Know your city
Some say Kandy is the only other real ?city? in Sri Lanka other than Colombo. The easy-going capital of the Hill Country has a lot to offer ? history, culture, forested hills and a touch of urban buzz. Only 115km inland from the capital, climatically it is a world away due to its 500m altitude.
The town, and the countryside around it, is lush and green and there are many pleasant walks from the town and further afield. The town centre, close to Kandy?s picturesque lake set in a bowl of hills, is a delightful jumble of old shops, antique and gemstone specialists, a bustling market and a very good selection of hotels, guesthouses and restaurants. As night falls the city becomes eerily quiet.
Kandy is particularly well known for the great Kandy Esala Perahera, held over 10 days leading up to the Nikini poya (full moon) at the end of the month of Esala (July/August), but has enough attractions to justify a visit at any time of year.
Locally, Kandy is known as either Maha Nuwara (Great City) or just Nuwara (City), which is what some conductors on Kandy-bound buses call out.
Kandy lies inland and experiences a climate that is wetter and colder than popular coastal destinations in Sri Lanka. The moderate climate and moist air (relative humidity of 70 to 79 per cent) of Kandy and its surrounding regions are features that have assisted it in becoming famous for tea-growing. The city?s dry season runs from December through April, during which time temperatures fall in the 22ºC to 30ºC range. The monsoon season follows, lasting from May through August and seeing temperatures in the 25ºC to 29ºC range. The third and final season of the year is known as the inter-monsoon season, lasting from September through November and seeing temperatures in the 24ºC to 29ºC range. The dry season is typically the high season in Kandy, offering the most favourable weather conditions and consequently attracting the highest number of visitors. However, as it never really gets cold in the city, it?s possible to visit at any time of the year, although the wet season necessitates a waterproof jacket.
History of the city
Historical records suggest that Kandy was first established by the King Wickramabalu (1357-1374 CE) - north of the present city, and named Senkadagalapura at the time.
In 1592 Kandy became the capital city of the last remaining independent kingdom in the island after the coastal regions had been conquered by the Portuguese. Several invasions by the Portuguese and the Dutch (16th, 17th and 18th century) and later by the British (most notably in 1803) were repelled. Portuguese invasions in the 16th century and 17th century were entirely unsuccessful.
The kingdom tolerated a Dutch presence on the coast until 1761.The Dutch retaliatory force returned in 1763 but were constantly harassed by disease, heat, lack of provisions, and Kandyan sharpshooters, who hid in the jungle and inflicted heavy losses on the Dutch. The Dutch, worn down by constant attrition, came to terms in 1766.
The last ruling dynasty of Kandy was the Nayaks. Kandy stayed as a independent until March 2, 1815 when the treaty, the Kandyan Convention signed by the British and Radala the (Kandyan aristocrats) which recognized the King of England as the its King and became a British protectorate following an invasion that met no resistance that reached the city on February 10, 1815
As the capital, Kandy had become home to the relic of the tooth of the Buddha which symbolizes a 4th-century tradition that used to be linked to the Sinhalese monarchy, since the protector of the relic was the ruler of the land. Thus, the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Tooth were where placed in close proximity to each other.
Today Kandy remains a important religious center of the Sinhalese and a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists. It is the second largest city of in the island.