(41) To Kandy, the ancient capital of Sri Lanka - Discover the best promenade for a walk! Enjoy the greenery, lakes, and beautiful historic cityscape

Travels to Buddhist sites in India and Sri Lanka (41)
To the ancient capital city of Kandy in south-central Sri Lanka - Enjoy the greenery, lakes, and beautiful historic cityscape!

It takes about an hour to get to Kandy from Al Vihara, which I introduced in my last article. In this article, I will talk about Kandy, but before that, I would like to talk about some recommended places that I could not introduce in the previous article.

Previous Article「（40）アル・ヴィハーラ～仏典が初めて書写された歴史的な寺院！文字化が後の大乗仏教を生み出した？」In the previous section, I introduced Alvihara, where the first copying of Buddhist scriptures in the history of Buddhism took place, but in fact I had visited a place before that.

That is the Llanweli Spice Garden here.

Sri Lanka is a treasure trove of spices.

And this is the perfect place to find out what that spice is.

Here you can actually see the plant where the spice is grown. This is turmeric. In Japan, it is probably better known as turmeric.

This was fun to see the trees that were the center of the spice trade, including cinnamon and pepper.

And I was personally delighted to see the following

That's right. It is cacao, the raw material of chocolate. To learn about the colonial trade, the Kawade BunkoThe History of Chocolate.I had read about the cacao fruit, etc., and it was very exciting for me to actually see the cacao fruit. I had no idea they were really this big and red!

What was also very exciting was this.

They are jackfruit and rambutan. They are a must for Wednesday fans.

It would be unheard of here for someone to get so excited about seeing a rambutan on the ground. But this is the habit of the fans. Those who understand will understand. I am sure that there must be many people who smiled when they read this. If you are interested, please check out "Moped: 1,800 Kilometers Through Vietnam".

Sri Lanka had already been trading actively with the Roman Empire as early as the first century A.D., and had been a prosperous trading nation for a long time. The Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial administrations from the 16th century were also the biggest targets for these spices. It was very interesting to see these plants in order to understand the history of Sri Lanka. For those interested in these spices, Andrew Dolby'sThe Human History of Spices.I recommend a book called We encourage you to pick up a copy.

Now, it's time to get into the candy.

The Kingdom of Kandy existed from the 15th century to the first half of the 19th century, and unlike the coastal areas, it was not colonized until the end. Therefore, it is said to be a land with a strong "We are the Kandyans" identity.

In Kandy, there is a temple called "Buddha Tooth Temple" where Buddha's canine teeth are kept, and it is so famous that people say "Kandy is here.

We will take a closer look at this temple in the next article.

We came to the center of Kandy.

The center of the bus terminal was so busy with cars and people that it was difficult just to cross the street until I got used to it.

I came to the Kandy market. My intention was to first take a look at the bustling Candian market.

The white building in front of you is the market, where many stores are located.

The first store you enter is a grocery store, but as you go deeper into the store, you are met with a surprise.

There were a lot of crows and I thought, "What is that?" and looked beyond and immediately knew the answer to that question.

The butcher was butchering the meat right in front of them. The crows came to take advantage of the meat. The area was lined with such butcher stores and fresh fish stores, and the smell was quite strong. Our guide said that those who do not like such smells should be careful when coming to this area.

Further on, the market continued outdoors again. In this area, vegetables and fruits were sold.

Walking through a lively market is fun. It is a real pleasure to experience the local atmosphere of a place.

We came to the vicinity of Lake Candy. The town has a modern, Western-style atmosphere. After the fall of the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815, the city came under the direct rule of the United Kingdom, from which point it rapidly became westernized.

This is the Queen's Hotel located directly in front of Kandy Lake. It is located right next to the Buddha Tooth Temple and is known as one of Kandy's representative long-established hotels. This is the best place to watch the Perahera Festival in August, and reservations for the festival are booked more than half a year in advance.

Incidentally, this is the Perahera Festival in Kandy. This festival, with its traditional musicians, dancers, and illuminated statues, is famous throughout the world. Please take a look at this video. Especially, you should not miss the intense drum music and the procession from around the 3:30 minute mark of this video.

The shopping mall that left a lasting impression on me in the Kandy Lake area is the Kandy City Center, which is a completely modern shopping mall, almost the same as in Japan. This is a completely modern shopping mall, almost the same as in Japan. There are also many fashionable cafes and restaurants where even foreigners can eat in comfort, and I found them very useful. Kandy is a very comfortable place to stay. It is different from India.

And above all, it would be the beauty of this Candy Lake.

There is a promenade around Lake Candy, and you can walk around the lake in a circle. I stayed in Kandy for a few days and took a walk along this trail almost every day.

This is a very pleasant experience. Moreover, Sri Lanka is generally a safe country, so unlike Europe, you can walk around with peace of mind. This is a big advantage. The stress of walking in Sri Lanka is totally different from that in Europe.

Walking around here, I felt that the local people must also love this place as a place for relaxation. There were many people sitting on the stairs and benches and relaxing.

This is great..!

It is a large city with such a large lake in the center of it and even more lush greenery. The overall feeling of a relaxed atmosphere is also pleasant. It is a great place to take a walk.

Kandy is a very comfortable city. I highly recommend this ancient city.

In the next article, I will talk about the city's iconic Buddha Tooth Temple and nighttime pujas.

Next Article.

Click here to read the previous article.

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