Kandy is a city in the Kandy District of Sri Lanka’s Central Province, situated at 500 metres above sea level in the Kandy Valley, surrounded by the central highlands on three sides and the Mahaweli River to the north. With a population of approximately 125,000, Kandy is the second largest city in Sri Lanka after Colombo and serves as the cultural capital of the island. The city was the seat of the last independent Kandyan Kingdom, which maintained sovereignty against Portuguese and Dutch colonial forces for over two centuries before falling to the British in 1815 under the Kandyan Convention. The entire city of Kandy, including the Temple of the Tooth Relic and the surrounding urban area, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988. Kandy is 116 kilometres from Colombo by road via the A1 Colombo-Kandy highway, taking approximately 3 hours by private vehicle, and is also served by frequent train services from Colombo Fort station on the Main Line.
The Temple of the Tooth Relic, known in Sinhala as Sri Dalada Maligawa, is a Buddhist temple complex on the southwestern shore of Kandy Lake housing the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha. The relic was brought to Sri Lanka from India in the 4th century AD, hidden in the hair of a princess according to historical accounts, and has been in the custody of successive Sri Lankan rulers since that time. The current temple complex was built in stages from the 17th century onward by Kandyan kings including Vimaladharmasuriya I, who constructed the first building over the relic in 1592, and Narendra Sinha, who added the outer moat and walls in the early 18th century. The golden roof canopy over the inner shrine was added by President Premadasa in 1987. The complex opens at 5:30am for the first of three daily pooja ceremonies performed at dawn, midday, and dusk, during which traditional drummers beat the hewisi drums at the temple entrance for 15 minutes before each ceremony. The tooth relic itself is housed inside seven concentric golden caskets inside the Vadahitina Maligawa and is displayed to the public only during the Esala Perahera festival. The outer complex includes the Alut Maligawa (New Shrine Room), the Audience Hall of the last Kandyan king built in 1784, the Patthirippuwa (Octagon Tower) housing a collection of ola leaf manuscripts, and the Dalada Museum. Entry fee for foreign visitors is 2,000 Sri Lankan Rupees.
Kandy Lake, known in Sinhala as Kiri Muhuda (Sea of Milk), is an artificial reservoir covering 25 acres in the centre of Kandy city, constructed in 1807 by the last Kandyan king Sri Wickrama Rajasinha. The king conscripted workers from all provinces of the kingdom for the construction, which involved damming the Natha Devale stream and flooding a low-lying area at the foot of the Temple of the Tooth hill. The lake is surrounded by a 3.2-kilometre walking path that passes the temple complex, the royal palace ruins, the Natha Devale shrine, and the Kandy National Museum. A small island in the centre of the lake, called the Bogambara island or Asgiriya island, was used by the last king as a summer house and ammunition store. The lake road is a popular morning and evening walking circuit for Kandy residents and offers views of the cloud-covered hills surrounding the city. Water monitors (Varanus salvator), monitor lizards reaching up to 1.5 metres in length, are commonly seen along the lake shore.
The Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya are located 6 kilometres west of Kandy city centre on a loop of the Mahaweli River, covering 147 acres at an elevation of 460 metres. The gardens were established in 1821 by the British colonial administration on the site of a former Kandyan royal pleasure garden. The collection currently contains over 4,000 species of plants including 300 species of orchid, 150 species of palm, and 60 species of bamboo. The most photographed single tree in the gardens is a Javan fig (Ficus benjamina) planted in 1875, whose aerial roots have spread to cover a ground area of approximately 2,500 square metres. The Avenue of Royal Palms, a 200-metre long double row of Roystonea oleracea palms planted during the colonial period, leads from the main entrance to the central gardens. The Orchid House contains the largest public collection of orchids in Sri Lanka. The gardens are open daily from 7:30am to 5:30pm. Entry fee for foreign visitors is 2,000 Sri Lankan Rupees. The gardens are 20 minutes from Kandy city centre by tuk-tuk.
The Esala Perahera is an annual Buddhist festival held in Kandy over 10 nights in July or August, concluding on the Nikini full moon poya day. The festival is one of the oldest and largest religious pageants in Asia, with historical records dating the procession to at least the 4th century AD. The procession centres on the Maligawa Tusker, the ceremonially decorated elephant that carries a golden casket containing a replica of the tooth relic through the streets of Kandy each night. The procession includes 100 or more elephants decorated with elaborate fabric costumes and electric lights, Kandyan dancers performing traditional routines, fire-walkers, whip-crackers, and torch bearers. The procession route covers approximately 2 kilometres through the streets of central Kandy and lasts 2 to 3 hours each night. The final night, called Randoli Perahera, is the largest and most elaborate. Tickets for stands along the procession route must be booked weeks in advance. The Esala Perahera date changes each year according to the lunar calendar; visitors planning specifically to attend should confirm the dates for their travel year before booking.
