Temple of the Tooth, Kandy

One of the most sacred sites for Sri Lankan Buddhists is the Temple of the Tooth, otherwise known as Sri Dalada Maligawa. According to legend, a tooth of the Buddha was snatched at his funeral pyre and smuggled into Sri Lanka, hidden in the hair of a princess. After being moved from place to place in the country and then temporarily brought back to India by army invaders, it achieved its final resting place in Kandy. The current structure housing the tooth was built within the royal palace complex from 1687-1782 and is surrounded by a deep moat that still contains water. In 1998, a bomb detonated by the Tamil Tigers during the civil war damaged part of the building, of which some evidence remains. For example, there are gouge marks in the colorful 18th-20th century paintings through the front door hallway depicting the life of Buddha.

When I was there, the gold dagoba (stupa) was veiled by a cloth, so the relic’s container was not to be seen. Three pairs of large elephant tusks flanked the front of the shrine. Rich painted figurative and floral designs adorned the top of the shrine. Another side had beautiful carved columns with animal and mythical creature designs. Devotees came in cupping lotuses, purple flowers, and jasmine in their hands.

Above one curtained door was a Buddhist mythical creature, consisting of the trunk of an elephant, mouth of a crocodile, ears of a pig, body of a fish, tail of a peacock, eyes of an eagle, and legs of a lion. In addition to several smaller rooms, a newer and larger shrine hall contained Buddhas in various materials and sizes, donated by different countries. A gold-colored statue of a seated Buddha was in the front center of the room. Multiple sets of tusks curved inward towards the center of the room. Also in the complex was an open air pavilion with carved stone columns and the Rajah Tusker Hall which contains the taxidermy stuffed figure of the beloved elephant Rajah who died in 1988, as well as photos and other mementos of the creature in procession.

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