The Temple of Danbulla contains some of the most famous images of the Buddha, most of them carved into the walls. As a result, my pictures of them largely did not come out. The images date from the 18th century.

The Golden Temple of Danbulla.

A view from the treetops.

Temples take pictures from the outside (inside pictures fared worse).

After the destruction and loss of Polunnaruwa, Sri Lanka effectively split into three kingdoms, a Tamil kingdom in the far North, separated from the Sinhalese by a barrier of jungle at about the line of the old capitals, and two other states in Kotte and Kandy. While the northern states often conflicted with, ironically enough, with Hindu empire such as that of Vijaniger, the southern states fell through a series of civil wars and a Malaysian invasion.

The southern states, in this respect, suffered from their sucess as they became profitable as trading and fishing ports. The Portugues and the Dutch, in their turn, took them over.

Isolated Kandy survived on its own with some manner of independence. It even surived for a while under the British as a client state. The upland kingdom became both a symbol of Sihalese independence and as a hideout for those working against the foreign powers. Under the British, eventually the Kandyans came under control, almost as client state.

The British new a good place when they saw one. As in the case of India, they needed a nicer, cooler place in which to reside than in the lowlands. As a result, Kandy became something of a combination of Hill Station and a local city.

Here's the outside of the "Temple of the Tooth."

This temple holds Buddha's tooth, rescued from his funeral pyre.

The largest Buddha in Kandy, a city symbol.

A view from Kandy, hills fronting a river.

Here I am riding into battle. Easy big man, I didn't call you fat.

Wait, I'm supposed to give the orders. Can't you remember?
You're supposed to have the memory of an elephant.

Give me five big guy.

Can I get off this thing or what? This is worse than a camel.

This the Royal Botanical Gardens.

You may know Jack, but do you know Jack Tree.

I know this is Christmas, but this is getting out of hand.

The British built this garden to test the various
plantation crops they wanted to grow.

This is my guide, Nehme.

"Ent? I am not an ent, young hobbit. I am a tree!"

A view from the plantation area above Kandy.

The beautiful treeside.

The plantation at the top grows famous tea.

A scenic vista.

Shall we take another look?

Well, this shower works better than the one in
my guest house. I guess it's time to quit.

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Back to Taiwan Tour 1: the Historical North

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