For a Real Taste of Kandy, Venture Off the Tea Trails
Sri Lanka's Hill Country is renowned for its tea, but Kandy in the Cultural Triangle is much more than the sum of its leaves.
IN SRI LANKA, each full moon day—Poya—is a public holiday to commemorate an event in the life of Buddha. On these offering days, it is auspicious for Buddhist practitioners to visit a temple, especially a revered one like Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic in Kandy, known locally as Sri Dalada Maligawa. I feel privileged to visit this hallowed Buddhist shrine, a source of pride and identity for Sinhalese people.
I’ve come to Kandy—the southern point of Sri Lanka’s famed Cultural Triangle—to experience a taste of its ancient and modern history, of its royal Buddhist heritage, and the British colonial era, and to meet local people along the way.
Streaming down the pathway leading to the Royal Palace Complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, established in the 16th century AD, are hundreds of devotees, most of them dressed in white finery. Like a foaming wave, they flow towards the dazzling chalk-white walls that resemble floating clouds, the carved wooden pillars and gilded dome over the shrine, the Golden Canopy.
Extended families visit together, with girls dressed carefully, with flowers in their hair, golden earrings and frilly white dresses. To accumulate merit, seekers offer incense, light oil lamps, or present lotus or jasmine flowers at the shrine. Carrying pottery jars of water, some walk around the Bodhi tree three times, or tie offerings to the branches. A coin wrapped in white cloth catches my eye and I wonder if it symbolizes someone’s need for Sri Lankan rupees, or gratitude for answered petitions.
The atmosphere is one of joyful respect and anticipation. I’m struck by the sincerity and intensity of devotion of the pilgrims, as they pray and meditate in front of images from the life of Buddha. Temple musicians—the energetic Hewisi drummers and horanewa (traditional oboe) players—wear distinctive, centuries-old Kandyan ceremonial attire. Bare-chested, as a symbol of humility and respect, they wear a white sarong—dhoti—for purity, with a vibrant red cummerbund—patia—for celebration and royal heritage, plus a white turban—talappa—which is tightly wrapped so it stays on during the high-tempo movements.
Outside the temple precincts, after my immersion in ancient practices, I stroll along the edge of Kandy Lake—Kiri Muhuda. A courting couple takes a boat ride. A candy-floss salesman leans against the trunk of one of the rain trees introduced during the British colonial period. These massive trees, with umbrella-shaped canopies, line the walking path, providing shade and habitat for egret and fruit bat, the flying foxes. Above me a white-bellied sea eagle soars, the largest raptor in Sri Lanka. Business booms for flower sellers on this Poya day. A cluster of teenage girls smile shyly when I ask if I may photograph them, then collapse in giggles as I show them the images and mention how pretty each one is.
A short drive from Kandy city centre, up a narrow winding road of the Hanthana Mountain range, away from the city bustle, is Mountbatten Bungalow, part of the family-owned Thema Collection. It offers me a glimpse into the exclusive nature of the colonial-era lifestyle, where British gentry could retreat to this Hill Country to escape the summer heat and dusty dryness of cities in lower altitudes.
Lord Louis Mountbatten lived here during World War II, when commanding from Kandy and Peradeniya. The Victorian-era building is set in five acres of immaculate gardens, with ornamental flower beds, mature trees of Montane forestland, near tea plantations. Guests have the choice of two suites and four bungalow rooms in the main building, and six garden chalets.
My suite is capacious, with a four-poster bed dressed in hand-embroidered cushions and vintage linen, a living room, spacious bathroom with a Jacuzzi bath as a modern touch. Furniture features exquisitely crafted dark wood, in colonial style. Attention to detail includes period art, wooden screens, a writing desk with multiple compartments, as well as buffed original cement floors. Tropical plants flourish around a private verandah. It wasn’t difficult for me to imagine Lord Mountbatten resting here to muse on his current war strategy after a gin-and-tonic, a mildly spicy meal served by his Sinhalese chef, and perhaps a stroll around the manicured gardens.
On my walk around the property with Ravindu Shamentha, my knowledgeable naturalist, I’m spoiled with sightings of a ruddy mongoose, the usually elusive striped-neck mongoose and palm squirrels with high-pitched, rhythmic chirps. Fruit trees—including mango and rose apple—draw hosts of butterflies and bird species, including endemics like Sri Lankan hanging parrot and the noisy yellow-fronted barbet. It comes as a surprise to see this concentration of wildlife so close to Kandy city.
From Mountbatten Bungalow it’s a pleasant drive to the Pekoe Trail. Hiking from Haanthana to Galaha for 12.8 kilometers, we move through lush highland forests with splendid viewpoints, to a Tamil mountain village where a woman with a baby in her arms and a toddler by her side spontaneously invites me into her home.
This plantation house is tiny, but neat, with a shrine to Lord Murugan, a Hindu god that is revered as the patron deity of the Tamil people. Murugan is also worshiped as the guardian of the gorgeous, mountainous landscape of the Hill Country, with its tea plantations. Ravindu, accompanying me on the hike, mentions that Tamil folklore holds a profound connection to Lord Murugan, believing that he walked these hills and married Valli, a local tribal princess. These colorfully clad Tamil women depend on their generational work as leaf pluckers on the tea plantations.
Scenes in the 1984 Indiana Jones movie were shot near to where we are hiking. We spot a male oriental garden lizard with a large red head, a black eagle catching a Layard’s parakeet and a purple-faced langur.
Returning to Mountbatten Bungalow, I’m served an array of delectable Sri Lankan curries, at a table on the trimmed lawn, under a full moon. Reflecting on my time in Sri Lanka as I sip Ceylon tea, what lingers longest isn’t the ancient scale of the temples with the intoxicating fragrance of crushed frangipani blossoms, the wildness of the hills or the diversity of wildlife; it is the disarming, effortless warmth and hospitality of the people here. It’s an unvarnished kindness and acceptance that has made me feel like I belong.
themacollection.com; doubles from USD 290 per night, including breakfast.
The author traveled with Connaissance de Ceylan.
Images courtesy of Connaissance de Ceylon unless otherwise credited.
Image by Gillian McLaren
