Quick Field Data
- UNESCO Inscription: 1988 under cultural criteria iv and vi as the Sacred City of Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka.
- Scale & Footprint: Municipal area of 28.53 square kilometres set between 465 and 500 metres elevation around Kandy Lake, the Royal Palace, and the Sri Dalada Maligawa.
- Access & Ticketing: Lakefront promenades and city streets are open to pedestrians; check official temple counters for admission, dress rules, and ritual viewing times.
- Arrival Logistics: Connected with Colombo via the scenic A1 highway and the Main Line railway through Peradeniya, with highways A9, A10, A26, and A5 radiating across the island.
Set at an elevation of 465 to 500 metres (1,526 to 1,600 feet) amidst the thickly forested hills of the Kandy plateau between the Knuckles Mountain Range and the nearby Hanthana range, the Sacred City of Kandy served from 1469 to 1818 as the final seat of the Sinhalese monarchy and remains a premier pilgrimage centre for Theravada Buddhists worldwide. For Sri Lanka, the UNESCO World Heritage Atlas in 1988 and spanning a municipal area of 28.53 square kilometres with 125,400 residents (4,591 per square kilometre as of 2011), the city is known in Sinhala as Maha Nuwara (Great City) or Senkadagalapura, derived from the Sinhala phrase Kanda Uda Rata (land on the mountain), which the Portuguese shortened to Candea. Sacred drums echo across the lake every day.
From 14th-Century Senkadagalapura to the 1815 Kandyan Convention
Historical records indicate that Senkadagalapura was first established during the reign of Parakramabahu III, (1357 to 1374 AD), monarch of the Kingdom of Kurunegala, while Minister and General Siriwardhana founded the Asgiri Maha Viharaya, the oldest monastic establishment in the city. Some scholars also suggest an early settlement name of Katubulu Nuwara near present-day Watapuluwa, while folklore links Senkadagala Siriwardhana Maha Nuwara to a brahmin ascetic named Senkanda who lived in a nearby cave, a queen of Vikramabahu III, a coloured stone named Senkadagala, or a title of Lord Vishnu (Chenkatan). In 1469, Sena Sammatha Wickramabahu (reigned 1473 to 1511) of the Kotte royal bloodline established Kandy as the capital of the semi-independent Kingdom of Kandy, succeeded by his son Jayaweera Astana (1511 to 1551), Karaliyadde Bandara (1551 to 1581), and Dona Catherina (1581). After Rajasinha I, ruled from Sitawaka, Konappu Bandara ascended the throne in 1592 as Vimaladharmasuriya I, embraced Buddhism, and brought the sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha from Delgamuwa to Kandy.
Because ancient 4th-century Sinhalese tradition held that the protector of the Tooth Relic was the rightful ruler of the land, the Royal Palace and the shrine of the Tooth Relic stood directly beside one another on the palace grounds. Protected by steep mountain passes and dense jungle, Kandy repelled repeated Portuguese invasions, including the famous campaign of Danture, and later resisted Dutch expeditions during the 1761 to 1766 conflict (after King Kirti Sri Rajasinha overran coastal posts in 1761 leaving only Negombo intact), even after Dutch troops equipped with machetes briefly entered the deserted capital in January 1765 before retreating under constant jungle attrition and signing a peace treaty in 1766. After Great Britain took over coastal Ceylon in 1796 (formalised by the Treaty of Amiens in 1802) and was repulsed in the First Kandyan War the next year, internal opposition by Sinhalese chieftains (Radalas) against the last Nayak king, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, enabled British forces to enter Kandy on 10 February 1815. On 2 March 1815, the Kandyan Convention was signed at the Sri Dalada Maligawa, ending more than 2,500 years of Sinhalese royal rule, recognising King George III, and exiling Sri Vikrama Rajasinha to Vellore Fort in India (with royal family members also sent to Thanjavur, where their residence is remembered as Kandy Raja Aranmanai on Old Mariamman Koil Road). Anti-colonial resistance continued in the Uva Rebellion of 1818 and the peasant Matale Rebellion of 26 July 1848 headed by Puran Appu and Gongalegoda Banda, while during World War II in 1944 Kandy served as headquarters for the Allied South East Asia Command.
The Sri Dalada Maligawa, Royal Palace, and Historic Temples
The spatial plan of the old capital developed around two open civic spaces: an elongated ceremonial square flanked by administrative buildings and the artificial quadrangular basin of Kandy Lake. Along the northern shore of the lake, enclosed at the beginning of the 19th century by a white stone parapet wall, stand the Royal Palace complex and the neighbouring Temple of the Tooth Relic, known as the Sri Dalada Maligawa.
