Sri Lanka’s last royal capital sits within a bowl of green hills surrounding an artificially constructed lake – the city’s geography is itself an act of deliberate royal design. The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is the most venerated Buddhist shrine in the world outside Sri Lanka. The Kandy lake, the cloud forest reserve above the town, the Kandyan craft tradition and the Esala Perahera procession – one of the great festival processions of Asia, held annually in July and August – make Kandy one of the most culturally layered cities in the region. The evening puja ceremony is the experience most visitors carry home.