Hi guys, hope you are doing well. Today I am going to take you to Kandy. I’m sure you all know about ‘Dalada Maligawa’ (The Temple of Sacred Tooth Relic). But, I’m not going to talk about Dalada Maligawa today. I’m going to talk about the beautiful lake next to it, Kandy Lake.
Kandy Lake is also called as ‘Bogambara Lake’ commonly. Being situated in the heart of the city, Kandy Lake and Dalada Maligawa are the center of attractions of the city. Even though the lake is man-made, it is full of natural beauty. The lake is highly appreciated and visited by both local and foreign travellers.
History of Kandy Lake
Unlike the lakes and tanks in Anuradhapura, Kandy Lake does not have a very long history. It is built by King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe in 1807 AC. The place was formally a paddy field. The cloud shaped wall around the lake is a unique feature of this Lake. It is called ‘Walakulu Bemma’ (Cloud Wall) in Sinhalese. You will find that wall around only a part of the lake. It is said that the king couldn’t finish it due to foreign invasions.
For more details on the history of the lake, refer Wikipedia.
The lake adds much beauty and elegance to Kandy city. It is spread over a 6,544 m2 area. A lot of travellers love to walk around the lake (a long journey), including myself. And it is highly recommended to do that since it is a nice experience. There is a rich faunal diversity around the lake, especially birds. Further, you will come across lot of important and famous places of the city around the lake.
Another interesting thing is, you can have boat rides on Kandy Lake. I guess there are several boat services around the lake. It will be a different experience. Both locals and foreigners seem to enjoy riding boats on the lake.
As I told you earlier also, Kandy Lake is situated in the heart of the city. And it can be seen from almost all the observation points in Kandy.
- View of Kandy Lake from Bahirawa Kanda
- View of Lake from Udawatta Kele Sanctuary
- View of Kandy Lake from Authur’s Seat
A Few more clicks around the lake…
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So, that is it about Kandy Lake. If you ever visit Kandy, make sure you take a walk around this place. I promise you will love it. See you in the next article.