Destinations
- Pinnawala
- Peradeniya
- Kandy
Overview
Pick up from the Hikkaduwa hotel or Colombo airport and drive to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Take breakfast at Pinnawala. En-route visiting the Peradeniya Botanical garden, you will drive to the beautiful and historical city, Kandy. Evening we will visit the beautiful Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, the Temple Of The Sacred Relic of the tooth of Gautama Buddha.
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is established in 1975 with five orphaned elephants in an area of 25 acres of land at Pinnawala. Pinnawala is notable for being the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. Nearly there were 90 elephants. The Orphanage which serves as a conservation and breeding center as well as a place of informal education on elephants and their conservation is a world-famous attraction due to its unique way of maintaining such a large free herd of jumbos. Around 9:15 a: m starts the feeding Baby Elephants and fruit feeding get their milk. The Elephants Parade to the river to Barth around at 10:00 a: m. 12.00 noon Head returns from the river. Following this, you will drive to the beautiful and historic city of Kandy.
Peradeniya Botanical Gardens
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya occupies a horseshoe-shaped peninsula and the scenic splendor of the garden has been raised to greater heights by the longest river of Sri Lanka, The Mahaweli which flows through its fringes. The total area is 147 acres (about 60 hectares) containing about 4500 plant species. It is situated in the serene hill capital; it is near the Mahaweli River. It is renowned for its collection of orchids.
Kandy
Sri Lanka’s second-largest city after Colombo, 1551 above sea level, Kandy is a historic city of the highest religious and cultural importance. The last capital of Sinhalese King until it fell into the hands of the British in 1815, Kandy which is also known as Senkadagalapura was established by the Wickramabahu 111 (1357-1374 CE). Kandy remains the most sacred Buddhist since it is the home of the temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa) – the most venerated Buddhist shrine in the world and this historic sacred site was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO 1988.
Dalada Maligawa (Temple of the Tooth)
Temple of Tooth, Sri Dalada Maligawa, or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. The most sacred place of Buddhist worship in Sri Lanka and perhaps the world’s sacred Buddhist shrine is venerated by millions of Buddhists all over the world. The temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or Dalada Maligawa is a monumental palace built in the heart of the city of Kandy to house the sacred relic of the tooth of Gautama Buddha Brought from Kalinga in India during the reign of Sri Meghavanna.
The sacred relic of the tooth was taken from the funeral pyre of Gautama Buddha in 483 BC. Later on, the princess Hemamali with her husband prince Danta smuggled it into Sri Lanka hidden in her hair on the instructions of her father Guhasiva a during the 4th Century AD and it was first enshrined in Isurumuniya Temple in Anuradhapura. The first established kingdom in ancient Sri Lanka. Then it moved through a number of kingdoms across the country from time to time and in the end, it was brought to Kandy by Hiripitiya Diyawadana Rala and Devanagala Ratnalankara Thera. During the reign of king Wimaladharmasuriya 1(1591-1604) who built a two-story building place the sacred relic of the tooth. After that, it was improved by various kings who ruled the Kandyan kingdom, and the last improvement was done by King Sri Wikrama Rajasinha (1798-1815).
