the large Buddha statue down to the Asgiriya Monastery, which is situated at the northeastern foot of the hill of Bahirawakanda. Asgiriya in the northwest of Kandy downtown and Malwatta in the southeast are the namegiving headquarters of the two chapters of the Siyam Nikaya, the oldest line of ordination still existing in Sri Lanka today. The Mahanayaka Thera (the leader of the order) of Asgiriya, together with the Mahanayaka Thera of Malwatta and the Diyawadana Nilame (the chief lay trustee of the Tooth Temple), holds custodianship of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

Asgiriya dominates the skyline of Kandy’s city center with its new large stupa dome on a hillock. The so-called Asgiri Mahaseya or Grand Asgiri Pagoda contains a large domed hall on the upper floor. The entire domed ceiling is decorated with colourful murals depicting scenes from the Buddhist history of Sri Lanka. The small stupa in the very center of the domed hall is made of wood, a rarity and the largest of its kind in Sri Lanka.

The ground floor of the Asgiri Mahaseya houses a small museum, which recalls the history of Buddhist monk education in Sri Lanka since the Anuradhapura period. Buddhist educational centers for novices are called Pirivenas, and actually the large new stupa was erected in the area of such a school, the Asgiria Maha Viharra Pirivena, which was added to the Asgiriya monastery in the 1950s.

The monastic center of the Asgiriya Temple is at the northeatern foot of the hillock. Advancing from Bahiravakanda via the said footpath, you will first arrive at this core area of the large monastic complex. The small congregation for highest ceremonies, the Uposathagara of the Asgiriya Monastery, is placed in the center of the courtyard. As in the case of the Uposathagara of Malwatta, the hall is confined by eight stones erected at the corners and in the cardinal directions. The marking of the boundaries of a place that serves for higher ordination is a canonical rule of the Buddhist Sangha, prescribed in the Vinaya corpus of the Tipitaka, the Holy Scriptures of Theravada Buddhism. However, the boundary can be marked by any material including wood or water. The specific form of demarcating the sacred area by eight boundary stones is a tradition of Buddhist monasteries known from Polonnaruwa and also from Thailand.

The site of Asgiriya had served as a Buddhist temple already prior to the introduction of the Syam Nikaya ordination line from Ayyuthaya, then capital of what is now Thailand, in the mid 18th century. This older tradition can be seen from the fact that a building from the 14th century can still be seen on the temple ground, though at the opposite side of the B70 road (Tilak Ratnayake Mawatha). This temple area is situated directly at the railroad now. The place is called „Adahana Maluwa“, which means „cremation terrace“. Since the Gampola Period, this ground had been used as the place where the bodies of the kings of Kandy and their family members were burned.  The site was also used to cremate the Mahanayaka Theras of the Asgiriya and Malwatta Chapters. The main building of the site is the Adahanamaluwa Gedige, the second oldest temple building in Kandy, Natha Devale near the Tooth Temple being the oldest one. Both said shrines are from the Gampola period. The Adahanamaluwa Gedide is also known as Chandrawathi Viharaya, because Chandrawathi was the first royal to be cremated here. She was the mother of Gampola's King Vikramabahu III, who founded a first city in Kandy, then known as Senkadagalapura. One century later, the Tooth Relic is said to have been kept temporarily at this place, when King Vimaladharmasuriya I transferred the Sacred Tooth of the Buddha from its hideout in a grindstone at Delgamuwa Viharaya to the newly built Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.

The Gedige-type building has a stepped pyramidical roof, crowned by a miniature dome, similar to that of Natha Devale. The core of the edifice is Garbagriha (the sanctum of Indian temples) with a statue of Samadhi Buddha under a Makara Thorana (dragon arch). Attached the sanctum is an Antaralaya (vestibule), the walls of which are decorated ith Kady paintings. A wooden Hewisi Mandapaya (drumming hall) is placed in front of the stone building.

 

Meera Maccam Jummah Masjid - Green Mosque

Meera Maccam Jummah Masjeed, the largest mosque in Kandy, is located in the very northeast corner of downtown Kandy and close to Asigiriya. Actually, the land of this mosque was originally owned by the Asgiriya chapter. Usually, Buddhist rules do not permit to reconsecrate temple land. But in the case of Meera Maccam Jummah Masjeed it was the king himself who ordered the land to be gifted to one of his courtiers who was a Muslim. King Kirti Sri Rajasingha, though of Hindu background, was a devout Buddist. But since the Portuguese Christians had expelled Muslims from the western coastal towns, Kandyan Kings supported Muslim refugees and Muslim traders played a significant role in the commercial affairs of the Kandyan kingdom.

