Things to do
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Bahirawakanda Buddha
A white seated Buddha of about twenty five metres looks down on Kandy from a ridge above the town, lit after dark and visible from the lake. A steep road and a flight of steps lead up, and tuk tuks will wait at the top. Shoes come off at the platform, where the stone gets hot by midday.
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Kandy Lake
Dug by the last king of Kandy in 1807, the lake fills the middle of town with a walking circuit of about three kilometres past the temple, the old queen's bathhouse and a colony of monitor lizards. Shade is thin at midday. Early evening brings egrets to the water and a view back to the temple roofs.
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Temple of the Tooth
Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist site guards a tooth relic of the Buddha in a gold casket, displayed as a closed shrine behind a queue that keeps moving. Three pujas a day open the inner chamber, announced by drummers in the corridor, and the evening one fills the upper hall. White clothing is customary, with knees and shoulders covered and shoes left at the gate.
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Kandy Esala Perahera
For ten nights each August, the tooth relic leaves its temple in a procession of tusker elephants in electric capes, whip crackers, fire dancers and Kandyan drummers, ending on the night of the full moon. Dates shift with the lunar calendar and are confirmed only weeks ahead. Seats on the route are sold by hotels and shopfronts along the way.
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Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya
Once a royal pleasure garden, the grounds at Peradeniya sit in a loop of the Mahaweli river and run to orchid houses, an avenue of royal palms and a Javan fig whose canopy covers a lawn on its own. Distances inside are long and the site is open plan, so a slow half day suits it. Buses from Kandy take twenty minutes.
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Udawattakele Forest Reserve
Behind the Temple of the Tooth, a royal forest kept for the Kandyan court climbs straight into jungle: giant creepers, macaques, hornbills and a pond where monks once meditated. Trails are marked and short, though roots and leeches make boots worth having in wet weather. Guides wait at the gate, and birdsong is best soon after dawn.
