In Search Of Buddha’s Tooth - Kandy

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During our travels in Sri Lanka, we had heard so much about Kandy, everybody said we HAD to go to the beautiful old king city Kandy. So we eventually decided to check out this famous city on our way from Ella. We took the most beautiful train ride from Ella to Kandy, a highlight on our Sri Lankan trip.

Kandy is the next biggest city in Sri Lanka, after the capital Colombo. I must admit we were a little bit disappointed in Kandy. Everybody kept telling us (including the Lonely Planet book) that Kandy was sooooo beautiful, and used terms as “Here`s a city that looks good even when it`s raining” (quote Lonely Planet). Well, some parts of the city was nice, but as a whole it was a fairly typical busy, and noisy city. It was also the only place in Sri Lanka where someone tried to scam us! The tuk-tuk drivers were also a bit more aggressive than elsewhere in Sri Lanka, some going as far as following us around when we were walking.

At the train station, when arriving to Kandy from Ella, we took a tuk-tuk with a nice young driver. He drove us from the train station to our guesthouse Sharon Inn, and seemed like an OK driver so we booked him for the next day to drive us around.

Me in front of our beautiful green tuk-tuk. It was however only beautiful on the outside, as it broke down on our way back to Kandy from the Elephant Orphanage!

Driving through Kandy city in the tuk-tuk.

On our way from the Elephant Orphanage we stopped for coconut. Yummi! Sadly our tuk-tuk also broke down on our way back, and our driver had to stop and fix it.

Here are our top 5 things to do in Kandy:

1. Kandy Lake

Kandy Lake is a dominating part of Kandy city, and you can`t miss it! The lake is very nice and peaceful, an is our absolute favorite part of Kandy.

The lake was created in 1807 by the last ruler of the kingdom of Kandy. The people did however object to laboring on the lake-project, but those who objected were ruthlessly put to death on stakes in the lake bed. So the lake has a bloody history.

In the middle of the lake is a small island. The central island of the lake was used by the emperor`s personal harem. Later the British used it to store ammunition, and they were the ones who built the fortress style parapet around the area.

 

We had a nice stroll around the lake, although a road with much traffic runs very close by the lake on it`s southern edge, which ruins the idyll somewhat. The nicest area is the part around the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

It was by the Kandy Lake that we were approached by a man who claimed to be a teacher at a nearby school. He said that we were so lucky to be in Kandy on this particular day, because the president of Sri Lanka was coming to Kandy to participate in the very rare showing of the tooth relic at the Temple. This was a special occasion, not open for everybody, but he could sell us special tickets to attend the event. We also had to hurry with buying the tickets, because they closed the ticket selling at 5 p.m.

We have met our fair share of “school teachers” before, both in Thailand and Vietnam, so we knew the drill and said politely “No thank you!”. We later checked with the owners of the guesthouse we stayed at, and of course the president was not coming to Kandy, and the tooth relic was not going to be displayed. Hehe, so yep, so much for that scam! 

2. Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic

North of the Kandy Lake is the famous temple that houses Sri Lanka`s most important Buddhist relic – a tooth of the Buddha himself! The legend says that the sacred tooth of the Buddha was snatched from the Buddha`s funeral pyre in India in 483 BC. It was smuggled into Sri Lanka during the 4th century AD, hidden in the hair of a princess.

The tooth has over the years been moved around Sri Lanka, and was returned back to India in 1283 by an invading army. It was then retrieved by the king of Sri Lanka and brought back to the country. It was believed that whoever had the custody of the tooth, had the right to rule Sri Lanka.

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic was built by Kandyan kings 1687-1707 and 1747-1782, and was part of the royal palace.

At the north side of the temple, only accessible via the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, is the Audience Hall. This is from the 19th century, and is a beautiful open-air pavilion with stone columns, Buddhas and ivory.

The Audience Hall. A lot of people visit the Tooth Temple every day, both Sri Lankan and tourists.

You don`t however get to see the actual tooth in the temple, as it is kept in a golden casket shaped like a dagoba. We saw the dagoba casket from the doorway, which is 3 m from the actual altar. We moved around the room in a queue, and guards made sure that no-one gets more than 15 seconds inside the shrine room.

We visited the temple in the evening, and it was a nice and a bit mystic atmosphere in and around the temple.

The shrine receives many worshipers and tourists. Sri Lankan Buddhists believe they must complete at least one pilgrimage to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in their lifetime. To worship here improves one`s karmic lot immeasurably.

The security at the entrance to the temple is high, because the temple was damaged by a bomb detonated by the LTT near the main entrance in 1998.

Tip: Wear clothes that cover your legs and shoulders, otherwise you will not be allowed to enter the temple. We met many tourists that did not know this, and had to go into one of the markets in Kandy to buy sarongs.

 
3. Peradeniya Botanic Garden

Just outside of Kandy is the lovely Peradeniya Botanic Garden, who once were reserved exclusively for Kandyan Royalty. Today is it open for the public, making it the largest botanic garden in Sri Lanka, covering 60 hectares.

Here you will find a fine collection of orchids, cannonball tress, coconut palm trees, a spice garden, giant bamboo, rubber trees, as well as a stately avenue of royal palms that was planted in 1950:

After walking around the gardens for three hours, we took a little nap on one of the lawns, in the shadow under the huge trees:

Taking a nap under the trees at the Botanic Gardens.

While the gardens are nice, our guide, on dropping us off, had insisted we needed four hours inside the botanical garden. We finally agreed on three, and even that turned out to be more than enough.


4. Kandyan dance and drum show

After the trip to the Botanical Gardens, we decided to get some culture, and went to one of the many dance and drum shows in Kandy.

This is apparently a must-do-experience in Kandy. It was an intense, spectacular and energetic show, with both male and female dancers and drummers. They were all wearing colorful costumes, and did ten different dances, including the famous “devil” dances of the west coast.

Drummers at the dance show.

Men jumping and rotating high up in the air! Impressive!

Colorful female dancers performing the Peacock Dance. This is a traditional Kandyan dance where they depicts the movements of the peacock bird.

 

The Raban Dance, dancing and balancing a number of flat drums (Raban) on sticks.This is a traditional dance of the Sabaragamuwa province.

At the end of the show, the whole crew danced and drummed together in a big group dance.

After the dance and drum show, we all went outside where some of the dancers did fire walking!

Fire walking.


5. Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage

We started our sightseeing-day in Kandy with a visit to the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage outside of Kandy. You can read, see pictures and video from that trip here.

We did not particularly like Kandy that much. It may be because we traveled in the opposite direction through Sri Lanka than most people, who usually come straight from Colombo. Having been to so many beautiful, peaceful places, and having such high expectations from the guide books, it was a bit of a let down.

If you have plenty of time, then it is worth visiting mainly for the temple, but unless you REALLY want to see it, I recommend that you skip this city all together. There are so many much nicer places to see in Sri Lanka.

 
Would you like to visit Kandy? Please mail your comment in the my mail box below,( basuratravels@gmail.com ) thank you! If you like this blog post, or find it useful, please share it on social media!

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