Kandy Lake

Kandy Lake lies in the centre of Kandy, the hill city in Sri Lanka's Central Province, directly beside the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic. It was created in 1807 by Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the last king of the Kandyan kingdom, who had paddy fields in the area flooded to form the lake. It is also called Kiri Muhuda, the Sea of Milk.

The lake is part of the Sacred City of Kandy, listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1988. A small island in the middle was reportedly used by the king, and later by the British as an ammunition store. The low decorative wall around the lake, with its cloud-like pattern called walakulu bemma, was built under the king and was never fully completed. Fishing is not allowed in the lake.

A walking path of about 3.4 kilometres circles the water, shaded by large trees. Along the way visitors see the white Temple of the Tooth, the Queen's Hotel, the old royal palace buildings and views up to the forested Udawattakele reserve. Monitor lizards, turtles, fish, herons and cormorants are often seen. During the Esala Perahera festival in July or August the lakeside fills with spectators and lights.

The lake is a good place to rest between visits to the temple, the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya and Kandy's market.

The lakeside walk is free and open at all times. Early morning and late afternoon are cooler and give the best light on the water.

Work on the lake continued until 1812. The paddy fields it replaced were called Tigolwela, and the dam was built between 1810 and 1812 to a plan credited to Deveda Moolacharya. The lake reaches about 18 metres at its deepest, and a road laid on the dam let the king reach the Malwatte Vihare.

Two lakeside buildings recall the royal period. The island once held the Diyathilaka Mandapaya, a royal summer pavilion, to which the British later added a fortified parapet when they stored ammunition there. The Ulpange, or Queen's Bath, stands partly in the water; it was used by the royal women, the British added an upper storey and used it as a library, and it now serves as a police post. The Walakulu Bamma, the clouds wall, runs for about 630 metres, and its triangular openings once held oil lamps for festivals. It was left unfinished because the British captured the city first. Pollution has long been a problem, and the Kandy water board stopped drawing water from the lake by 1960.