The city of Kandy lies in the center of Sri Lanka and can literally and figuratively be considered the country’s heart. As a cultural hub, it is where the island’s most famous festival of Esala Perahera is held, and where the Temple of the Buddha’s Tooth is located. Surrounded by hills, Kandy also has a feisty side to it, having held out as the island’s last independent kingdom against Portuguese, Dutch and British invaders for centuries until 1815.
Nowadays, Kandy is not a kingdom anymore and though it is the country’s cultural center, as a city in terms of looks it isn’t that remarkable. It is not very big and feels more like a small town. However, it does have a scenic lake in the middle of the city, where the Temple of the Buddha’s Tooth (which contains exactly what the name says) is next to.
The lake also boasts a lot of birds such as ducks, herons, and cormorants. There are also several performance venues alongside the lake where you can see a Kandy culture show. These are one-hour evening performances that feature a number of different sets with drumming, singing, a bit of theater, and dancing. The performers are resplendent and dressed in colorful traditional costumes, with the women looking amazing.
The city actually doesn’t have much attractions within it besides the lake and temple, but there are a lot of fascinating sites nearby. These include the ancient hilltop fortress of Sigiriya and the Buddhist cave sculptures of Dambulla, which are within three hours’ drive from Kandy and can be done in a daytrip (which I did). Meanwhile, the Royal Botanical Gardens is right on the outskirts of the city in Peradeniya (5.5 km, less than 30 minutes by bus) while elephant sanctuaries, tea plantations and spice gardens are within an hour away.
I went to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage by tuktuk, which was originally built to house orphaned elephants found in the wild. Over time, the orphanage’s elephants have increased both due to new orphans brought in and births among the orphanage’s elephants (they can never be released into the wild due to being unable to adapt).
There is some controversy surrounding this center regarding how it treats its elephants. While I think people need to be very careful regarding elephant tourism, elephant rides are not provided here which is a good thing. One issue I saw was that the staff handlers would often ask people if they wanted to take a photo with an elephant for a fee. They can be persistent but don’t feel compelled to agree if you don’t want a photo with an elephant.
One highlight is that twice a day, the handlers bring their elephants to a river across the street to bathe. While it is nice to see the elephants bathing in the river, seeing dozens of elephants cross a street is amazing.
Fiery finale to the culture show
