Kandy, heart of the pearl of Indian ocean is located in the Central Province of the Sri Lanka it’s totally covered be mountains. It is 116 Kms (72 Miles) from Colombo by road. Mahaweli River flows around the city. The temperature remains 12 C0 to 30 C0 throughout the year & experience the wet climate.
Kingdom of Kandy was an important independent monarchy of Sri Lanka. It was founded in late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom of the Kingdom of Kotte, Kandy gradually established itself as an independent force during the tumultuous 16th and 17th centuries. From the 1590s, it was the sole independent native polity on the island of Sri Lanka, and through a combination of hit-and-run tactics and diplomacy kept European colonial forces - in particular the British - at bay, before finally succumbing to the third and last colonial ruler in 1818. The kingdom was absorbed into the British Empire as a protectorate following the Kandyan Convention of 1815, and definitively lost its autonomy following the Uva Rebellion of 1817.
The name Kandy is derived from the Sinhalese Kanda uda pasrata. The Portuguese shortened this to "Candea", using the name for both the kingdom and its capital Senkadagalapura. In Sinhala, Kandy is called Maha Nuwara, meaning "Great City" or "Capital", although this is most often shortened to Nuwara. Over the years of the existence of the Kingdom of Kandy it has been known by many names. These include:
- Kanda Uda Pasrata
- The Senkadagala Kingdom
- The Kanda Udarata
- The Mahanuwara Kingdom
- Sri Wardhanapura
Kandy remains an important religious centre of the Sinhalese and a place of pilgrimage for Buddhists, namely those belonging to the Theravada school. It is the second-largest city of the island and the capital of Central Province of modern Sri Lanka. Its geographic location has made it a major transportation hub in the island: while Kandy being the gateway to the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka, the city can be reached by major motorways in every direction of the island. The main roads Colombo-Kandy, Kandy-Nuwara Eliya, Kandy – Mahiyangana, Kandy – Dambulla & Kandy – Kurunagala.
The monumental ensemble of Kandy is an example of construction that associates the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Tooth (Palace of the tooth relic) is the place that houses the Relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Originally part of the Royal Palace complex of the Kandyan Kingdom, it is one of the holiest places of worship and pilgrimage for Buddhist around the world. It was last of a series of temples built in the places where the relic, the actual palladium of the Sinhalese monarchy, was brought following the various relocations of the capital city.
