Besides the sacred temple of the sacred tooth relic is another distinctive tourism place, the national museum of Kandy. Since the city of Kandy was declared as a heritage site by UNESCO has been visited by travelers from so many countries. The building of the museum was erected by the King Sri Wickrama Rajasingha. While the building was known as ‘Palle vahala’, the complex was used as an accommodation of kings and queens. Many historic artifacts and items made by the Kandyan art association which was established in 1832 are exhibited in the place. The museum was declared as a national museum in 1942. The old harem now exhibits a heap of royal relics, thrones, scepters and customary swords plus weapons, jewelry, coins, bric-a-brac and tools. It is noticed that the most of the items hark backs to the 17th and 18th century. More over they have belonged to the Kandyan era and post-British colonial era. You will find a motionless statue of Sir Henry Ward, who was a former British governor of Ceylon. Looming over the museum area you will find four devala and two monasteries. Even the museum building is proved to be fascinating. Many archeologically important scatterings are exhibited for the travelers.
The museum seems to be slightly destroyed due to the poor maintaining. But the items are well worth to visit. The front door at the entrance and other structures are originals. Whether you are not interested in the traditions, customs and rituals of Sri lanka you will get amused within a couple of minutes to the museum. By the way, the foreign visitors are prompted to have a guide with them to understand the things that they are looking at. Moreover, they can oppose everything about the Kandyan era from the assisting officers in the museum.
Ancient moonstones, ola leaf manuscripts, pots of various sizes and remarkable statues are a great opportunity to explore the glorious heritages of Sri Lanka. There are variegated features of the museum like Kandyan era weapons, spears and bows, masks and traditional costumes used by the natives of Kandyan kingdom. Apart from that the Raja tusker museum which besides with the temple of the sacred tooth relic can be easily reached from the National museum of kandy. You can see the taxidermied remains of the famous tusker Raja which carried the perahera karanduwa in Esala perahera for over 50 years.