Udawattakelle Sanctuary

Kandy


This forest on the north side of Kandy Lake has soaring hardwood trees and giant bamboo, good birding and loads of cheeky monkeys. Birdwatchers can arrange guides (Rs 500) at the ticket office. There are two main paths you can follow, and smaller tracks too.

Be careful if you’re visiting alone. Muggers are rare, but not unknown; solo women should take extra care.

Enter by turning right after the post office on DS Senanayake Vidiya. Last tickets issued at 4.30pm.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kandy attractions

1. Vishnu Devale

0.39 MILES

The Vishnu Devale is reached by carved steps and features a drumming hall. The great Hindu god Vishnu is the guardian of Sri Lanka, demonstrating the…

2. Rajah Tusker Hall

0.46 MILES

Adjacent to the Audience Hall, the Rajah Tusker Hall displays the stuffed remains of Rajah, the famous Maligawa elephant who died in 1988. Rajah was the…

3. Kandy Garrison Cemetery

0.46 MILES

This well-maintained cemetery contains 163 graves from colonial times. Perhaps the most striking aspect of a visit here is learning just how young most…

4. National Museum

0.46 MILES

This museum once housed Kandyan royal concubines and now features royal regalia and reminders of pre-European Sinhalese life. One of the most impressive…

5. Audience Hall

0.47 MILES

To the north of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, but still within the compound, is the 19th-century Audience Hall, an open-air pavilion with stone…

6. St Paul's Church

0.48 MILES

Construction of this impressive red-brick colonial-era church began in 1843 and was completed five years later. Built in neo-Gothic style, it originally…

7. World Buddhism Museum

0.48 MILES

Housed inside the former High Court buildings, the World Buddhism Museum contains lots of photographs, models and displays illustrating Buddhism around…

8. Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic

0.49 MILES

The golden-roofed Temple of the Sacred Tooth houses Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic – a tooth of the Buddha. During puja…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "sri-lanka/the-hill-country/kandy/attractions/udawattakelle-sanctuary/a/poi-sig/450799/357477",
      "destination": "Kandy",
      "continent": "Asia",
      "country": "Sri-Lanka",
      "city": "Kandy",
      "position": "superzone"
    }