Home to the Temple of the Tooth, or the last royal capital of Sri Lanka, or a quite peaceful city lying amidst the hills – there can be several perspectives to studying the history of Kandy, considered to be the cultural capital of the island country. The city is full of surprises, so goes a common adage among the travelers to this historic city, and so it proves to be too!
Back in the late 1400s when Kandy was referred to as the Kingdom of Kandy, it served as the throne to the ruling king Sena Sammatha Wickramabahu and his successors, followed by others in due course of time. Nayaks are considered to be the last royal rulers till the British successfully invaded it in the year 1815.
The most attractive feature about this city is the relic, according to which the protector of the tooth of the Buddha is the ruler of the Kingdom, which subsequently explains the proximity of the royal palace from the temple.
Known as ‘Maha Nuvara’ in the vernacular language, implying the ‘Great City’, Kandy’s nomenclature can be traced back to the Sinhalese ‘Kanda Uda Rata’, meaning, the land on the mountain. The journey to its present shortened version saw the influence of the Portugese ‘Candea’.
At present Kandy stands as the second largest city of Sri Lanka, apart from being the capital of the country’s Central Province. Every year, during the month of July or August, the Kandy Perahera is organized, which offers a true glimpse into the ancient traditions of the city, with colorful processions, masquerades, elephant parades and much more. 

The Sacred Tooth Relic Temple or Dalada Maligawa is a monumental architectural heritage of not just Kandy but the whole of Sri Lanka. This edifice was constructed to house the sacred tooth of Lord Buddha which was brought in to the country in a princess’s hair.
It is considered the holiest place for many Buddhists not just in Sri Lanka but by believers across the globe. The Relic Tooth was brought to Kandy by King Wimaladharmasuriya I who took it out of Delgamuwa in Sabaragamuwa, remains of which do not exist anymore.
Subsequent rulers either added something to the temple or constructed a new one to replace the decaying old structure, but it was the last Sri Lankan king Wickrama Rajasinghe, who built the Octagon or Pattirippuwa. Although the Octagon was an integral portion of Royal palace of Kandy, it now is a portion of Relic Temple.
The temple’s entrance is through Maha Vahalkada comprising two walls of  the Vahalkada. This external design of the wall is common with the Walakulu Bamma or ‘Wall of Clouds’ around Kandy Lake. Diyareli Bamma, literally meaning ‘Wall of Water Ripples’, forms the inner wall. Incidentally, both walls, like the wall of clouds around Kandy Lake, have triangular holes in them for lighting oil lanterns at night.
During the Kandy festival when the tooth is on display to the public, it is kept in a bullet proof glass display, which was donated for this purpose by India. The golden casket containing the tooth was carried for more than fifty years, by the same tusker named Raja. The Sri lankan government declared Raja as national treasure, becoming only the second tusker to achieve this.
The relic tooth itself is stored in the upper temple floor chamber termed ‘Vadahitina Maligawa’. Beyond the ivory, silver and gold covered door, the tooth is within seven golden caskets, all garnered with expensive gemstones which were offered by many kings to the sacred tooth.

