Kandy is the charming hill capital of Sri Lanka and the island’s second-largest city. At an elevation of 465 meters above sea level, Kandy has located 129 Km North-East of Colombo. Nestling amidst low hills, and looped by the Mahaweli river; Kandy is the country’s religious and cultural center and a World Heritage City.

The city was born in the 14th century and became the capital of the Kandyan kingdom in the 16th century. It was the seat of much of Sri Lanka’s culture. The Royal City fell to the British in 1815, when the last Kandyan King, Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe was captured.

For Buddhists, Kandy Hill Capital Sri Lanka is the sacred city. The focal point is the Dalada Maligawa also known as the temple of the tooth, where the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha is enshrined. There are many shrines and temples in and around Kandy, where you will see rare paintings, frescoes, wood and stone carvings.

Kandy is still the home of the arts and crafts, music and dance and song which flourished under the patronage of the Kandyan Kings.

Dalada Maligawa

The Dalada Maligawa is also known as the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. Dalada Maligawa is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy which was the last capital of the Sinhalese kings. It is the most blessed sites of worship for Buddhists from all over the world. The temple that was built during the 16th century is the abode for the Tooth Relic of the Buddha (left canine tooth to be precise). It was brought to Sri Lanka by two siblings from the Kalinga province in India in the 4th century AD.

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth relic is the ‘lodestar of the Buddhists”. The present Temple was constructed mainly under the Kandyan Kings from 1687 to 1707, and 1747-82. It is an imposing structure, surrounded by a deep moat. One of the most spectacular sections of this temple; the Pattirippuwa or the Octagon, was added by king Sri Wickrema Rajasingha in the early 19th Century. He also built the Kandy lake.