KANDY

Kandy - Sri Lanka's picturesque old lakeside highland capital and cultural sanctuary is a fascinating experience. The magnificent golden-roofed medieval Dalada Maligawa enshrines the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha and has daily traditional rituals. The Kandy Museum has an interesting collection of period antiquities (14th - 19th century). The colourful bazaars and the Kandy Market have a tempting selection of Kandyan handicrafts in brass, silver and wood, batiks, jewellery, spices, sweetmeats and fruits. The Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya, four and a half kilometres away, have a superb collection of tropical plants, trees and orchids. Upriver on the Mahaweli Ganga, working elephants are given a daily dip. In July/August Kandy holds its annual Esala Perahera, a glittering ten-day medieval pageant where chieftains in medieval court regalia, massed highland dancers and drummers and scores of dressed-up elephants parade the streets by moon and torch light.
Major UNESCO-aided conservation work is in progress at important archaelogical sites in Anuradhapura, Sigiriya, Polonnaruwa, Dambulla and Kandy, collectively known as the 'Cultural Triangle'.