Handpicked experience · Kandy
Kandy, Sri Lanka
A full day in the hill capital that held out against Europe for three centuries, taking in the relic that decided who ruled the island, a great botanical garden and an evening of ritual dance.
See the massive Buddha statue a top Bahirawa Kanda
Enter the sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic where a tooth of Buddha's is enshrined
Stroll through the splendid colors of the Royal Botanical Gardens
The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, where modest dress is required and shoes come off
A morning Ayurvedic treatment
tell the operator in advance about medical conditions or pregnancy
The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, with broad walks and remarkable specimen trees
A spice garden visit with demonstrations and tastings
The gem display and a wood-carving workshop, where the artisans are at work
An evening Kandyan performance of drumming and costume
Door-to-door pickup and drop-off at hotels in Kandy
Kandy was the last independent kingdom in Sri Lanka. The coast fell to the Portuguese in the sixteenth century and to the Dutch after them, but the hills held out until 1815, protected by the mountains and by the belief that whoever holds the relic in the temple beside the lake holds the right to rule. That temple is still the religious centre of the country, and this is a day built around it.
The morning takes in the lake and the temple in the old palace complex, then the crafts and produce stops on the roads outside town and the botanical gardens along the river. The day closes with a performance in the early evening.
Said clearly, because the disappointment is common. The relic is never displayed. It rests inside a gold casket shaped like a small stupa, which sits inside six further caskets, in a chamber that is opened to view only during worship. What you see is the outermost casket in its lit chamber, and the room itself — the object at the centre has not been publicly shown in living memory.
This decides whether the visit lands. Worship is held early in the morning, in the middle of the morning and again in the early evening, each announced by drummers and horns in the courtyard, and the inner doors are open only then. Arrive between those windows and you are looking at closed doors and a queue. Your itinerary is timed for one of them, and it names which.
Worth knowing before you take a photograph. Turning your back on a Buddha statue to pose in front of it is considered a real insult, and photographs taken that way have caused genuine trouble for visitors. Visible tattoos of the Buddha are treated more seriously still — travellers have been refused entry to the country and deported over them, so cover any you have. This is not squeamishness on the temple's part; it is the law.
An honest word about the middle of the day. The spice garden, the gem display and the carving workshop are commercial premises that end at a counter, and the demonstrations are the front half of a sale. The herbal treatment offered at the spice garden follows the same pattern. None of this makes them worthless — the plants are real and the carvers are skilled — but you are under no obligation to buy anything at any of them, and a polite decline is entirely normal.
Peradeniya, on a loop of the Mahaweli river a few kilometres out of town, was a royal pleasure ground before the British formalised it in 1821. It holds a single Javan fig whose canopy shades something like a quarter of a hectare on its own, an avenue of cannonball trees planted by visiting royalty in 1901, and giant bamboo that can put on thirty centimetres in a day. It was also the headquarters of Allied South East Asia Command during the Second World War, which is why there are war graves nearby.
Context for the evening. Kandyan dance began as part of a healing ceremony that ran for several nights, performed by men consecrated for the purpose, with the drums driving the whole thing rather than accompanying it. What is staged for visitors is an hour of excerpts, ending with a fire-walking sequence drawn from a separate tradition. Watch the drumming rather than the costumes and you will hear what it was.
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The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
No. It sits inside a stupa-shaped gold casket within six further caskets and is never put on display. Visitors see the outer casket in its chamber during worship, not the relic itself.
Only during the three daily services, early morning, mid-morning and early evening, each announced by drums and horns. Outside those windows the doors are closed.
Yes, and they matter. Posing with your back to a Buddha image is a serious offence, and visible Buddha tattoos have led to travellers being refused entry to Sri Lanka. Cover any you have.
No. Those stops are commercial premises and the demonstrations lead to a sales counter. Declining politely is completely ordinary and expected.
Yes, on its own terms. It holds a Javan fig with a canopy covering roughly a quarter of a hectare, an avenue of cannonball trees planted in 1901, and giant bamboo that grows visibly. It also served as Allied South East Asia Command headquarters in the war.
A compressed version of a healing ritual that once ran across several nights, performed by consecrated dancers with the drums leading. The staged hour ends with a fire-walking sequence borrowed from a different tradition.