Kandy

The city of Kandy is located 116 kilometers from Colombo.  It is 465 meters above  sea-level  and  nestled  in  the  mountainous  central  region  of  the island.    First  established  in  the  mid-14th  century,  the  city  resisted  many invasions by the Portuguese and Dutch, who occupied most of the island from the 16th century onwards.  Kandy remained the last independent capital of Sri Lanka until the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, when it came under British rule in 1815.  The seats of power then shifted to the coastal areas of Kotte and Colombo.  However, it is still considered the religious and cultural center of the country, with numerous temples  and  monasteries,  Buddhist  colleges  and  beautiful parks and gardens.  The Lankatilaka Temple is known for its traditional Sinhalese architecture and  was  built  in  1344  atop  a  rocky  and  uneven  hilltop.    The  Embekke Devale, constructed in the 14th century, is famous for its wooden structure and beautifully intricate woodcarvings.   Another popular temple in Kandy is the Gadaladeniya Temple which was built in a South Indian style.

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The Temple of the Tooth

The  most  famous  attraction  in  Kandy  is  the  Temple  of  the  Tooth,  or  “Sri Dalada Maligawa”.  The Buddha’s Tooth was first brought to Kandy during the reign of Vimaladharmasuriya I at the turn of the 17th century.  He built a temple to house the relic but this was later destroyed.  It was taken away for safety during a Portuguese invasion of Kandy and eventually recovered during the rule of King Rajasinha II.

The present Temple of the Tooth was built in the early 18th century by King Vira  Narendra  Sinha,  and  later  extended  and  modified  by  subsequent kings.    Externally,  it  is  surrounded  by  a  moat  and  low  white  walls  with simple carvings.  Its distinctive Octagonal Tower, or “Pattiripuwa”, was built in 1803 and houses a collection of palm-leaf manuscripts.

The  Tooth  is  kept  in  a  two-story  shrine which  is  covered  with  a  golden canopy  and  fronted  by  a  set  of  huge  elephant  tusks.    There  is  also  a museum  where  many  Buddha  images  are  kept,  most  of  them  gifts  from different  countries.    Also displayed are paintings depicting the  various events in the history of the Tooth.

Thousands  of  devotees  and  visitors  throng  the  shrine  every day  to  pay respects  to  the  Tooth,  which  is  encased  within  a  set  of  seven  caskets made of gold and precious gems.  There is an air of great excitement and Anticipation among the crowd as the people await their turn to file past the Tooth.  There is usually not much more time than for a quick look as the attendants keep the crowd moving at a fast pace.

A  replica  of  the  Tooth,  together  with  its  ornate  and  beautiful  caskets,  is displayed  once  a  year  during  the  “Esala  Perahera”.    This is  the  island’s largest annual celebration, lasting for ten days, with colorful and elaborate parades  of  dancers,  drummers  and  elephants.    Around a million people attend this festival each year.  Due to security concerns, the actual Tooth is never brought out for the festival.

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The Golden Rock Temple

Although there are numerous cave temples in Sri Lanka, the Golden Rock Temple a few kilometers south of the market town of Dambulla, is its most famous and spectacular.  The town is about 72 kilometers north of Kandy, and the temple is in a cave under a range of granite hillocks which rise 160 meters above the surrounding plains. It  is  believed  that  when  King  Vattagamini  was  fleeing  from  his  enemies in  the  1st  century  BCE,  he  was  sheltered  by  ascetic  monks  who  lived  in these caves.  After returning to power, he came back to build a large rock temple in gratitude to the monks.  The caves were further enlarged by King Nissankamalla in the 12th century, with five temples built into them. 

There are more than a hundred statues of the Buddha within the temples, along  with  a  few  of  kings  and  various  deities.    There  are  also  murals  on  the  walls  depicting  scenes  from  the  Buddha’s  life,  some  painted  as  recently  as  the  18th  and  19th  centuries,  and  these  cover  an  area  of  2,100 square meters.

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