
To those of us who speak English there is a certain humour in the fact that the city of Kandy has The Temple of The Sacred Tooth Relic. To the Sri Lankan people the tooth relic is the actual tooth of the Buddha and whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. To worship and give offerings in this holy place significantly helps you on your journey towards enlightenment.

Masses of worshippers and tourists shuffle in line three times a day during Puja, the only time the doors are open to see the golden casket that holds The Tooth. Actually it’s seven gold caskets nestled within each other like a Russian doll, with the tooth in the smallest one.

Kandy was a bit warmer than the hill country we’d arrived from and downtown was busier as well. However we did find some quaint corners left over from it’s glory days.

The beautiful Royal Botanic Gardens were a special treat and for 1,500 rupees ($10) deserve a visit for anyone going to Kandy.



A 30 minute scooter drive through winding, quiet country roads (a relief after the traffic in Kandy) brought us to the ancient Lankatilaka Vihara Temple. The temple doors were closed but a monk was happy to open them up for us and even adjusted the lighting inside for the benefit of our pictures.

After two days we said goodbye to our lovely guesthouse in the hills above the city (surrounded by jungle and monkeys in the trees) and boarded the bus headed towards the historical village of Sigiriya.