Sri Lanka is far beyond it's popular locales, wonderful however they are. The wizardry of this excellent tropical island is in the drowsy towns, mouth-watering food, rustic regions where wild elephants wander, characterful lodgings, neglected districts and great nearby individuals. The nation is different, with the memorable ports of Colombo and Trincomalee, the distant networks of the North, the antiquated Cultural Triangle, the foggy inland tea estates and the laidback sea shores of the south and upper east. On this sightseeing blog, we'll share stories from our local area of voyagers and travel specialists to give a little knowledge into what makes Sri Lanka such an awesome objective, ideal for families, couples and solo explorers the same. Go ahead and in contact to converse with an expert about an extravagance occasion to Sri Lanka, or even add to the blog.
Kandy, byname Maha Nuwara (“Great City”), city in the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka, at an elevation of 1,640 feet (500 metres). It lies on the Mahaweli River on the shore of an artificial lake that was constructed (1807) by the last Kandyan king, Sri Wickrama Rajasinha. Kanda, the word from which Kandy is derived, is a Sinhalese word meaning “hill”; from the city’s initial construction, about 1480 CE, it was known as Kanda Uda Pas Rata (“Palace on Five Hills”). In 1592 it became the capital of the Sinhalese kings, who preserved their independence during the period of European colonial rule—except for temporary occupations by the Portuguese and the Dutch—until 1815, when the British ousted Sri Wickrama Rajasinha. From the 13th or 14th century, Kandy became a centre for both Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism, the religion’s two major sects. The most important of its many Buddhist temples is Dalada Maligava (“Temple of the Tooth”), where a sacred relic, supposed to be the left upper canine of the Buddha, has been preserved since 1590. The temple was constructed under Kandyan kings during the periods 1687–1707 and 1747–82. It is joined to a tower (1803) that was originally a prison but now houses an important collection of palm-leaf manuscripts. In January 1998 Tamil separatists bombed the temple, damaging its facade and roof; restoration began immediately afterward. Significant temples southwest of Kandy include the Lankatilaka Vihare (Hindu) and the Gadaladeniya Vihare (Buddhist), both of which were built in the 14th century. The Peradeniya Botanic Gardens and the University of Peradeniya (1942; reorganized 1972) are also situated to the southwest. The city was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. The Esala Perahera, the annual 10-day torchlight parade of dancers and drummers, dignitaries, and ornately decorated elephants, commemorates the sacred tooth; it is now one of the better-known festivals in Asia, and it may be the largest Buddhist celebration in the world.
The ruins of the capital built by the parricidal King Kassapa (477–95) lie on the steep slopes and at the summit of a granite peak standing some 180m high (the ‘Lion’s Rock’, which dominates the jungle from all sides). A series of galleries and staircases emerging from the mouth of a gigantic lion constructed of bricks and plaster provide access to the site
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