Asgiri Maha Viharaya is another one of Siyam Nikaya’s monastic centres. This is considered even older than the Malwathu Viharaya, having been founded in the 14th century by Commander Siriwardhana during the inquest of Parakramabahu IV of Kurunegala.
Originally this structure was built to house the Buddhist monks (Bhikkhus) from Valasala hermitage in Yapahuva. The origin of the name Asgiri has a very interesting story as well. It was the translation of the name Valasala in to Pali language which made it in to Acchagiri, further translated to Sinhalese as Asgiri. There is another legend revolving around the origins of the nomenclature.
The mother queen of Vikramabahu, Chandrawathie’s death and subsequent cremation at the Adahana Maluva (cremation ground) is said to have brought about the name Asgiri. She is said to have built a temple, Talagahamulla Viharaya, which became Asgiri Viharaya later on. In the present day, Asgiri temple is also called Heyagiri Wijesundararama. The name Heyagiri is a mistaken Sinhalese translation of the word Acchagiri.
A new temple was built next to the old one by the commander in chief from the last Kandyan kingdom, Urulewatte Wijesundara Rajakaruna Seneviratne. The two temples together have come to be known as Asgiri Maha Viharaya, or its other name of Heyagiri Wijesundararama.
Historically, all the past Kandyan kings have been documented as having some contribution to the development of Asgiri Maha Viharaya. The Relic Tooth of Lord Buddha is said to have been protected from alien hands for several centuries by the monks of this monastery.
Perhaps the most significant part of Asgiri Maha Viharaya remains the cremation ground or the Gedige Viharaya where the queen Chandrawathie was cremated. The structure has three terraces or Maluwas, and all the royal family members had their last rites performed at the middle terrace.
 

 

The historic Esala Perahera in Kandy began on July 18, with the usual installation of the 'kapa' (sanctified log) at the devales dedicated to the four guardian gods Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama and goddess Pattini. It will be followed by the Devale peraheras from 18 to 21, and by the Kumbal perahera from 22 to 26. The Randoli perahera, the most grandiloquent of the peraheras will parade the streets from 27 to 31. The ritual of the water-cutting ceremony will be held on August 1, followed by the Day perahera on the 2nd thus, bringing the grand spectacle to an end. Seven days after the Day perahera, as tradition holds, 'Waliyaknetuma'(an abridged form of Kohomba-kankariya) is danced at the Vishnu devale, by people of the 'balibat' caste, for seven more days, with masked dancing, to avoid malignant influences. This is a general account of the Esala perahera in Kandy, which has changed in detail down the ages, e.g., during the Kandyan period two peraheras were held, one by evening and one by night, preferably during the Randoli perahera. The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (ANCL), will illuminate the Dalada Maligawa, during the perahera season, with due honour to the 'Dantadhatu'(the sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha). The Esala perahera in Kandy, we see today, dates back to the reign of Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1780). It is a combination of the Dalada perahera, and the four Devale peraheras dedicated to the guardian deities of the island. Earlier, the Esala perahera was conducted exclusively to appease the divinities, and patronized by the Malabari kings of South India, who ruled the Kandyan provinces. They were Hindus. The month of Esala is reminiscent of 'Esala Dev-keliya' (play of the gods). How the band wagon of the Dalada perahera came to be merged with the four devale peraheras, has an interesting story. When the bhikkus from Siam (Thailand), headed by the Most Ven. Upali Maha Thera, came to Sri Lanka, to bestow the defunct 'Upasampada' (the highest ordination qualifying a bhikku), their arrival coincided with the Esala festival in Kandy, when preparations were under way to hold the Devale peraheras invoking the blessings of the gods for the king and his subjects. 

The Maha Thera Upali, having heard the noise of jingalls (a kind of large Indian swivel musket), inquired from the king the reason for all that noise the king told the Maha Thera that arrangements were being made to hold the Devale peraheras, during the month Esala, to appease the gods and to receive their blessings. The Maha Thera immediately took umbrage over the news, and at the attitude of the king in giving preference to Hindu customs, in a land where orthodox Buddhism has gained ground for more than one thousand years. The king, realising his mistake and using his wits, not to offend the Maha Thera, informed him that Dalada perahera will lead the procession followed by the Devale peraheras, in their order of importance. There had been, throughout history, processions of great magnitude which could be considered as the precursors of the present day Dalada perahera. When the 'danta dhatu' (Tooth Relic of the Buddha) was brought to the island by prince Danta and princess Hemamala of Kalinga (Orissa), during the reign of Kirti Sri Meghavarna (352-377), the three Buddhist fraternities in Anuradhapura (Mahavihara, Abahayagiri vihara and Jetavana vihara), claimed to possess it as the most revered object of worship. The king, wishing not to displease the bhikkus of the three viharas, placed the Relic in a golden reliquary, and keeping it in his royal chariot, allowed to go to one of the three viharas. The chariot unguided went to the Abahayagiri vihara, and the bhikkus thera accepted it and enshrined it in a gaily decorated 'dhatugruha' (relic chamber). It later became the palladium of regal authority.
The Mahaviharavasins and the Jetavanavasins did not claim it. Before the transfer of power from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa in 1058, the Tooth Relic was annually taken in procession from the vihara to the city of Anuradhapura and back to the vihara, with great pomp and ceremony. It was the

