# Kandy

*The last kingdom, and the tooth it was built around*

Region: Central Province · https://srilankatour.travel/places/kandy

Kandy held out against the Portuguese and the Dutch and did not fall to the British until 1815, which makes it the last independent Sinhalese kingdom. The Temple of the Tooth holds what is said to be one of the Buddha's teeth, and whoever held the relic was understood to hold the right to rule.

It is a working temple, not a monument. Go at a puja time and you will be among Sri Lankans doing something they take seriously, with drummers, and a queue that moves.

## Our verdict

One night, two if you want the botanical gardens properly. Kandy is a city with traffic — many people prefer to sleep in the hills just outside it.

## Highlights

- **The Temple of the Tooth at puja.** Three ceremonies a day, at 05:30, 09:30 and 18:30, and the inner shrine is opened only then. Dress covers shoulders and knees, shoes come off, and the atmosphere is completely different from an empty midday visit. Evening is the most theatrical; dawn is the most intimate.
- **Peradeniya Botanical Gardens.** 147 acres in a loop of the Mahaweli river, with an avenue of royal palms and a fig tree that covers 2,500 square metres on its own. Genuinely world-class, six kilometres out, and big enough that most people underestimate how much walking it is.
- **The lake walk.** The last king had it dug in 1807. It is 3.4 kilometres round the water, flat, and best at dusk when the heat drops and the whole town comes out to do the same thing.
- **A Kandyan dance performance.** Touristy and worth it anyway — the drumming is extraordinary and the fire-walking finale is real. Around LKR 2,000; the YMBA hall starts at 17:00 and the Kandyan Art Association at 17:30. Arrive ten minutes early for a seat you can see from.

## Places to see in Kandy

1. **Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.** The reason Kandy became a capital: whoever held the relic held the right to rule, and this is still a working shrine rather than a monument. Go at a puja, when the inner chamber is opened and the drummers start, and you are standing among Sri Lankans doing something that matters to them. At midday it is a queue through a beautiful empty building. _(LKR 2,000 for non-SAARC visitors, LKR 1,500 SAARC, free for Sri Lankans. Pujas at 05:30, 09:30 and 18:30. Shoulders and knees covered, no sleeveless tops or shorts, shoes off; sarongs can be hired at the entrance. Checked September 2026.)_
2. **Peradeniya Royal Botanical Gardens.** 147 acres in a bend of the Mahaweli, with an avenue of royal palms, an orchid house and a single fig tree spreading over about 2,500 square metres. It is the best botanical garden in the country and it is much larger than it looks on the map, which is how people end up doing the last third in the heat with an empty bottle. _(Sources differ on the foreign adult fee — about LKR 3,000 to LKR 3,540 — so check the posted price at the gate. Six kilometres from Kandy. Allow two to three hours, with a hat and water. Checked September 2026.)_
3. **Kandy Lake.** Dug in 1807 by the last Kandyan king, in the middle of a war he was losing. The path round it is 3.4 kilometres, flat and shaded in places, and it is the one thing in Kandy that is better at dusk than at any other hour, when the temperature drops and the whole town walks it. _(Free, open at all hours. 3.4 km round. Allow an hour. Checked September 2026.)_
4. **Bahirawakanda Vihara Buddha.** A white seated Buddha on the hill directly above the city, and the clearest overview of Kandy and the lake there is. The climb up from the town is steep and unshaded; most people take a tuk-tuk up and walk back down through the streets. _(Reported at LKR 250 by one source and about LKR 500 by another, so carry small notes. Open 06:00 to 18:00. Allow an hour. Checked September 2026.)_
5. **Udawattakele Forest Reserve.** The old royal forest immediately behind the Temple of the Tooth: quiet paths, macaques, giant squirrels and enough birds to justify carrying binoculars. Ten minutes from the centre of a noisy city, and usually close to empty. _(Sources differ on the fee — LKR 570 or LKR 930 — check at the ticket hut. Leeches in the wet months, so wear socks. Allow two hours. Checked September 2026.)_
6. **The three temples loop: Embekke, Lankatilaka and Gadaladeniya.** Three temples from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, twelve kilometres southwest of Kandy and linked by a seven-kilometre walking path through paddy and villages. The path is as much the point as the buildings. Embekke has the carved wooden pillars that turn up in every book on Kandyan craft; Lankatilaka sits on a rock outcrop with the best view of the three. _(About LKR 350 each, though one source lists Embekke at LKR 750. Twelve kilometres southwest of Kandy; the walking path between the three is 7 km. Allow half a day. Checked September 2026.)_
7. **Ambuluwawa Tower.** A white conical tower on a ridge above Gampola, with an exposed spiral stair winding up the outside to a top barely wide enough to turn round on. The view runs 360 degrees to the Knuckles. It is not for anyone with vertigo, and that is not a figure of speech — people freeze partway up and have to be talked down. _(LKR 2,000. About 20 km from Kandy; allow half a day with the drive. Checked September 2026.)_
8. **Knuckles Mountain Range.** Cloud forest, terraced paddy and ridge walking east of the city — the serious hiking within reach of Kandy, and a different climate from the one you left. Take a guide: the weather turns fast, the paths are not signed, and the villages are a long way apart. _(Most walks are free; the ticketed conservation sections run to about US$40. A guided day out of Kandy is roughly eight hours door to door. Checked September 2026.)_
9. **Ceylon Tea Museum.** A restored tea factory at Hantana, about four kilometres out, with the old machinery still in place and a tea room upstairs looking back over the hills. It is the best indoor hour in Kandy, which in a city that rains this much is not faint praise. _(Entry fee not confirmed as of September 2026. About 4 km from Kandy. Allow an hour.)_
10. **Commonwealth War Cemetery.** A small, immaculately kept cemetery on Deveni Rajasinghe Mawatha, for servicemen who died in Ceylon during the Second World War, when Kandy was the Allied headquarters for South East Asia. Free, almost always empty, and ten minutes from the traffic. _(Free. On Deveni Rajasinghe Mawatha. Allow 30 minutes. Checked September 2026.)_
11. **Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage — the honest version.** It is on the Colombo road and on almost every Kandy day tour. It is also a captive breeding and display facility, and it draws sustained criticism over chaining, the bathing show and public feeding. If the welfare of the animals is part of why you want to see them, the Elephant Transit Home at Udawalawe is the real alternative: it raises orphaned calves for release back into the wild and you watch from a distance at scheduled feedings. It is a long way south of Kandy, so it is a reason to plan your route differently rather than a swap you can make on the day. _(Pinnawala is US$16 adult and US$8 for children aged 3 to 12, or LKR 3,000 and LKR 1,500 for non-SAARC visitors. The Udawalawe Elephant Transit Home is about US$5. Checked September 2026.)_

