Kandy

Kandy, the hill capital of Sri Lanka, is famous for its cultural and historical heritage. We were very lucky to have the chance to experience one of the most important festivals in Sri Lanka as well as in Buddhist commpunity - Vesak Poya in the The Temple of the Tooth. Literally Poya means "full moon" in Sinhala. 


Vesak poya in May signify the The birth, enlightenment and the passing away of Buddha. To celebrate the big day, people start gather in the temple in early morning to meditate. At night, everyone was waiting in the temple for the parade of the Tooth relic of Buddha. A royal male elephant carried the reliquary of the sacred tooth and led the parade. (But actually the relic itself had not been brought out during the festival since 1990. A casket was honored as its representative.) Fire dancers followed the elephant and juggled. The event was religious and entertaining at the same time. Standing inside the crowd we felt like art of the community. It was really cool to immerse into the cultural activity of the people to observe the religious side of Sri Lanka.   

Kandy remains as an important religious centre of the Sinhalese and a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists. It is the second-largest city of the island and the capital of Central Province of modern Sri Lanka. Its geographic location has made it a major transportation hub in the island. 


In fact, Kandy is really special in the sense that on one hand it gives us a feeling of peacefulness and on the other it is undoubtedly an amazingly prosperous city. 

    

  

  

On our way to Bentota, we actually stopped for some time at a tea factory to bought the famous Sri Lanka tea; and had an elephant ride.