KANDY - SRI LANKA

25th - 26th Nov 2011

Kandy with the Knuckles mountain range to the east. 

The 3 hour train trip up to Kandy ( 1st class carriage ) was very comfortable if a somewhat rocky ride with air-con, reclining seats, smart grey-uniformed cabin crew handing out bottled water and sweets, and TV screens showing a documentary about Kandy followed by a feature film. Breakfast was served consisting of two sandwiches, a meaty bun and a sort of spicy pasty thing which nearly blew my head off, plus coffee. It was raining quite heavily which slowed us down. I was amazed, it was pissing down with rain don't forget, to see other trains coming in the opposite direction, absolutely packed, with numerous passengers clinging onto the outside of the carriages ( it really does happen; but not sitting on the roof, that's dangerous. There are tunnels around here. Suspect roof-sitting only occurs on 4th class in India on flat going ). It is extraordinary that the track is not littered with those who lose their grip. Maybe it is. I felt quite a few bumps.
It is quite a climb to Kandy up at 1800ft and was a popular place with the colonials for R&R due to it's pleasant climate, fertile land and wooded mountains.
I was staying at the Topaz hotel in Kandy. It is at the top of a big hill and I was told it was within walking distance of the station. You must be joking! I tried but chickened out after 20 sweating minutes and then got a three-wheeler ( like vultures, they hover over any foreigner; unless it's raining and you really need one when they mysteriously disappear ) which only just made it to the top without having to be pushed.

Left: The artificial lake in Kandy. This was built by the last ruler of the Kandy kingdom, Sri Wickrama Rajasinha, as a grandiose gesture in 1807. Some of the local chiefs refused to provide the labourers required. Sri Wickrama had a good worker incentive scheme; he took the dissenting chiefs and had them put to death on stakes on the bed of the lake. The job got done without a hitch after that. The island in the middle was where he kept his harem. The British arrested the aforementioned ruler in 1815 and took over the kingdom. They converted the island to an armoury.





Right: The enormous Buddha Statue, Bahiravakanda, which overlooks the city from the west.












Left: The Asgiriya Cricket Stadium used to be the place where Test matches were played up until a couple of years ago. A smart new ground has been built about 10 miles away at Palekale.










Right: The ground is now in some disarray and is used by a local school ( Trinity College ) for many sports as well as cricket. As with much of Sri Lanka's infrastructure and facilities, funding is an issue. Many things are in need of urgent repair after the financial and administrative drain of the 30 year war with the separatists. The stands, scoreboards and members' enclosure here were weed grown and falling apart. Sad.
There were a few pupils being given some coaching while I was there.





Left: A couple of ladies were busy re-seeding by hand, inch by inch, the several wickets. I suspect it will keep them busy for some time. They were smiling because I gave them 100 rupees ( to have their photo taken ). I think they deserved it, and more.









I called in at the National Museum. The statue ( right ) outside is of some previous Governor, but the plaque on the plinth was missing so I never discovered who he was. The National Museum is, again, in much need of money and refurbishment. It is crumbling and mildewed.






Left:: The exhibits, mostly in fly-blown display cases, are not always totally inspiring, unless you have a particular arcane interest in such things as 19th century betel bags and wallets and similar local tools and paraphernalia.
The lighting in this place was poor to non existent, so many of the peeling labels were difficult to read. I suspect a lot of the clothing exhibits are doomed to rot unless better conditions are provided.







Right: This document is quite interesting. It is ( an old copy I think ) of the original decree which ceded authority over the Kingdom of Kandy to the British in 1815.















Left: Behind the museum is the old Garrison Cemetery. I met the charming old curator who showed me around. He obviously takes a great pride in the place and was keen to point out some of the more memorable graves. One such being the last British dignitary to be killed ( to date ) by a charging elephant in these parts.








Right: This one is even more interesting. It is that of Capt James McGlashan, HM's XIX Regt, who fought gallantly at the battles of Buzaco, Albuera and Waterloo and was commended for bravery. He died, aged 26 yrs,  of a mosquito bite in Ceylon in December 1817. Probably a French mosquito. Such is fate.













Probably the most notable place in Kandy is the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, the Sri Dalada Maligawa ( left ). This Buddhist temple contains, supposedly, the left lower molar tooth of the Buddha. It arrived here from India, apparently, so the rumour goes, having been snatched from the Buddha's funeral pyre in 483 BC and smuggled into Sri Lanka during the 4th century AD, hidden in the hair of a princess.....and if you believe that.....!!!
It is the focal point of much worshipping and praying.
The tooth is contained in a casket which is, in turn, contained in a series of larger decorated gold 'dagobas' ( pyramid shaped containers ).



These are contained in the 'inner shrine' ( right ), which is kept closed. The inner shrine is opened with great ceremony twice a day and 'pilgrims' are permitted to troop past, without stopping, to view from a distance just the outer large gold dogoba. Nobody ever gets to see the holy molar, so it appears. There are rumours that it is a copy of the original anyway, if indeed it ever existed in the first place.





I'm afraid I can't get terribly excited, let alone hold any reverence for what may, or may not, have been possibly, if it's there at all, the glorious gnasher of the Buddha. It does, obviously, hold considerable religious significance for Sri Lankan Buddhists who pray like mad outside the shrine. Good luck to them.
I went on a tour of the building ( 1000 rupees ) which is quite a large complex of rooms, including a Thai sponsored and built temple with a big golden Buddha in it, and a museum. We had to remove shoes and socks before traipsing inside to the accompaniment of chanting Buddhist monks, an audio guide and the slight whiff of smelly feet ( mine, probably ). This place was badly damaged by a terrorist bomb in 1998 which actually exposed many previously unseen paintings and inscriptions, but has been fully repaired since. So much for the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Fairy.


I next went on a visit to the Hanthana Tea Museum, about 3 miles south of Kandy. This old disused tea factory holds examples of all the 19th century tea manufacturing machinery ( in remarkably good nick ) and good descriptions of how the leaf is actually made into tea. The raw leaves are 'withered', rolled, chopped, shaken, fermented, dried and then packed. The machines in the photo ( right ) are the rollers and the present day machines look exactly the same.




Left: A working model of a tea factory floor showing the rollers and shaker. Most of these factories are built  on five floors with lots of space for withering shelves ( to dry out the raw leaves ) and places to blow-dry the final product. Tea product includes lots of Orange Pekoe varieties.
The museum includes much history and photos of two great 19th century tea pioneers; James Taylor ( 1835-92 ) and the famous entrepreneur Sir Thomas Lipton ( 1850-1931 ).




On another floor are some small shops selling tea products and memorabilia, and on the top ( 5th ) floor is a tea shop which serves you a free cuppa ( a pot actually ) of the 'cut orange pekoe' brew. There is also a telescope to take advantage of the magnificent view over Kandy. I was the only person in this museum at the time, apart from the staff! It is definitely worth a visit if only to learn how the stuff is made.






Left: The balcony of 'The Pub' over the noisy main street. It does excellent 'pub grub' and a choice of the local Lion beer, or Carlsberg. These two brands seem to have more or less collared the market.








Right: Tea country. I am off tomorrow for a trip to Nuwara Eliya, 50 miles south of Kandy. This is an old hill station from the 19th century and the centre of the enormous Sri Lankan tea industry. Ceylon tea ( as it is still branded ) is still one of the biggest, if not the biggest tea exporter in the world.
I am due to meet up with Jim, a local driver/guide, who will take me there.
So far so good.