Kandy Things to Do

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As you go round the grounds, you’ll come across the House of Orchids. This is simply a riot of colours and orchids. There is an artificial lake with water plants in the centre of the lake. Near it stands a white circular dome-like structure commemorating one of the most famous Superintendents of the Park, George Gardener (1844-1849).

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Our next stop was the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya (pera=guava; deniya=plain) locality, known for its huge open spaces, fantastic collection of orchids, palm tree-lined roads, spices and medicinal plants, truly a walkers' paradise. It dates back to 1371 when King Wickramabahu III held court at Peradeniya near the Mahaweli river (Great Sandy River). It was formally established in 1843 by the British. You can’t miss the Avenue of Palms. Also, watch out for a tree which may well beat the Leaning Tower of Pisa in its defiance of the laws of gravity. As you go round the grounds, you’ll come across the house of orchids. This is simply a riot of colours and orchids. There is an artificial lake with water plants in the centre of the lake. Near it stands a white circular dome-like structure commemorating one of the most famous Superintendents of the Park, George Gardener (1844-1849).

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While returning to town, we stopped at the Kandy War Cemetery of World War II, a place largely forgotten by the normal tourist, where 203 burials had taken place (107 British, 6 Canadians, 23 Indians, 26 Ceylonese, 35 East Africans, 1 French and 3 Italians – as per the plaque). The plaque goes on to add that Ceylon was strategically placed not only owing to the sea route but more importantly, the fall of Singapore. It is a sombre place, well maintained through funds received from the United Kingdom. The tombs are well laid out and a walk through the grounds reveals that quite a few of the fallen soldiers were barely 23 or 24 years old. It truly makes you wonder about the futility of war and the fact that we humans have not yet learnt that in war there are no winners. All are losers.

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After you have had your fill of the Sri Dalada Maligawa, exit from where you had parked your vehicle. Just there you will see a wrought-iron fountain, typically British. For a moment, the pedestal on which it stands and the fountain itself may remind you of Picadilly Circus, London. You will find quite a few persons lolling around, using the pedestal as a bench.

At the bottom of the fountain you can read this inscription:

‘Erected by the coffee planters of Ceylon in commemoration of the visit of H.R.H the Prince of Wales to Kandy. December 1875’

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The highlight of the evening was the Fire Walking Show. A shallow pit, roughly 7 feet long by 3 feet wide was littered with red-hot charcoal. The artists then walked through this fire pit, unharmed. It was fiery, it was daring, it was thrilling. A bar attached to the hall had raised everybody’s spirit.

To quote from the handout:

“The origin of fire walking can be traced back to the epic story of Rama and Sita. Ravana, the King of Ceylon, had abducted the princess Sita from India. When Rama her husband (an Indian King) regained her, she proved her chastity during her enforced stay with Ravana, by walking on fire barefoot-unhurt. The devotees who perform fire-walking seek the divine blessings of Lord Kataragama and Goddess Pattini before they do so.”

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The ‘Dances of Sri Lanka’ is organised by the Kandy Lake Club Dance Ensemble daily at 5.30 pm at 7, Sangamitta Mawatha, Kandy (Off Malabar Street). We went after lunch to book our ticket and to ensure the first row, centre seats. This precaution was worth the effort. As many as 12 different dances of Sri Lanka were presented within a span of one hour, from the Ceremonial Drums to the Peacock Dance, the Devil Dance, the Fire Dance, the Harvest Dance and the Drum Orchestra. Tickets were LKR 500/-

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The next day early morning found us at the entrance to the Sri Dalada Maligawa (The Sacred Temple of Tooth Relic). The temple complex is huge and the setting serene. It is situated 1630 m (5,350 ft) above sea level with the Kandy Lake in front and the Udawatta forest behind it. The golden canopy gifted by the President of Sri Lanka, Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1987, is a little to your left. As you walk towards the main entrance, you will notice the statue of Wariyapola Sumangala with his right first raised and right leg forward, as though leading a revolt. This is the first statue of a monk that I saw sculptured in an aggressive pose. Before the Kandyan Treaty of 1815, he had brought down the British flag and hoisted the Sri Lankan flag.

Next is the monument for Weera Keppetipola. Not to be missed is the beautiful statue of Prince Danta and Princess Hemamala, the pair who brought the Sacred Tooth Relic from the Kingdom of Kalinga, India to Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, in 312 BC, during the reign of King Kithsiri Meghavanna (301-328).

For close to 1,540 years, the Sacred Tooth relic (left canine) belonged to the Kings of Sri Lanka who treated the sacred object as their own property with the common man having no access to it. However, owing to foreign invasions and the belief that whoever possessed the Sacred Tooth would rule over the kingdom of Sri Lanka, the sacred object had to be moved from place to place nine times as a safety precaution. From Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Beligal and so on till its final resting place, Kandy. Earlier, this sacred object was in the possession of the Kalinga Kings of India for over 800 years.

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There is quite a long walk leading to the temple at the end of which, you remove your shoes, buy some offerings if you wish and them climb a few steps to the main entrance (Western Gate). Two buildings make up the palace complex, the Entrance Tunnel and the Drumming Hall. You may notice that the moonstone is more decorative that the ones you have seen in Anuradhapura and elsewhere.

The morning ritual was in progress when we visited the temple. There are three of these, 5.30 am to 8.00 am, 9.30 am to 11.00 am and in the evening from 6.30 pm to 8 pm. On Wednesdays, along with the midday service, there is a weekly ritual symbolising the bathing the Buddha. Three temple priests were beating the 67 cms. Kandyan drums, the ‘geta beras’. Going beyond this Drumming Hall, past a flight of steps, we came across a small stupa in a corner, believed to contain some valuables offered to the temple. Climbing the wooden stairs, we came to the main room, the Vedahitina Maligawa (Tooth Relic Shrine) where the crowd was overwhelming. Inside the inner chamber is the golden casket which contains the Sacred Tooth Relic. It is supposed to be encased in seven baskets inside a bullet-proof chamber. A smaller golden basket carried by the Temple Elephant during the Esala Mangallaya (Dalada Perahera or procession) during the full moon of July-August, is also housed inside the shrine. Next to this, on the ground floor is the three-storeyed New Palace built in 1936, where a huge golden statue of the Buddha, along with plenty of tusks, are kept.

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