beginning of the Dalada perahera in the island. The significant and widespread belief regarding the origin of the Esala perahera is woven into the fabric of mythology, especially in regard to the water-cutting ritual. During the reign of Vankanasika Tissa alias Kasubu (109-112), a band of Cholians from South India, invaded the island, and having slain the king, took away 12,000 Sinhala captives to South India. His son, king Gajabahu, along with his herculian soldier Nila, crossed the Indian Ocean to India, by cleaving the waters of the sea with his massive iron rod. After peaceful negotiations with the Colian king Senguttuvan, king Gajabahu was able to bring back the captives, along with an equal number of Cholians, in recompense. Later, they settled down in the villages of Hewaheta, Tumpane, Udunuwara, Yatinuwara, Alutkuruwa etc. The water-cutting ritual at the Getambe ferry reminisces the exploit of Nila in cleaving the sea to go to India. King Parakramabahu I (1153-1186) of Polonnaruwa, held a Dalada perahera, when there was a severe drought in the country threatening a famine. The following day, rains came down in torrents inundating the low-lying areas, and filling the lakes that had gone dry. In the Dalada Siritha, a treatise on the Tooth Relic, it is said: "Vesi novasnakala mama lesin Dalada pooja karanawa isa". (When there is no rain, make offerings to the Tooth Relic in this manner). There is belief among the Buddhists that whenever there is severe drought, the Tooth Relic should be carried in procession. History tells us that during the governorship of Sir Edward Barnes (1824-1831), a Dalada perahera was held in Kandy in 1829, on the advice of the Kandyan chiefs, to avert a severe drought. It resulted in a heavy downpour when the flood waters spilled over the Kandy lake submerging the low-lying areas, and making roads impassable.
The flood waters came to be known as the Dalada Watura (Relic water). The governor was surprised over the miraculous power of the Tooth Relic, about which a despatch was sent to the Colonial Secretary in England. The Esala perahera ritual complex begins with the installation of kapa, a pole about four feet in height, within each devale. A few days before the new moon in August, the Basnayaka Nilames of the four devales, along with the kapuralas, go in search of a young jak tree (Artocarpus integrifolia), that has borne no fruit, and clear the ground around the tree. it is then fumigated with the smoke of burning resin and sprinkled with specially prepared sandalwood water. Flowers, betel leaves and a lighted lamp are placed at the foot of the tree, and the deity, whose abode, perchance, it may be, is implored to leave the tree, before it is felled. Earlier an asala tree (Cassia fistula) was selected, instead of the lactiferous jak tree, to make the kapa poles. Once the tree is felled, it is cut into four equal parts and distributed among the four devales, the Natha devale getting the first kapa. The traditional procedure followed in felling the tree is mentioned in the Sinhala text Maimataya (Skt. Mayamata). Each log is carried in procession and planted inside the devales. Earlier they were installed outside the devales, but now having reduced in size, they occupy an elevated ground inside each devale, specially built for the purpose. It is known as kap-situweema. For five days from the date of installation of the kapa, the kapurala of each devale take around the log every evening (formerly twice a day), accompanied by music and drumming, flag and canopy bearers and spearmen and the sacred insignia of the gods (ranayudha).