Three medieval temples located 15 to 20 kilometres southwest of Kandy city centre form one of the most significant concentrations of Kandyan-era religious architecture in Sri Lanka. Gadaladeniya Vihara, built in 1344 during the reign of King Bhuvanekabahu IV, is constructed primarily of stone in a style influenced by South Indian Dravidian architecture, unusual in a region where most temple construction used timber. The main shrine room is topped by a stone dagoba and contains a large seated Buddha image carved from a single granite boulder. Lankatilaka Vihara, built in the same period, is a five-storey brick structure built on a granite outcrop, containing a 9-metre high standing Buddha image and walls decorated with carved relief panels depicting scenes from the Jataka tales. Embekke Devalaya, a shrine dedicated to the deity Skanda (Murugan), is renowned for its carved wooden pillars decorated with over 700 individual carved motifs including wrestlers, double-headed eagles, dancing figures, and a soldier on horseback, carved in the 14th century and considered the finest surviving example of Kandyan wood carving. The three temples are best visited together as a half-day excursion from Kandy, with transport by tuk-tuk taking approximately 45 minutes each way.
The Bahirawakanda Buddha statue is a 26-metre high seated white Buddha figure located on Bahirawakanda Hill, 350 metres above sea level, overlooking Kandy city from the south. The statue was constructed in 1972 and is one of the largest Buddha statues in Sri Lanka. The hilltop is accessible by road from the Kandy town centre in approximately 15 minutes by tuk-tuk, or by a steep footpath from the Bahirawakanda Road taking 20 to 30 minutes on foot. The surrounding temple complex includes a large seated Buddha inside the base of the statue, accessible via stairs. The hilltop offers a 270-degree panoramic view over Kandy city, Kandy Lake, the Temple of the Tooth complex, and the surrounding highland ridges.
The Hanthana Mountain Range is a series of forested ridges rising to 1,214 metres immediately south and southwest of Kandy city. The range forms a natural boundary to the Kandy Valley and is visible from most points in the city as a forested skyline. The Hanthana Environmental Centre, operated by the University of Peradeniya, manages several marked hiking trails through the range. The most accessible trail begins near the University of Peradeniya campus, 6 kilometres from Kandy, and reaches the main ridge in approximately 2 hours. The range is designated as a protected area under Sri Lankan law and contains montane forest vegetation including tree ferns, epiphytic orchids, and endemic bird species. The Hanthana range receives high rainfall due to its position in the path of the southwest monsoon and is best hiked during the drier months of January to April.
Kandy is served by frequent train services from Colombo Fort station on the Main Line, with journey times ranging from 2.5 hours on the intercity express to 3.5 hours on slower services. The Kandy to Badulla line continues from Kandy through the hill country to Nuwara Eliya, Ella, and Badulla, making Kandy the natural starting point for hill country rail travel. By road, Kandy is 116 kilometres from Colombo via the A1 highway, taking 2.5 to 3.5 hours depending on traffic. The Colombo to Kandy expressway (E01 and E03) opened in stages between 2009 and 2016 and reduces the journey to approximately 2 hours from the Kadawatha interchange. From Bandaranaike International Airport, Kandy is approximately 95 kilometres by road, taking 2 to 2.5 hours via the expressway.
Kandy receives rainfall from both the southwest monsoon (May to September) and the northeast monsoon (October to January) due to its central location, but the city is generally drier than the surrounding highlands. The driest and most comfortable months for visiting Kandy are January to April and July to August. The Esala Perahera festival in July or August is the most significant annual event. Kandy is a year-round destination as the city’s elevation keeps temperatures moderate (22 to 30 degrees Celsius daily) compared to the coastal lowlands, and rainfall rarely disrupts sightseeing entirely as showers tend to be brief and afternoon-concentrated rather than all-day events.
Tira Travels includes Kandy in several Sri Lanka tour packages. The Hill Country Adventure (3 nights 4 days) visits Kandy including the Temple of the Tooth and a Kandyan cultural show, combined with Pinnawala and Ella, starting from $720. The Sri Lanka Heritage and Coast tour (3 nights 4 days) visits Kandy combined with Galle Fort and Bentota starting from $690. The Classic Sri Lanka tour (11 nights 12 days) spends two days in Kandy including a spice garden visit, cooking class, and the Temple of the Tooth morning pooja, starting from $3,700. Contact our team to build a tailor-made itinerary centred on Kandy and the cultural triangle.