The mosque that can be seen today on the same spot is from the British colonial period. The buildings was constructed between 1855 and 1864. The Meera Maccam mosque is without minaret. Until recently, the Meera Maccam Jummah Masjeed was painted red and white, but after a restoration of the facade, it became Kandy’s new Green Mosque.

The mosque is named after Meera Saheb, which is an honorific name of Sahul Hameed Khadir Wali Suhrawardi. Meera Saheb was a mystic Sufi saint and itinerant preacher of Islam, who was  descendent of al-Jilani, the founder of the Quadiri Sufi Order. Meera Saheb was originally from northern India, but he served as a missionary in Tamil areas and is buried in Nagore (Nagapattinam)  in Southern India. He is therfore best known as Nagore Sahul Hameed. His student and travel companion, Sayyid Sahabdeen Waliullah, is buried in the mosque. Thus the mosque is also a so-called Dharga, a tomb of a Muslim saint serving as a pilgrimage site.

Regrettably, the mosque has been damaged by mob two times in the course of anti-Muslim riots in recent decades. In 2016 Nawaz Sharif, then Prime Minister of Pakistan, visited the Meeara Maccam Mosque during a state visit to Sri Lanka.

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Hannafi Masjid - Red Mosque

The Hanafi Mosque, popularly known as Red Mosque, is situated at the same road as the Kataragama Devale in the very center of Kandy, namely Senanayake Veediya, formerly known as Castle Hill Street. The site of this mosque became the nucleus of the Buddhist-Muslim riots in 1915, when Muslims refused the Kandy Perahera to process along the traditional pageant route in Castle Hill Street, appealing to a British law that prohibited the use of drums. The riots spread almost islandwide and led to 25 casualties. As this took place during World War I, the riots were suspected by the British administration as a potential uprise against the colonial power. The current red and white painted building of Kandy’s Red Mosque, was constructed in 1935, replacing a slightly higher predecessor building. As the facade of the Red Mosque faces east, it receives light for best photos only in the morning hours. Don’t confuse the Red Mosque of Kandy with the much more flamboyant Red Mosque of Colombo, which is Jami Ul-Alfar Masjeed, not Hanafi Masjeed.

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Kataragama Devale

Among Kandy’s four classical Sinhalese shrines dedicated to Hindu deities, the so called Hatara Devale, the Kataragama shrine stands out in at least three aspects. Firstly, it’s the only one of the four shrines that is not situated in the premises of the Tooth Temple. Rather, it’s located in the busy market area of downtown Kandy. Secondly, in contrast to the other three temples, the priests of which are Sinhalese Kapuralas, the priests serving in the Kataragama Devale are Tamil Brahmins. Thirdly, the buildings of the Kataragama Devale are arranged in and around a closed courtyard surrounded by auxiliary buildings on all sides, sealed off from a neighbourhood that is densely covered with buildings, rather than a garden framed by a forest as in the case of the other three Devales. The Kataragama temple is an oasis of peace in the noisy center of the city.

The main shrine of Kataragama, of course, lies in the city of the same name in the deep south of the island. However, temples dedicated to deity of Kataragama are found at many places, an ancient one in Embekke to the sourhwest of Kandy and a new one in Madampe in the very west of the island. The god of Kataragama is identified with the popular Tamil deity and the common Hindu warrior god Skanda, son of Shiva. Kataragama Deviyo is usually depicted as a young man, whose beautiful face has almost a feminine touch. He is depicted single-headed flanked by his two wifes. Or he is depicted six-headed riding on his peacock. The main shrine is in the very center of the courtyard, more Hindu deities can be seen in chapels in the northern wing of the courtxard, wheraes a Buddhist shrine is attached to the south, but within the courtyard. The large peacock chariot and palanquin and the weapons in the front hall are used during the Perahera festival, to which the Kataragama temple contributes the red-coloured retinue behind the the Tooth Relic casket. 

 

Udawatta Kele - Forest Sanctuary

Udawatta Kele is the forested hill behind the Tooth Temple complex. Accordingly, in the Landyan period it was known as „Udawasala Watta" which literally translates to „above-palace garden“. During the colonial period it became a  revovery area for strolls in the woods near the city, several pathes along the central so-called Royal pond and the viewpoints in different directions still bear names from that period.

