This sacred Buddhist site known as the city of Senkadagalapura, was the last capital of the Sinhala kings whose patronage enabled the Dinahala culture to flourish for more than 2,500 years until the occupation of Sri Lanka by the British in 1815. It is also the site of the Temple of the Tooth Relic (the sacred tooth of Buddha) which is a famous pilgrimage site.

The name Kandy is derived from the abbreviated and the anglicized form of Kande-uda-rata. For the convenience of pronunciation the Englishmen first dropped the uda-rata portion and kande quite conveniently ended up in the nice form Kandy.

Available historical records suggest that Senkadagalapura (an early name for Kandy) was established by the King Wickramabahu III during the period of his reign from 1357-1374 AD. Some scholars contend that the original name of Kandy was Katubulu Nuwara located near present Watapuluwa. The more popular historical name - Senkadagala - according to folklore, was originated from one of the several possible sources. These include naming after a brahmin with the name Senkanda who lived in a cave near by, a queen of King Wickramabahu named Senkanda, and after a coloured stone named Senkadagala. The present name Kandy is only an anglicized version of Kanda Uda Rata (meaning the land of mountains) originated in the colonial era.

After King Wickremabahu III who founded the city, Senasammata Wickremabahu ascended the throne in the 15th century (1473-1511) making it the new capital of the Kandyan Kingdom. He was followed by his son King Jayaweera Astan (1511-1551) and later by Karalliyadde Bandara (1551-1581). His successor however, preferred to rule the hill country from Sitawaka on the western flanks of the hills. A period of turmoil for power ended with the ascent to the throne by Konappu Bandara who came to be known as Wimaladharmasuriya I. Wimaladharmasuriya I having embraced Budhdhism consolidated his authority further by bringing the tooth relic of the Lord Budhdha to Kandy from a place called Delgamuwa.

He proceeded to build a temple for the sacred relic which subsequently deloped into the present Dalada Maligawa. In between the death of Wimaladhramasuriya I in 1604 and the capture of the last King of Kandy by the British in 1815 seven successuve kings ruled the Kandyan kingdom from its base at Senkadagala or its suburbs such as Meda Maha Nuwara, Kundasale and Hanguranketa. The beautiful Octagon at the Dalada Maligawa and the picturesque Kandy Lake were constructed during the time of the last King Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe who was exiled to South India by the British.

The history of Kandy and it?s townscape witnesses rapid and drastic change from the beginning of British rule particularly after the 1818 rebellion. As Sir Lawrie in his Gazetteer recorded “ The story of English rule in the Kandyan country during the rebellion of 1818 cannot be related without shame.. Hardly a member of the leading families remained alive.. Those whom the swaord and the gun had spared, cholera and small pox and privations had slain by the hundreds.. Others became ignorant and apathetic..Any subsequent development efforts of the government for many years were only attempts begun and abandoned”.

However, Ananda Kumaraswamy ? the great savant of eastern culture writing in 1912 after nearly hundred years of British occupation had this to say. “Hardy mountaineers of the interior, preserved their independence enabling us to form an estimate of Sinhalese as a live and individual people, with a national character and a national art; an individuality and art which is more difficult and often impossible to trace in the low country districts long subjected to western influence”.

Since its founding in the 14th Century, Kandy which remained the last stronghold of local kings had gone through many a vicissitude. Although Colombo represents the prime commercial and administrative centre, Kandy continues to remain the cultural capital of Sri Lanka with a rich heritage of living monuments.

Tag: Sacred City of Kandy