Around the temple is the lake, St. Paul's Church, a working Buddhist
monastery, 18th century Malwatte & Asgiriya Viharas (monasteries), Kandy
National Museum, Tusker Raja Museum, Udawattekela Sanctuary & Trinity
College.
The Lake
The lovely centrepiece of the town, the Kandy Lake was created in
1807 by Sri Wickrama Rajasinhe, the last king of Sri Lanka. Here is a
scenic 4 km path around the lake. Boat tours run from the jetty on the
western side.
Malwatte & Asgiriya Viharas
These two are the principal working Buddhist monasteries of two
nikayas (orders) of Sri Lanka Buddhism. The 18th century Malwatte
monastery, on the south side of the lake, where an important annual
ordination of monks takes place in June, is decorated with ornate wood &
metal work. Asgiriya Vihara (northwest of the town), which stands on a
hill, has a good wood carving & an impressive collection of old palm
leaf manuscripts & a large recumbent Buddha statue & the mound of the
old Royal Burial ground nearby.
Kandy National Museum
The national Museum, beside the temple of the Tooth, was once the
quarters of Kandyan royal concubines. The collection traces a vivid
history of the development & culture of pre-European Sinhalese life. It
features jewels, armaments, and old maps-an enormous range of everyday &
exceptional objects.
Trinity College
Trinity College, standing in manicured grounds was founded in 1872
to provide education on English lines for the children of British
planters & administrators & Ceylonese converts to the Anglican Church.
It is still the island's foremost Christian college. The Trinity chapel,
with its granite columns carved with traditional Sri Lankan patterns as
well as the crests of Oxford & Cambridge colleges, is a remarkable blend
of western & Sinhalese architectural influences, with wooden doorways &
roof beams carved by local craftsmen, a pan tiled roof, & overhanging
eaves that echo the design of the Tooth Temple. The huge murals within,
depicting Bible stories, are the work of the aptly named Davis Paynter.
Located about 1 km (0.6 miles) east of Trinity College, Udawattekele
Bird Sanctuary is one of Sri Lanka's more accessible bird sanctuaries.
It is a stretch of wilderness only a stone's throw from the city centre
with towering forest giants & creepers giving shelter to bird species
including Layard's parakeet, Sri Lanka's hanging parrot, yellow-fronted
barbet, black-capped bulbul, emerald dove, three species of kingfisher,
chestnut-headed bee eater & Tickells's blue flycatcher. It is also the
home of scores of macaque monkeys, & huge, vividly painted butterflies
float across paths.
