Kandy

Things to do here

• Kandy General Post Office

  The Kandy General Post Office (Sinhala: මහනුවර ප්‍රධාන තැපැල් කාර්යාලය - கண்டி பிரதான அஞ்சல் அலுவலகம்) is the main post office in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The first post office was opened in Kandy in 1820, under the direction of the Postmaster General of Ceylon, Louis Sansoni. The first mail coach service, between Colombo and Kandy, began operations in 1832.

• Bogambara Prison

  Bogambara Prison was a maximum security prison and the second largest prison in the country after Welikada Prison in Colombo, Sri Lanka. After operating for 138 years, the prison was closed on 1 January 2014, and the inmates were transferred to the new Dumbara prison complex in Pallekele. In 2019, the government declared the prison site would become a cultural tourism centre, the Bogambara Cultural Park.

• Bogambara Stadium

  Bogambara Stadium (Sinhala: බෝගම්බර ක්‍රිඩාංගනය) is a multi-purpose stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka It is one of the oldest grounds in the country. Stadium is currently used mostly for Rugby matches and hosted the games of the Singer Sri Lankan Airlines Rugby 7's. It has a capacity of 30,000.

• Kandy Clock Tower

  The Kandy Clock Tower (Sinhala: මහනුවර ඔරලෝසු කණුව, Tamil: கண்டி மணிக்கூட்டுக் கோபுரம்) is located in the centre of Kandy, Sri Lanka, on the intersections of Sri Dalada Veediya, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Mawatha and Hiragedara Mawatha. A landmark of the city, the clock tower was built near to the Ismail Building in 1950 by Haji Mohamed Ismail as a monument and in memory of his son Mohamed Zacky Ismail, who lost his life in an accident in Kadugannawa in August, 1947.

• Kandy

  Kandy (Sinhala: මහනුවර, romanised: Mahanuwara [mahanuʋərə] ; Tamil: கண்டி, romanised: Kaṇṭi [ˈkaɳɖi] ) is a major city located in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau. Kandy is the administrative capital of the Central Province, and considered as the cultural capital of Sri Lanka, due to its architectural heritage. Kandy is the home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa), one of the most important places of the Buddhist world. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1988. Historically the local Buddhist rulers resisted Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial expansion and occupation.

• Kandy railway station

  Kandy railway station (Sinhala: මහනුවර දුම්රිය ස්ථානය, Tamil: கண்டி ரயில் நிலையம்) is a major railway station in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The station is served by Sri Lanka Railways and is the primary railway station in Kandy and one of the most significant in the central hills. The station sits on a branch of the Main Line, leading to the Matale Line.

• Wales Park

  The Royal Palace Park, also known as Wales Park, Wace Park or Rajawasala Park, is a small park on top a small hill in the heart of the city of Kandy, that overlooks the Kandy Lake and most of the city. Established by King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Sri Lanka it was renamed as Wales Park in honor of the Prince of Wales by the British. The hill, where the park is currently situated, was known as Castle Hill by the British, as it was the site of the palace of Konappu Bandara, who ruled as Vimaladharmasuriya I of Kandy from 1590 to 1604. Herbert Wace, CMG (1851–1906), the Government Agent of the Central Province and acting Colonial Secretary, arranged for this neglected site to be restored, and a park be built there in 1880. In the park is a Japanese Type 4 15 cm howitzer which was captured by the British 14th Army in Burma during World War II and presented to the City of Kandy by Lord Mountbatten, Supreme Allied Commander – South East Asia Theatre.

• Giragama Walawwa

  Giragama Walawwa is a historic Walawwa building located on the corner of Yatinuwara Veediya (Brownrigg Street) and Sir Bennet Soysa Veediya (Colombo Street) Kandy, Sri Lanka. The building is originally built in 1814 and considered as the oldest walawwa building within the Kandy. It was the residence of former Diyawadana Nilame Kudamudiyanse Giragama. In the central part of the building is a wooden tower, which is unique to the building and can not be found in other Walawwas throughout the country. Archaeologists believe that tower could be some kind of a "watch tower or a "security tower" used by the early residents. The building has been formally recognised by the government as an archaeological protected monument. In 2014 the Kandy Municipal Council together with the Central Cultural Fund and the Urban Redevelopment Authority resolved to restore the building, at an estimated cost of Rs 7.2 million. The works were completed in September 2015 at a total cost of Rs 15.08 million and officially opened by Governor Surangani Ellawala.

• Sri Maha Bodhi Viharaya

  Sri Maha Bodhi Viharaya is a Theravada Buddhist temple in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in Bahirawakanda, approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) from the city centre. The temple is known for its giant Buddha statue. The statue of Buddha is depicted in the position of the Dhyana Mudra, the posture of meditation associated with his first Enlightenment, and can be seen from almost everywhere in Kandy. It stands at 26.83 m (88.0 ft) high and is one of the tallest Buddha statues in Sri Lanka. The temple is built on land donated by the Minister of Lands, Hector Kobbekaduwa, to Ven. Ampitiye Dammarama Thero, a monk from the Amarapura Nikaya in the early 1970s. Initially Dammarama lived in a makeshift dwelling whilst soliciting funds for the construction of the temple. The temple was opposed by the senior monks of the Sri Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic), claiming it would overshadow the centre of the Siyam Nikaya. In the 1980s a chief monk of the Amarapura Nikaya, Hinatiyana Dhammaloka, successfully petitioned President Ranasinghe Premadasa to intervene and legally grant the land to Dammarama. In the late 1980s Dammarama began to build a statue of Buddha, with construction of the statue completed in 1992. It was officially opened on 1 January 1993 by President Ranasinghe Premadasa. It is now a popular tourist attraction.