This takes the form of a little procession in each of the devales, and is known as Devale perahera. On the fifth day, the insignias are taken out of the devale premises and borne inside a dome like structure, known as the ranhilige, on the back of an elephant, accompanied by the Basnayaka Nilame and his retinue. The Devale peraheras come at the appointed hour and assemble in front of the Dalada Maligawa. The Relic casket, which is a substitute for the Tooth Relic, is placed inside a ranhilige, which is tied on to the back of the caparisoned Maligawa elephant. The Maligawa perahera joins the waiting Devale peraheras in front and gives the lead in moving on. The perahera consisting the Maligawa and Devale peraheras march through the prescribed streets, and it is called the Kumbal perahera. Randoli perahera is an expanded version of the Kumbal perahera, to which are added palanquins (randoli) of the four devales. These contain the ornaments of the goddesses, sword and pitcher of each devale. On the 5th day of the Randoli perahera, after a short break up, reassembles and makes its way to the Asgiri vihara, where the casket is placed, and the Devale peraheras return to their respective devales. Later in the night the four Devale peraheras make their way to the water-cutting site at Gatambe ferry. At the river the kapuralas of the devales are led in a decorated boat to some distance, from where they cleave the waters with the sacred sword, and collect a pitcher full from the place where the sword touched the water, to be stored in the devales for one year, to be fed back into the river, at the next water-cutting ceremony.
On their way, the peraheras stop at the Ganadevi Kovil, Kandy, where the assembled crowds received the blessings of the gods, in the form of a tilaka (prasada) of sandalwood paste on the forehead. In the afternoon, the peraheras of the four devales form into one unit and go to Asgiri vihara to join the Maligawa perahera. Thus, the full procession is formed again and the Day perahera, takes a prescribed route and goes back to the Maligawa, where at the prescribed auspicious moment, the casket is replaced at the sanctum sanctorum. The introduction of Ves dancing to the perahera is of recent origin. Ves is a sacred dance. The ves-tattuwa (the magnificent head dress of the Kandyan dancer) is a sacred object guarded by a system of taboos and traditions. As a form of dancing Ves is considered fit for the gods. The Diyawadana Nilame, Punchi Banda Nugawela Nilame (1916-1937), who introduced it to the Maligawa section of the perahera, has made this great change. In 1828, when Governor Barnes participated in the Dalada perahera, the Maligawa perahera consisted of the following: (1) Peramune Rala riding the Yahalatanne elephant. (2) Gajanayaka Nilame carrying the symbolic goad. (3) Kodituwakku Nilame and his retinue. (4) Disava of Four Korales. (5) Disava of Seven Korales. (6) Disava of Matale. (7) Disava of Sabaragamuwa. (8) Disava of Walapone and (9) Disava of Udapalatha, each carrying their respective flags. Today, the provincial representation has been forgotten. The Kodituwakku department is absent. The Peramune Rala and Gajanayaka Nilame are solitary representatives. The extinction of old elements and the substitution of new elements have, doubtless, harmed the original integral symbolism of the Esala festival. The elephants are less in number than in the old days, when more than one hundred elephants participated in the perahera. The winds of change have affected the old customs and rites to a reasonable degree. 

The finest of its kind in Asia
Peradeniya Botanical gardens, the finest of its kind in Asia, the largest of the three botanical gardens in the island, couldn't be better located. In the Mediterranean climate of Kandy, the gateway to the central highlands, the Gardens were bounded on three sides by a loop of river Mahaweli.

The history of the park
Then again, the history of the park wouldn't take a backseat to its geography. Conceived originally in 1371 as the Queen's pleasure garden, it was developed by King Kirti Sri Rajasinhe (1747-1778) where royal visitors were entertained. It was converted into Botanical Gardens in 1821, by the British, six years after fall of the last Kandyan King. That was during enterprising governorship of Sir Edward Barnes, who had Sri Lanka's first tea trees planted here in 1824, though the full commercial potential wasn't to be realized for another half a century. All prime imported crops - Coffee, tea, nutmeg, rubber & cinchona - were tested in these gardens. Imported crops Tea & Rubber together with the local crop of Coconut became mainstay of the economy of the island.

