Thank you for visiting my site.
You are here: Home / Destinations / UDAWATTAKELE - KANDY
Udawattakele or Royal Forest Park is declared as a forest reserve in 1856 and 1938 as a sanctuary. The extent of this forest is about 257 acres and located behind most sacred Sri Dalada Maligawa or Temple of the Tooth of the Buddha. This was a important place in establishment of Kandy city. One of the hermit named 'Senkanda' who meditate in 'Senkandalena' cave shelter in this forest who informed king Wickramabahu (1371 A.D.) to establish Kandyan kingdom. The new kingdom also named as 'Senkadagalapura'. As tradition the royal palace and tooth temple also was constructed near the forest. The British constructed, The Pavilion building or the president house.
The historical and important places’ within the forest are, The Garrison Cemetery, Lady Horton Street, Senkanda Cave Shelter, Pus Wela - the Liana, Kodimale (flag mount), Royal Pond. The garrison cemetery is the place where the dead bodies of the soldiers and generals of the British Army were buried during their period. There are 167 nicely prepared tombs existing in the cemetery. Lady Horton Street named after the wife of 1834, the governor of Ceylon, Sir Robert Horton. Senkada cave shelter is the place of Senkanda hermit who meditate here. There is a 200-300 years old giant endemic liana called Pus (Entada pusaetha). Kodimale is the highest peak among other small peaks that situated within the forest. In ancient time different flags were hoisted during special occasions there. The Royal pond were used by royal family..There is a large number of endemic plants and animal species showing adaptations of different environmental conditions within the forest. Three storied vegetation namely the canopy (dominant), sub canopy and underground layers can be identified here. Toque monkey, porcupines, mouse deer's, birds and butterflies are very common in this forest. Some common birds and mammals are found in the forest. The endemic birds of the forest are Sri Lanka Lanyard's Parakeet, Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, Sri Lanka Hill Myna, Sri Lanka Brown Capped Babbler, Sri Lanka Yellow Fronted Barbet, Sri Lanka Gray Hornbill, Sri Lanka Wood Pigeon.
"If you ever plan to visit Sri Lanka (and I think you should) this is your guide!!! Martha Iordanidou - Thesoloneki - Greece " Martha Iordanidou
"We found Cyril on-line and after checking with lots of other guides we decided he is the one for us, that decision was the best one we did for our trip From the beginning, in our emails, Cyril listen to us and was very helpful, he gave us information and helped us to create the best trip for us.We had 10 days trip, for our honeymoon, to many parts of Sri-Lanka. the country is amazing, green, nice people and good food.Cyril was a great driver and even greater guide, he has so much knowledge and e..." Coral and Oded from Israel
"Cyril was absolutly Fantastic,Veryhelpful, Patient and extremly knowledgable. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend and travel with him again. Whole tour was well organized and perfectly done. Kate Williams and family from UK 04th January 2015" Kate Williams UK
"We had a trip planned with Cyril just when international travel closed down due to Covid. Cyril was great in planning a trip with me that had a great deal of flexibility and tailored to visit the places we wanted to seeUnfortunately we were unable to take the trip. Cyril's response to that was great, he dealt with everything for us in terms of cancellationsHe has kept in touch with us since then and has already contacted me with a revised plan for our trip to Sri Lanka. Which we will book with h..." Brian O: Keefe - Perth - Australia
"We are glad to meet Cyril. He is very kind and patient, very professional in his work. He have lot of knowledge about history of the places and the things that happened in Sri Lanka. He knows all the roads and places very well. Very friendly and stand on time. The tour he recommended us and places were excellent. He replied immediately for mails which we send. He was flexible when we asked him to stop in different places and to change our program. He speaks very good English and explanations..." Ruty Ben Haim from Isarel
"We would like to say thank you very much Mr. Cyril for the excellent 7 night tour of Sri Lanka you provided us. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Sri Lanka and the itinerary you arranged. The four hotels (Earls Regency, Amaya Lake, Heritance Kandalama and the Colombo Hilton) were excellent and thoroughly deserved their 5 stars. Your driving skills was excellent. Also very friendly, calm, helpful, and courteous and always prompts. Sri Lanka is a lovely country and the people were very friendly. ..." Suresh and Prashanth
"Dear Cyril, We want to thank you so much for making our trip so unforgetable and delightful. We received your name from our friends lives in Geneva who travelled with you in January 2009 and they gave you such a high recommendation that we decided to conbtact you for our two weeks trip this year. Although we have been to Sri Lanka a few times already. We have never found such an excellent driver and guide. It has been a great pleasure to visit Colombo with you and then to Koggala for two day tr..." Mr.Gabor Kato & Mrs.Ann Kato
"Hello, We had 2 weeks exploring Sri Lanka and for most of that time Cyril drove for usto various towns, sites of interest. Cyril wsa a very pleasant chauffeur. Always prompt and greeted us with a smile. He was well informed about the sites we visited and pointed out many interesting historical buildings en-route. We had a great 2 weeks in Sri Lanka and Cyril's plesant and helpful nature contributed to this briliant holiday. Thank Cyril Sara and Steve from Birmingham, England" Sara and Steve
"Thank you Cyril for caring us and giving a very enjoyable tour to all of our family while we are on holiday in Sri Lanka. Definitely we will recommend you to our friends and relatives. Hitendra Molleti and family" Hitendra Molleti
"Dear Cyril, Yes that's the one that we were calling all the time. Her name is Celia and by now she has a little sister. My dear Cyril, of course we can't forget your companion and we are always telling about you when we are talking about our trip to Sri Lanka. I wish you good luck with your company and I hope that you will have whatever you want. I want to tell also that I was very happy when I learned that you are a grandfather now. Best regards, Chris Greece 26/07/2011" Cristos Pravitas - Greece
.jpg)