Today, Udawatta Kele is a forest reserve covering around one square kilometer. The sanctuary is famous for its rich birdlife and is densely inhabited by groups of macaques. The ticket counter is in the west of the reserve, close to Kandy downtown. The forest can be left in an eastern direction, where the Forest Hermitage founded by the German Buddhist monk Nyanaponika is located. From there, you will arrive at the Kandy Lake Club near the pass behind the Tooth Temple, not far from the Gangarama Temple, also spelt Gangaramaya.

 

Gangaramaya Temple

The Gangaramaya Temple of Kandy, not to be confused with the famous temple of the same name in Colombo, is situated in the eastern outskirts of the city, the suburb is called Lewella. The term „Gangaramaya“ means „river temple“ and refers to the location near Mahaweli Ganga.

The Lewella Gangaramaya Raja Maha Viharaya was built in the mid 18th century on the orders of King Kirti Sri Rajasingha, who oversaw the rivival of the Buddhist monastic traditions. A rock inscription in the temple compounds says the king ordered the construction of an image house with a large new Budha statue, after an ancient Buddha image had been found at this site and that the eye-opening ceremony of the new 8 m (27 feet) tall Buddha statue took place in 1752. This is already one year prior to the introduction of the Syam ordination line from Ayyuthiya in Thailand, which marks the culmination point of the efforts to restore Buddhism in the Kadyan kingdom. The construction of new temples by this king, who was of Southindian origin with an affilliation to Hinduism, served the pupose of his devotion of his people’s hereditary religion, Buddhism, just like his support of a Sangha reform did.

The classical Kandy paintings such as those in Dambulla are from this very period. Within the urban area of Kandy itself, the Gangaramaya Temple definitely represents the finest specimens of such murals known as Sittara art. Several bands of Murals on the lower levels show lively scenes from the biography of the Buddha. Palace scenes from his princely life as a young man are depicted on the right wall, whereas his life as a mendicant and a teacher are seen to the left. The detailed and narrative scenes of this lower murals contrast sharply with the static representations of former Buddhas, shown in seated positions, and arranged in a geomatrical pattern at the upper levels of the murals. All in all, this is the interior with Sittara art that follows most an overall concept of uniformity instead of an intermixture of different kinds of themes and patterns like in most other temples decorated with Sittara paintings. The strict cuboid form of the room allows the more systematic arrangement in the case of the Gangaramaya image house. The door to the shrine room is designed in the classical form of a Makara arch.

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Further Attractions close to the City Center of Kandy

Ceylon Tea Museum

Situated 5 km (3 miles) south of Kandy downtown, at the slopes of the Hanthana mountain range, the Ceylon Tea Museum is established in the former Hantana Tea Factory, which was built in 1925. After having been abandoned for more than a decade, the building was opened as a museum in 2001. The Tea Museum consists of four floors. The ground floor and the second floor exhibit original machinery such as the Little Giant Tea Roller, whereas the first floor houses a library and an auditorium for audivisual presentations. Archival prints present the works of tea pioneers like James Taylor and Thomas Lipton. On the third and fourth floors visitors can taste and purchase Ceylon Tea.

Commenwealth Cemetery

The Commenwealth War Cemetery of Kandy, formerly known as Pitakande Military Cemetery, is not to be confused with the British Garrison Cemetery behind the Tooth Temple. Rather, the Kandy War Cemetary is located 5 km (3 miles) west of the town center of and 3 km (2 miles) northeast of Peradeniya. There are 196 burials of Commonwealth  soldiers who died in World War II, plus one burial from World War I and further 3 non world war burials, and 4 more burials of non commonwealth nationals. 107 of the soldiers buried here were British and 26 Sri Lankan. The others were Indians, East Africans, Canadians and four Europeans. Two of the buried persons are unidentified.

Hindagala Cave Temple

Hindagala is a village just south of Peradeniya. The cave temple of Hindagala is rarely visited by travelers, a true off-the-beaten-path destination, though it's a major attraction in the immediate surroundings of Kandy. The overhanging rock of the upper cave temple has large traces of one of the very few original paintings from the Anuradhapura period, probably from around the 6th century AD. It's also Sri Lanka's oldest surviving painting depicting the Buddha. The shrine room of the upper cave is richly decorated with excellent Kandy paintings. The murals from the 18th century illustrate  typical themes of this so-called Sittara art. Few traces of murals date back to the 14th century.