Kandy Lake
Artificial lake built by King Sri Wickrama Rajasinha in 1807 at the centre of Kandy, encircled by a 3km walkway and flanked by the Temple of the Tooth.
Duration
1 hour
Entry Fee
Free
Difficulty
easy
Budget
free
About Kandy Lake
Kandy Lake was constructed in 1807 at the order of the last Kandyan king, Sri Wickrama Rajasinha, using forced labour, which contributed to public resentment that eventually aided the British takeover in 1815. The lake covers 63 acres and its perimeter walkway of approximately 3 kilometres passes directly in front of the Temple of the Tooth Relic on the northern bank. A small island in the centre was used as the king's ammunition store and later as a summer house. The cloud wall balustrading along the lakeside road is a distinctive feature of Kandyan architecture. Early morning is the best time for a walk — the mist over the water and the cool air before 8am are notably pleasant.
Highlights
- Built in 1807 by the last Kandyan king
- 63-acre lake with 3km lakeside walking circuit
- Cloud wall balustrading — distinctive Kandyan architecture
- Directly adjacent to the Temple of the Tooth Relic
Practical Tips
Walk the lake perimeter at 6am to 7am for cool temperatures and few crowds.
The southern walkway offers the best photographic angle of the Temple of the Tooth across the water.
Avoid the lake road by car during Esala Perahera festival week in July/August — roads are closed for processions.
Explore by Interest
Best Time to Visit
Best time of day: Year-round; early morning preferred for walk; December to April for dry weather
Location
Planning Info
- Crowd level
- Moderate
- Physical difficulty
- easy
- Setting
- outdoor
- Child friendly
- Yes
- Senior friendly
- Yes
- Budget level
- free
- Photography
- ★★★☆☆
Plan Your Visit
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ALSO IN THE AREA
Nearby Destinations
Temple of the Tooth Relic
Sri Dalada Maligawa houses the Buddha's tooth relic, in Sri Lanka since the 4th century AD and kept in Kandy since the city became the royal capital in 1592.
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Udawattakele Forest Reserve
A 104-hectare protected cloud forest reserve directly above central Kandy, with 68 recorded bird species and multiple walking trails through bamboo groves and tropical trees.
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Royal Botanical Gardens Peradeniya
Sri Lanka's largest botanical garden covering 147 acres on a meander of the Mahaweli River, established in 1821 with over 4,000 plant species including a 350-year-old Java fig tree.
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Bahirawakanda Vihara Buddha Statue
A 26.8-metre white seated Buddha statue on Bahirawakanda Hill overlooking central Kandy, visible from most of the city and accessible by a 30-minute walk or tuk-tuk.
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Tour Packages
from $450Classic Ceylon Discovery
Six days is not long, so this route spends none of it doubling back. You go inland to Kandy, up over the Ramboda Pass into the tea country, along the hill-country railway to Ella, down off the escarpment to Yala for a safari, and finish on the south coast at Mirissa. Every leg moves you forward, and the longest day in the car is the first one. What it gives up is the Cultural Triangle. Sigiriya, Dambulla, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa all sit north of this loop and need at least one more overnight to reach honestly; Essence of Sri Lanka covers them in eight days. What it keeps is the four things most first-time visitors actually name when asked: a working temple, the train, a leopard park, and a beach. Nuwara Eliya is a pass-through rather than an overnight. You still get the tea estate and factory visit and the Ramboda Falls stop on the way to the station, without paying a night and a hotel change for them. Bring a light layer anyway, because the air at 1,868 m is cold even on a day visit.
6 days / 5 nights
from $0Kandy Esala Perahera Festival Tour
The Kandy Esala Perahera is a ten-night Buddhist and Hindu procession honouring the Sacred Tooth Relic, held each July or August in Sri Lanka's hill capital. Five Kumbal Perahera nights build in scale before the Randoli Perahera, when palanquins representing the four devale queens join over 100 elephants, whip-crackers, fire dancers and Kandyan drummers on the temple's torch-lit route through the city. This trip puts you in Kandy for four nights, with reserved gallery seats on two of the grandest Randoli nights. The festival sets the schedule, not us, which is why the days around it are deliberately light: a morning at the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic before the road closures start, the palm avenues at Peradeniya, and a slow day among the 14th-century temples in the valley west of the city. Procession nights run late and the crowds are dense, so the recovery time is part of the plan. The route enters through Sigiriya rather than driving straight to Kandy. That costs nothing in extra days and turns what used to be a five-hour round trip from Kandy into a proper overnight, with the rock climbed at opening time and Dambulla's cave temple visited on the way south. Kandy's hotels sell out months ahead of the festival, so confirm your dates and book as early as you can.
6 days / 5 nights
from $0Ramayana Trail
Sri Lanka's Ramayana Trail links the places where, according to tradition, Rama, Sita, Hanuman and Ravana crossed paths after Sita's abduction: from the Shiva lingam Rama is said to have installed at Manavari, to the cave above Ravana Falls where legend holds Sita was kept, to the hill above Unawatuna that tradition calls a fragment of the herb-mountain Hanuman carried from the Himalayas. This 7-day circuit runs the length of the island in one direction. It starts on the west coast at Chilaw, climbs through Kandy into the tea hills at Nuwara Eliya, drops through Ella to the dry southern plains at Kataragama, and finishes on the south coast at Unawatuna. Each site gets its own part of the day rather than being stacked three to an afternoon, and no road is driven twice. Every site's Ramayana association is presented here as devotional tradition, not verified history, and your guide will frame it the same way. Vegetarian meals are confirmed at every hotel on request, and pure-vegetarian or Jain requirements are worth telling us at the time of booking rather than on arrival, because not every kitchen stocks for them by default.
7 days / 6 nights
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Complete guide to the Kandy Esala Perahera 2026: confirmed dates (August 18–27), procession schedule, tickets, viewing spots, and what to expect.
Kandy: The Cultural Heart of Sri Lanka
A practical guide to Kandy: the Temple of the Tooth Relic, the daily puja ceremonies, Kandy Lake, cultural dance shows, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, local markets, and the Esala Perahera festival.
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