Sri Lanka’s last royal capital and its enduring cultural heartland – a highland city set around an artificial lake, crowned by the Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic that houses the most sacred Buddhist relic in the world, and alive with the living traditions of the Kandyan kingdom in its art, its ceremony, and its daily devotional practices. Kandy is not simply a destination – it is the centre of gravity of Sri Lankan culture, and no understanding of the island is complete without spending real time here.