## Suggested plans

### One full day in Kandy

- 05:15 — the dawn puja at the Temple of the Tooth. It is the quietest of the three and the one where you are not behind a tour group. Shoulders and knees covered, shoes off at the gate, LKR 2,000 for non-SAARC visitors.
- 07:30 — breakfast, then the lake: 3.4 kilometres round, flat, and cool enough at that hour to enjoy.
- 09:30 — Peradeniya Botanical Gardens, six kilometres out. Two to three hours, a hat, and more water than you think you need.
- 13:00 — lunch in town, then Udawattakele behind the temple for the quiet, or the Ceylon Tea Museum at Hantana if it has started raining.
- 15:45 — tuk-tuk up to the Bahirawakanda Buddha for the view over the city while the light is still good. The gate closes at 18:00.
- 17:30 — the Kandyan dance show at the Art Association, around LKR 2,000 and about an hour, finishing with the fire walking. Dinner afterwards.

## Practical

- **Time needed:** One to two nights
- **Temple of the Tooth:** LKR 2,000 non-SAARC; pujas at 05:30, 09:30 and 18:30
- **Temple dress code:** Shoulders and knees covered; shoes removed. Sarongs hired at the entrance.
- **Best months:** Year-round. The Esala Perahera runs in July or August, on dates the temple sets each year.
- **From Colombo:** About 115km — three to four hours by road
- **By train from Colombo:** Not running as of 16 September 2026; resumption via Peradeniya was put at October by the Railway Department and the Transport Ministry in early September

## Nearby

- [Sigiriya](https://srilankatour.travel/places/sigiriya)
- [Dambulla](https://srilankatour.travel/places/dambulla)
- [Nuwara Eliya](https://srilankatour.travel/places/nuwara-eliya)

## Frequently asked questions

**What is Kandy famous for?**

The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which holds what is said to be one of the Buddha's teeth and which made this the seat of the last independent Sinhalese kingdom — Kandy did not fall to the British until 1815. It is also known for the Esala Perahera, the procession of dancers, drummers and caparisoned elephants held in July or August, and for the Peradeniya botanical gardens six kilometres out of the city.

**Is one day enough for Kandy?**

For the city itself, yes. The temple at a puja, the lake, and either Peradeniya or Udawattakele fills a day comfortably. You need a second day for anything outside it — Ambuluwawa, the Embekke temple loop, or a Knuckles walk, which is about eight hours on its own. Many people stay one night and sleep in the hills just outside the city, where it is quieter and cooler than the centre.

**How much is the Temple of the Tooth?**

LKR 2,000 for non-SAARC foreign visitors, LKR 1,500 for SAARC nationals and free for Sri Lankans, as of September 2026. The three daily pujas are at 05:30, 09:30 and 18:30 and the inner shrine is opened only then, so the same ticket buys a great deal more at those times than at midday. Shoulders and knees must be covered and shoes come off at the gate; sarongs can be hired at the entrance if you arrive unprepared.

**Is Pinnawala worth visiting?**

Not if the welfare of the animals is part of why you want to see them. Pinnawala is a captive breeding and display facility — about US$16 for an adult — and it is criticised over chaining, the bathing show and public feeding. The honest alternative is the Elephant Transit Home at Udawalawe, around US$5, which raises orphaned calves for release back into the wild and lets you watch feedings from a distance. It is a long way south of Kandy, so this is a decision about your route rather than about your afternoon.

**When is the Kandy Esala Perahera?**

July or August, on dates set by the Poya calendar and announced by the Sri Dalada Maligawa a few months ahead. The 2026 processions finished at the end of August. We do not publish a date until the temple has announced it, because working it out from last year's calendar is how people book the wrong week and arrive to an ordinary Tuesday.

**How long does it take to get from Colombo to Kandy?**

Around three to four hours by road for 115km. Distances in Sri Lanka are short and slow, and this route is a good introduction to that. The train is not an option at present: the Colombo to Kandy line via Peradeniya has been closed since Cyclone Ditwah, and on 5 September 2026 the Railway Department's Chief Engineer said services were expected to resume in October — an intention rather than a published timetable.


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Source: https://srilankatour.travel/places/kandy
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