21 Facts About Kandy

Kandy is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province.

Kandy is both an administrative and religious city and is the capital of the Central Province.

Kandy is the home of the Temple of the Tooth Relic, one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world.

Some scholars suggest that the original name of Kandy was Katubulu Nuwara located near the present Watapuluwa.

The English name Kandy, which originated during the colonial era, is derived from an anglicised version of the Sinhala Kanda Uda Rata or Kanda Uda Pas Rata.

Related searches

In Sinhala, Kandy is called Maha nuwara, meaning "Great City" or "The Capital", although this is most often shortened to Nuwara.

Historical records suggest that Kandy was first established by the Vikramabahu III, who was the monarch of the Kingdom of Gampola, north of the present city, and named Senkadagalapura at the time.

In 1592 Kandy became the capital city of the last remaining independent kingdom in the island after the coastal regions had been conquered by the Portuguese.

The king, Vikrama Rajasinha of Kandy who was of South Indian ancestry faced powerful opposition from the Sinhalese chieftains and sought to reduce his power.

Kandy is located in the mountainous and thickly forested interior of the island.

Kandy has now grown out to encompass Peradeniya, home to the University of Peradeniya and the Botanical Gardens, Katugastota to the north, and east to Kundasale, Tennekumbura and Gurudeniya.

Kandy is a Sinhalese majority city; there are sizable communities belonging to other ethnic groups, such as Moors and Tamils.

Kandy has a public transport system based primarily on buses.

Monumental ensemble of Kandy is an example of construction that associates the Royal Palace and the Temple of the Tooth is the place that houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha.

Palace of the Tooth relic, the palace complex and the holy city of Kandy are associated with the history of the dissemination of Buddhism.

Knuckles Mountain Range in Kandy is a world heritage site of UNESCO.

Kandy is home to some of the island's oldest and leading schools.

Kandy is popular due to the annual procession known as the Esala Perahera, in which one of the inner caskets used for covering the tooth relic of Buddha is taken in a grand procession through the streets of the city.

Kandy has produced national-level competitors in a wide range of sports, including cricket, rugby union, Association football, swimming, field hockey, athletics, table tennis, boxing, basketball, golf, and even baseball, which has only been introduced into Kandy recently.

Kandy has produced national captains of cricket and rugby and athletes that play at the highest level of all sports.

Kandy is host to the Sri Lanka national cricket team with two Test status grounds, Asgiriya International Stadium and the newly built state-of-the-art Pallekele International Cricket Stadium.