Kandy was the last independent kingdom of Sri Lanka, holding out against Portuguese and Dutch incursions before finally falling to the British in 1815 — a fact that still shapes how the city sees itself. Set around an artificial lake commissioned by the kingdom's final ruler, King Sri Wickrama Rajasinha, in 1807, Kandy occupies a bowl of hills at around 500 metres, cooler and greener than the coastal lowlands but without the high-altitude chill of Nuwara Eliya further up the range. Its streets still follow much of their historic layout, radiating from the royal palace complex that once anchored Kandyan political and religious life.
At the heart of that complex sits the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, or Sri Dalada Maligawa, which houses what is venerated as a tooth relic of the Buddha, brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century CE and moved between capitals for centuries before settling in Kandy. The relic is kept in a gold casket within a series of nested caskets inside an inner chamber, and while it is rarely shown to the public, the temple's daily rituals — drumming, chanting and offerings performed three times a day — draw a steady stream of pilgrims and visitors regardless. The temple's ownership of the relic was, historically, treated as tantamount to sovereignty over the island, which explains the scale and permanence of the building housing it.
Kandy's identity extends well beyond the temple. The city gave its name to the Kandyan dance tradition, a vigorous drum-and-movement performance style once reserved for temple and court ceremony, and its surrounding hills host the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, laid out under British administration on the site of an earlier royal pleasure garden. Each July or August, the ten-night Esala Perahera procession fills Kandy's streets with drummers, dancers, whip-crackers and decorated elephants escorting a replica of the tooth relic casket — one of Asia's great processional festivals and the clearest expression of how thoroughly the sacred and civic life of the city remain intertwined.
What to expect
- Modest dress required inside the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic — shoulders and knees covered, shoes removed at the entrance
- Daily puja ceremonies at set times each morning, midday and evening, accompanied by traditional drumming
- A walkable lakeside city centre, with the Royal Botanical Gardens a short drive away in Peradeniya
- Significantly larger crowds during the Esala Perahera festival in July or August
Best time to visit
Kandy is agreeable year-round thanks to its mid-elevation climate, though January to April tends to bring the driest, clearest days. Travellers specifically wanting to see the Esala Perahera procession should time a visit for the festival dates, which shift annually with the lunar calendar and draw the city's largest crowds of the year.
