Wednesday, June 22, 2011
heritage
Kandy Kaleidoscope of
SRI LANKA
Kandy (115 km. from Colombo), Sri Lanka’s picturesque highland capital, last stronghold of its kings against European conquest from the 16th to the 19th centuries and sanctuary of traditional culture, is not surprisingly, the island’s most- visited tourist resort. Its diverse, kaleidoscopic charms offer a feast of memorable sight-seeing and exciting experiences. Kandy is set amid tea and spice gardens, mountains, lake and river, 490 meters above sea level. Road and rail access from Colombo through the Kadugannawa and Balane passes is picturesque, dramatic and befitting a medieval mountain stronghold.City highlights
Kandy’s main attraction is the Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha ,the founder of Buddhism. Brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th c.A.d., the sacred Relic has ever since been the symbol of sovereignty for its rulers and always enshrined in great splendor. Kandy’s Dalada Maligawa is a magnificent shrine, with decorative walls, moat, turrets, golden roof and fine wood-work and its 16th -19th century ambience vividly alive. Three religious services (pooja) with traditional music, held daily at dawn , mid-day and in the evening, can be viewed by visitors.
The 14th c. Natha Devale (temple), a UNESCO World Heritage site ,is dedicated to a guardian god of Sri Lanka. Adorned with an elaborate entrance archway, it is built on a walled stone platform and is Kandy’s oldest monument. Temples dedicated to the three other guardian deities Maha Vishnu, Kataragama and Pattini, have characteristic 18th c. Audience Hall (Magul Maduwa) is stately open pavilion with elaborately carved hardwood pillars. Other monuments near-by includes the Ulpenge (Queen’s Bath) and the 16th c. King’s palace, now the Archaeological Museum.Kandy also has many mementos of its British colonial period which lasted from 1815 until national independence in 1948 . These include St. Paul’s (Anglican) Church the King’s pavilion, the British Garrison Cemetery and Hotel Suisse , once the staff headquarters of the South East Asia Command (SEAC) during the Second world war .
Dating back to the 16th century AD, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the heart of the Kandy town. One of the most spectacular sections of this temple is the patthirippuwa or the Octagon, which was added by the king of Kandy in the early 19th century, who also built the Kandy Lake. Rituals, accompanied by flute/trumpet playing and drumming, are enacted daily in the temple to venerate the relic. Public honour is paid to the Tooth Relic when the Esala Perahera or procession is held during the month of Esala in July/August each year. This extravagant event is a "must see" for any tourist and attracts thousands each year
Kandy is the venue of the annual Esala Perahera , a glittering medieval Buddhist pageant, held to honour the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha and obtain the blessings of the guardian deities of Sri Lanka. Held for ten nights by torch and moon light in July - August in the streets of Kandy, (the last few nights are the grandest), this spectacular period - pageants is a parade of massed highland dancers, drummers, musicians, chieftains, dignitaries and acrobats in rich medieval costumes and scores of caparisoned elephant . Pageants dates are announced several weeks ahead and advance hotel bookings are advised, as the event draws large crowds .
The Royal Botanical Gardens
Six kilometers from Kandy, at Peradeniya, the magnificent river-girdled 57- hectare Royal Botanical Gardens, laid out in 1832, are among the finest in the world. Its treasures of tropical flora include fine collections of orchids, aromatic spices, medicinal herbs, palms and rare, endangered plant species. These gardens were the naturally - camouflaged operations headquarters of SEAC (Supreme Allied Commander, Lord Louis Mountbatten, during the Second World war.Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
Pinnawala is a government run elephant orphanage located about 7km south of Kandy. We traveled there by local bus despite lots of ‘helpful’ tuktuk drivers offering us a lift for a ‘bargain’ price. Only downside to getting the cheap local bus was that it was so busy by the time we got on that we had to stand the whole way. Not an easy task as the bus driver speeds along the steep winding rounds of the hill country.
Kandy’s suburbs have a host of temples with a fascinating medieval ambience. The Gadaladeniya and Lankatillake Vihares have multi-tier roofs and other distinctive period architecture, sculpture, inscriptions and paintings. The Degaldoruwa cave temple and the Medawala temple have 18th c. murals, sculpture and stone-work. The wooden pillars of the 14th c. Embakke Devale are adorned with more than 500 graceful, fluid carvings of swans, lions, eagles, wrestlers, floral motifs and dancing girls. Gadaladeniya, Lankatillake and Embakke temples are about 16km. west of Kandy, Medawela about 10km., north of Kandy and Degaldoruwa, approximately 9km. east of Kandy. Traditional Crafts
At the Kandyan Arts and Crafts Association centre other sales outlets, visitors can see craftsmen fashioning ageole highland handcrafts using simple hand tools, skills handed down through generations from medieval times . The range includes brass, silver and wood items, jems, jewellery, lacquer-ware, reed ware, handloom textiles, batics, ready-to-wear designer garments, pottery, basket-ware, Dumbara mats, drums and other indigenous musical instruments . The bazaars of the Kandy market also offer a wide range handcrafts 
Tea Plantation
Kandy’s surrounding hills are a major tea-growing region. A visit to a tea plantation to see the world’s finest tea being grown and processed is a must on any Sri Lanka tour. A visit to Loolecandura plantation at Hewaheta to see field with the original tea bushes planted in 1867 by Scottish pioneer James Taylor, memorabilia and the tea museum at Hantane, will be of great interest.
The Dawson memorial
On the steepest haul of the Colombo- Kandy road (A1) at Kadugnnawa, a 38-metre-high monument remembers British roads engineer Capt. W.F. Dawson who constructed the highway and celebrates its opening in 1827, during British colonial rule.Picturesque highland citadel of pomp, pageantry and history, dancing men and glittering chieftains and a living past of traditional culture, Kandy will captivate you with its kaleidoscopic charms.
Randenigala,Rantembe,Victoria and Reservoir
Kandy’s geography is dominated by the Mahaweli Ganga, Sri Lanka’s longest river. The massive British-built 118metre-high Victoria Dam and hydro-power project of the Mahaweli Diversion Scheme is one of Kandy’s modern show-pieces.
The Randenigala Project, the fourth major multi-purpose project and the largest reservoir under the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Programme. Randenigala project is located about 26 km. below the Victoria Head works and 6 km. upstream of Minipe anicut from where the main Right Bank and Left Bank canals will divert the Mahaweli waters for irrigation. It is also the reservoir with the largest storage capacity having gross storage of 860 million cubic metres (697,000 acre ft.) at full supply level. The project is expected to generate about 525 GWh of electrical energy which amounts to 20% of the island’s present demand. It will serve as the most important base reservoir for water management in System ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’Gannoruwa Agriculture Park
Agriculture is the most important sector of the Sri Lankan economy. Even though its contribution to the gross domestic product declined substantially during the past 3 decades, it is the most important source of employment for the majority of the Sri Lankan workforce.
Agriculture in Sri Lanka mainly depends on rice production. Its main goal is to achieve an equitable and sustainable agricultural development through development and dissemination of improved agriculture technology
Sri Lankan Air Taxi is offering cricket fans a fabulous deal to zoom up to Kandy for the three World Cup matches there in its Twin Otter floatplane.
Rail Way in Kandy!
Kandy is a World Heritage City of Sri Lanka which is at Central province and 2nd commercial capital of the Sri Lanka. The Noble Tooth Relic Temple is popular place and one of the most popular place in Buddhist Sri Lankan. Sarisara web site online railway tour is started from Kandy Railway Station. Kandy is Main and Central railway terminal of Up country. Sarisara Railway tour travels to Badulla from Kandy.
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