Reconstructed in the 18th century on a granite base inspired by the classical temples of Sri Lanka's former capital, Anuradhapura, the Sri Dalada Maligawa combines limestone, marble, sculpted wood, and ivory craftsmanship to house the sacred tooth of the Buddha. Nearby stands the International Buddhist Museum with exhibits from India, Gandhara, Bhutan, Nepal, Korea, and Thailand, fronted by a 16-foot replica of the Sarnath Buddha gifted by the Government of India. The adjoining Royal Palace, the last royal residence built on the island, now houses the National Museum Kandy, displaying artefacts from the Kandyan Kingdom and the British colonial period.
- Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth Relic): The 18th-century sanctuary on a granite plinth beside the Royal Palace on the north shore of Kandy Lake, housing the palladium of the Sinhalese monarchy and the focus of global Buddhist pilgrimage.
- Lankatilaka and Gadaladeniya Temples: Built on a rock approached by rock-cut steps, Lankatilaka preserves traditional Sinhalese temple architecture with an arched Mandapa hall, floral wall and ceiling paintings, and a large seated Buddha; nearby Gadaladeniya reflects South Indian design with an attached Devale and paintings from the Gampola period, complemented across the region by Natha Devale, the Gedige of Adahana Maluwa, Dodanwala Devalaya, Embekka Devalaya, Galmaduwa Vihara, Handagala Vihara, Medawala Vihara, and Nalanda Gedige.
- Udawatta Kele Sanctuary and Wales Park: Directly north of the Temple of the Tooth rises Udawatta Kele ("Uda Wasala Watta", the garden situated above the royal palace), designated a forest reserve in 1856 and a sanctuary in 1938 right beside the Central Business District; overlooking the lake on the south is the Royal Palace Park (Wales Park), displaying a Japanese field gun taken in Burma by soldiers of the British 14th Army and presented by Lord Mountbatten.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya: Situated 5 kilometres west of the city centre and visited by 2 million people annually, covering 147 acres (59 hectares) with more than 4,000 plant species near the University of Peradeniya (whose Geology Department functions as Sri Lanka's sole academic earth science department).
Civic Governance, Highland Climate, and the Esala Perahera
Governed by the Kandy Municipal Council (established under the Municipalities Ordinance of 1865, with its inaugural meeting on 20 March 1866 and its seat at the 1870 Dunuwille Walawwe Town Hall, where Sir Cuda Ratwatte became the first elected mayor in 1939), the city comprises 24 wards and has grown to encompass Peradeniya, Katugastota, Kundasale, Tennekumbura, and Gurudeniya. Every July or August, Kandy hosts the annual Esala Perahera, when an inner ceremonial casket that covers the sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha is paraded through the streets on a royal tusker accompanied by traditional Kandyan dancers, drummers, torch-bearers, provincial flag-bearers, and Nilames (lay temple custodians) in traditional court dress. Because Kandy has a tropical rainforest climate (Af) with mean temperatures above 18 °C and humidity between 70 and 79 percent, its driest walking months run from January to April between the May to July and October to December monsoons.
Walking the northern shore of Kandy Lake allows visitors to connect the Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Royal Palace (National Museum Kandy), the International Buddhist Museum, and the forest trails of Udawatta Kele in a single loop, with modern amenities nearby at the 2005 Kandy City Centre on Dalada Veediya and sports landmarks such as the 1915 Asgiriya International Stadium, the 2011 Pallekele International Cricket Stadium, and Bogambara Stadium. You can map the lakeside sanctuary and surrounding temples from the Gampola period on the Atlas. Scenic trains on the Main Line and Matale Line and buses along the A1 highway link Kandy directly with Colombo (with the Kandy Multimodal Transport Terminal planned to handle 2,000 bus departures, 3,000 through-services, and 320,000 daily passenger movements) and continue up into the tea country toward Nuwara Eliya and Badulla; wear modest clothing covering shoulders and knees and remove footwear when entering all Buddhist temples.
Beyond the ceremonial precincts along the northern shore of Kandy Lake, the wider municipal landscape illustrates how highland geography and Buddhist patronage continue to shape daily life across the Central Province. Educational institutions such as the University of Peradeniya, the Open University of Sri Lanka, and historic schools stand alongside major medical centres including the National Hospital Kandy and Teaching Hospital Peradeniya, while cultural venues and sports grounds from Bogambara Stadium to Asgiriya and Pallekele animate the surrounding hills. Whether following the rock-cut steps up to Lankatilaka, examining the South Indian stone masonry of Gadaladeniya, or walking beneath the forest canopy of Udawatta Kele above the Royal Palace, visitors experience a living highland capital where ancient monastic traditions and modern civic life meet.
