The last royal capital,where drums still call the evening.

Kandy was the seat of Sri Lanka’s last kings, and it still feels like a royal city. Wrapped in forested hills around a tranquil lake, it is home to the island’s most sacred temple — and it is the gateway to the tea country above.

At the heart of the city stands the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, Sri Dalada Maligawa, which enshrines a relic of the Buddha. Every evening the drums begin, lamps are lit, and worshippers in white carry lotus flowers through the halls. To stand there in the hush between drumbeats is to feel the island’s soul.

The temple, the lake and the old royal palace together form the Sacred City of Kandy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Just outside town, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Peradeniya spread across riverside lawns, with an avenue of royal palms, a vast orchid house and a giant Java fig whose branches shade an entire lawn.

In July or August, Kandy hosts the Esala Perahera — one of Asia’s great festivals — when caparisoned elephants, fire dancers and drummers parade through the streets for ten nights.