SRI LANKAN DIARIES - KANDY

After a hectic day of sightseeing in Dambulla, we expected a quieter day in Kandy. 

We were well rested through the night in our rooms in our hotel located at an elevation. 

After breakfast, we were ready for the day's sightseeing.

Our first halt was at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Peradeniya, which attracts 2 million visitors annually.

The sprawling garden had an enviable variety of trees, mostly tropical.

Some palms looked special. 

There was this 'double coconut' tree too.

We strolled around, admiring the riot of colors around.

Oops ... such dense foliage ....

The Orchid House was the highlight of the garden. 

Such a feast to our eyes!

Next we went to Gems Gallery. We enjoyed window shopping - the gems were rather expensive. We enjoyed looking at the dazzling colorful gems and the intricate patterns of jewelry.

Our lunch was at a restaurant bang opposite to the Gems gallery.

Next we visited the Temple of the Tooth Relic, and spent two hours going around there.

Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple, which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a World Heritage Site mainly due to the temple.

The temple sustained damage from bombings by Janata Vimukthi Peramuna in 1989 and by Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 1998 but was fully restored each time.

The interiors of the temple were very impressive.

A beautiful wall painting of Princess Hemamali and her husband, Prince Dantha, portrays her carrying Gautama Buddha's tooth relic hidden in her hair to Sri Lanka. 

The golden canopy over main shrine looks very impressive.The tooth relic is encased in seven golden caskets which are engraved with precious gemstones. The caskets have a shape of a stupa.

The royal palace is situated to the north of the temple,

surrounded by a moat.

After this, we went to the nearby theater for the Cultural Show. We had been warned not to expect anything similar to the shows in Bangkok or Paris.

The show was a modest presentation of the various forms of art - dance, music, drama - of Sri Lanka. We truly enjoyed the one-hour presentation.

Towards the end of the show, a weirdly attired dancer approached the spectators and shook his head wildly to their delight.

At the end of the show, we were asked to assemble outside the theater for the 'Fire Show'.

Everyone held their breath and went 'ooh' and 'aah' as the performers swathed their limbs with the flames, 

even put the flame inside their mouth. After the mesmerizing show, we retired to our hotel.

The next day, we started from Kandy for Nuwara Eliya.