The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic puja at 9:30am or 6:30pm – when the inner shrine opens to candlelight, incense and the sound of temple drums – is the centrepiece of a full Kandy cultural day. Peradeniya Botanical Gardens follows: 147 acres, one of Asia’s finest orchid collections and the famous giant Java fig canopy. The Kandyan cultural dance performance – elaborate costuming, fire sequences and the complex percussion of the traditional ensemble – closes the day in the most theatrical way possible.