What better way than to be woken up by the sound of chirping birds and a flowing river. If that wasn't a perfect start, one opens their eyes to a vast expanse of trees and hills all around. Kandy is predominantly a city inhabited on various hills around Kandy lake.
Things to do in Kandy:
Temple of the Tooth:
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or Sri Dalada Maligawa is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy. It is located in the royal palace complex which houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sinhalese kings and is a UNESCO world heritage site partly due to the temple.
Monks of the two chapters of Malwatte and Asgiriya conduct daily worship in the inner chamber of the temple. Rituals are performed three times daily: at dawn, at noon and in the evening.
We visited the Temple on a Monday and so missed a lot of the local crowd that normally crowd the temple on the weekends.
Tickets: SLR 2000 (foreigners) SLR 1000 (locals)
Tip: Be particularly cautious about what you wear as the Temple has a strict dress code on shorts, skirts and sleeveless clothing.
Kandy Lake:
Situated in the heart of the city and next to the Temple of the Tooth is Kandy Lake. The lake was created in 1807 by Sri Wickrama Rajasinha, the last ruler of the kingdom of Kandy. Some of the local chiefs who
protested about their people labouring on the lake were put to death on stakes in the lake bed. The central island was originally used as a harem. The British later used it as a ammunition store, adding the fortress-style parapet around it.
The lake is a particularly pleasant place to take a stroll around and enjoys some beautiful views of the city situated around it.
Peradeniya Royal Botanic Garden:
Stretched over 147 acres of land, this botanical garden is one of the best there is in Asia. It is renowned for its collection of a variety of orchids. It includes more than 300 varieties of orchids, spices, medicinal plants and palm trees. It takes a good few hours to take a look around the garden and enjoy its true beauty.
Temple of the Tooth:
 |
| Temple of the Tooth exterior |
 |
| The cascade of the tooth |
We visited the Temple on a Monday and so missed a lot of the local crowd that normally crowd the temple on the weekends.
 |
| The main temple at Temple of the Tooth |
Tickets: SLR 2000 (foreigners) SLR 1000 (locals)
Tip: Be particularly cautious about what you wear as the Temple has a strict dress code on shorts, skirts and sleeveless clothing.
Kandy Lake:
 |
| Kandy Lake is situated right in the heart of the city |
Situated in the heart of the city and next to the Temple of the Tooth is Kandy Lake. The lake was created in 1807 by Sri Wickrama Rajasinha, the last ruler of the kingdom of Kandy. Some of the local chiefs who
protested about their people labouring on the lake were put to death on stakes in the lake bed. The central island was originally used as a harem. The British later used it as a ammunition store, adding the fortress-style parapet around it.
The lake is a particularly pleasant place to take a stroll around and enjoys some beautiful views of the city situated around it.
Peradeniya Royal Botanic Garden:
Stretched over 147 acres of land, this botanical garden is one of the best there is in Asia. It is renowned for its collection of a variety of orchids. It includes more than 300 varieties of orchids, spices, medicinal plants and palm trees. It takes a good few hours to take a look around the garden and enjoy its true beauty.
A section of the garden also attracts a particularly large number of bats. The botanical garden is a perfect place to unwind away from the hustle bustle of the city but beware of the thousands of couples cuddled behind trees.
Ticket: SLR 1100 (foreigners)
Lunch at The Royal Mall restaurant: A nice place to have lunch after a site-seeing filled morning is the royal mall restaurant. It offers a fine lunch buffet consisting of traditional Sri Lankan and continental food.
A few minutes at the famous suspension bridge also used in Indiana Jones (or at least so we're told). This suspension bridge is on our way to our Hotel Chaaya Citadel. Although not a famous bridge, it is prettily situated on the rive Mahaveli and offers some amazing views.
Kandyan Dance Show:
This show is on every tour company's list of must-see things in Kandy. Organised by the cultural centre of Kandy the show comprises of traditional music and dancing of various forms. If you are remotely interested in world music and performing arts then this show will cheer you right up.
Tickets: SLR 500
Municipal Market: Situated in the heart of the city the municipal market is like any small town market with fruit and vegetable vendors.
It might be a good idea just to take a stroll and get the feel of the city within the locals.
Other interesting building is the Queen's Hotel: The Queen’s Hotel is considered today as a historic building to be conserved and held for all time as a part of the history of Sri Lanka’s Central Province. The Queen’s was originally a Governors Mansion with a small structure of buildings constructed to house troops.
 |
| Queen's Hotel |
This was later to become the main complex of the Ceylon Riffle Regiment. Today the Queen's Hotel which is one of Kandy’s prime properties set on an extent of 217.5 perches of land is one of the finest and grandest architectural buildings and one of the finest hotel properties of its kind in Kandy.
No comments:
Post a Comment