Kandy - Home of the Temple of the tooth

2 nights in Kandy. We decided to take it easy and do only a few of the recommended places in walking distance to our place, the Villa49. It was an old colonial building which had been converted into a home stay. 5 rooms and the landlady did even cook for us in the evening. Was a real tasty dinner with rice curry and other local side dishes.

The few sites we visited were:
1. Sri Dalada Maligawa which holds the relic of the left upper canine tooth of Buddha himself. The relics of Buddha's sacred tooth hold a pretty important role in the political reign of the Sri Lankan Government since whoever holds the relic of the holy tooth of Lord Buddha holds the power of the country's government. We followed a religious ceremony in the temple and finally had a very good dinner in our hotel with homemade curry.

2. St. Paul’s Church, a neo-gothic Anglican Church. Construction began on 16 March 1843 when the foundation stone of the church was laid by the Bishop of Madras George Spencer. The Church was completed in 1848. It was first used by British officials and the British Garrison, it has been called the Garrison Church. The absolute highlight was the Stained Glass Window above the altar. The story is that In 1874, the widow of Laurence St. George Carey, a tea planter on Le Vallon Estate, Pupuressa, gifted, in memory of her husband, a magnificent stained glass window, depicting the Crucifixion, the Ascension, the Angel in the Tomb and the Nativity. The guard from the church told us that it was manufactured in England.

3. Trinity College and Chapel of Trinity College Kandy - Holy Trinity Church. The chapel was build in 1935 and is often called a “chapel without walls”. It is built upon a composition of granite pillars, a high held roof along with magnificent wooden and rock carvings. There were loads of mural paintings done by David Painter.

On our full day in Kandy we experienced as well the Poya, the full moon. The Buddha was born, experienced Enlightenment and Parinirvana ('final extinction') on a day with a full moon, with the result that each full moon (Poya) is a public holiday on which Buddhists hold special ceremonies. So they people in Sri Lanka have alone 12 bank holidays due to the full moon. On such a day, devotees go to the temple to make offerings (flowers, oil lamps, etc.) and listen to sermons and blessings performed by the monks. No alcohol allowed on that day, not in bars, not in restaurants.

So overall a nice place and would have been good to explore even more. Need to mention the heavy showers in the afternoon which limited our activities also a bit.Read more