Kandy The Central Highlands Old Kingdom

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Not as high (or cool) as Ella & Nuwara Eliya but still cooler than the lowlands, Kandy was the hold out kingdom, resisting the Dutch and the English until quite late in the colonial period. One account I read was the Dutch actually captured the town several times, but not before the locals burnned everthing useful, then continued attacking the dutch from the hills untill they gave up and left.

By far the main tourist, SriLankan & foreign is the huge and ornate “Temple of the Tooth” . By which they mean the Budda’s incisor’s recovered from his funeral piyer way back when. Long storey how it ends up in Sri Lanka, involving lots of Indian kingdoms political machinachions. The local Kandy kings make good use of it’s revered existance in Kandy. Repeatedly building bigger and better temples to house the relic. It is really something now, reminded me of the church of the Holy sepluchure, in Jeruselum, only bigger and more ornate but in the buddist way.

the British built a large building just behind the temple for their court house and administration, no doubt adding some religous whieght to their rule. This has been turnned into a Museun of Buddism, galleries for each major country practicing Buddism. I actually gave out before seeing them all. Well worth the relatively high entrance fee of $7.50

And outside the Temple . Food, the 7 curries sampler tray, and a very large Budda on top of a hill 1/2 hour hike from my hotel