4000 labelled species
A signboard at the entrance, with a map, feature a numbered circuit from 1-30. The corresponding numbers are placed at strategic points on the route, black on a yellow background. 60 ha (150 acres) gardens, where you can easily stroll around a whole day, are stuffed with a bewildering variety of local & foreign tree & plant species. There are around ten thousand plants & trees inclusive of 4000 labelled species. One of the most interesting sites here is bizarre-looking snake creeper, whose tangles area roots look just like a writhing knot of vipers.
The spice garden, Orchid house
The spice garden to the right of entrance is replete with exotic spices. Cardamom, Coves, Pepper & Vanilla. We follow the path to the right, right into the Orchid House with an outstanding collection.
Natural pavilion
Grown from a sapling brought from East Indies, huge Javan fig tree covering 1600 sq. meters of the lawn, with its sprawling roots & branches create a remarkable natural pavilion.
Avenues
The Cabbage Palm Avenue from the South America was planted in 1905. Walking along the stately avenue of Royal Palms (1885) we find fruit bats in large colonies hanging in the trees. Oh! Yes, true to their style, upside down. The River drive goes through a great circle, a large grassy central area around which a remarkably diverse array of dignitaries has planted further specimens.
The Accidental planters
Alongside generations of English royalty, there are trees planted by Indira Gandhi, Yuri Gagarin, Marshal Tito, U Thant & Harold Macmillan. Between the great circle & the great lawn is the Herbarium. Then there is an arboretum.
Lawns, pavilions, sandwiches & a cup of tea
There are extensive well-kept lawns, pavilions, an Octagon Conservatory, fernery, banks of Burmese, Chinese & Japanese bamboos & numerous flower borders with cannas, hibiscus, chrysanthemums, croton & colourful bougainvillaea. You will see unusual exotic species, especially palms (Palmyra, talipot, royal, cabbage) & Ficus elastica (latex-bearing fig or "Indian rubber tree" with buttress roots), an amazing avenue of drunken looking pines & some magnificent old specimens trees. In all, there are about 4000 labelled species.

Cannonball avenue
Cannonball Avenue is lined with beautiful cannonball trees, wreathed in creepers from which hang the large, round fruits. These Sal trees are loved by the Sinhalese. The flowers have a singular shape: a tiny stupa shaped bud in the centre is shaded by a cobra like hood & surrounded by tiny florettes which resemble a crowd of worshipers. It is believed Prince Siddhartha (who was to become Gautama Buddha) was born in a park of Sal trees called Lumbini, near the Sakyan kingdom of Kapilavastu in then north India, now the southern region of Nepal.

Talipot palms
Talipot palms are the easiest to identify with its enormous leaves. The talipot palm is one of Sri Lanka's botanical celebrities, an arboreal oddity which flowers just once in its lifetime, after about forty years, producing the largest cluster of flowers in the world. In Kandyan times the enormous leaves reaching a height of 10 m were used to make tents by sewing a couple of leaves together. "One single Leaf being so broad & large, that it will cover some fifteen or twenty men, & keep them dry when it rains" wrote Robert Knox. Talpot leaves were utilized to produce fine ultra long lasting solid parchments called Ola, in Sri Lanka & India as early as in 500 BC. Young talipot leaves were boiled, dried in the sun, exposed to dew & smoothed & stretched. The treated leaves were then engraved with writing using steel stylus to cut in the characters. Then the engraved leaf was smeared with ink made out of a resin blended with finely powdered charcoal. The great chronicle of Sri Lanka (Mahawamsa) & all other ancient books were written on these treated, cut & loosely bound talipot palm-leaf parchments.