Temple Of The Tooth, Kandy, Sri Lanka 

My husband and I are no stranger to visiting religious buildings on our travels. We have visited countless churches in Europe, most recently on our road trip to northern Italy. We have looked at the mosques of the Middle East and a trip to The Grand Temple in Bangkok saw us both borrowing zany patterned clothes to cover our bare legs. So you would have thought my husband would have learnt his lesson when we were in Sri Lanka for our visit to the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy.

But no, he was indeed caught short. Well, he was wearing them. Shorts. A big no no. Fortunately, I had a pair of trousers on and a cardigan covering my arms and shoulders so I was alright. I could go through.

As ever, where there are mistakes to be made by tourists, there’s an enterprising local. Da dah. He suddenly appeared, selling sarongs. A welcome sight when the alternative was either walking back to the hotel or forgoing Kandy’s main attraction.

Once inside the grounds, the beauty of the temple was revealed. Construction on the stunning white structure began under the Kandyan kings in 1687 and it is housed inside the Royal Palace complex. As we walked closer, the regal golden roof of the temple glistened in the sun while the moat surrounding it gave off an air of serenity as Buddhist monks wandered past.

As we approached the ticket office, a well dressed man offered his services as a guide and we accepted. Dinesh certainly helped us to make a bit more sense of the structure, rather than us just wandering aimlessly around. He also recommended we see the Kandyan dancing afterwards which was a really interesting experience. According to Dinesh, the Temple of The Tooth is the most important place for Buddhists to visit – certainly in Sri Lanka.

Why? Well, it houses a tooth from the Buddha himself. According to local law, whoever has the relic governs the country. The tooth of the Buddha is said to have been snatched from the flames of his funeral pyre in 483BC and smuggled into Sri Lanka during the 4th century hidden in the hair of a princess. This story is illustrated in one of the rooms through a series of paintings high upon the walls.

Before we had even got into the temple though, Sri Lanka’s more recent history was starkly highlighted by Dinesh. In January, 1998, it was the scene of a truck bomb attack by the militant group Tamil Tigers which killed 16 people and left substantial damage. The building was swiftly restored so there was no evidence of the attack and thankfully the country is now a place of peace.

Taking our shoes off at the entrance, we wandered through the main entrance where we passed lots of colourful paintings on the roof and walls.

The wooden temple stands inside the complex and has a number of shrines where flower offerings are left.

On the stone walls underneath the wooden structure are intricate frescos and carvings.

As its name would suggest, you would expect to see tooth, right? Oh no. The precious Buddha’s tooth is hidden away in a golden casket. If you go during prayers, you can enter the room with the casket but you never see the tooth. My husband couldn’t resist making a joke, questioning how they could be sure that there was anything inside the casket and whether the tooth existed. Fortunately, Dinesh either didn’t understand the Yorkshire accent or chose to ignore him.

The golden casket in which it lives looks like this…we had to make do with a photo!

There is one event every year when the golden casket leaves the temple, Esala Perahera. It is a 10-day festival where the golden casket is carried on the back of an elephant. It is a huge event which attracts around one million people every year and is accompanied by drummers, dancers and 100 other elephants out on the streets. Of course, the tooth isn’t in the casket even then. After the civil war and past troubles with the Tamil Tigers, it was thought best not to parade the tooth around in public.

Outside the temple, we saw a bit more of the palace grounds. The Audience Hall building, built in 1783, was where the king would hold court. Today it is used for state ceremonies.

Next to the Audience Hall is a small museum in tribute to one of Kandy’s prized elephants, Raja. His stuffed remains are there as well as a bit of a history about the mammal who carried the sacred casket during Esala Perahera for 50 years. When he died in 1988 at the ripe old age of 75, the government ordered a national day of mourning for the elephant. He was also featured on a 1000 rupee note and on a postage stamp.

The Temple of the Tooth is inside quite a large complex and as we were there with Mrs T (who was then 3), we didn’t see everything it had to offer (we were stretching her concentration at one hour)! There are more shrines and a museum containing letters and diary entries from some of the British after they took over the region and photographs showing the damage caused by the 1998 truck bomb. But we had seen the main temple and even though you don’t see the tooth, it is a must-visit when in Kandy.

Tips

– Go in the morning when it is less busy
– Visit when Puja is taking place (prayers and offerings) so you might actually see the casket.
– You may benefit from a guide. We used Dinesh Duminda who works for Adriot Tours, a company that does a lot of tours throughout Sri Lanka
– Bring some tissues or wet wipes. You have to walk around the complex with no shoes on so the soles of your feet are pretty filthy at the end. There is a tap by the entrance to wash them.
– Remember to cover your legs and shoulders – otherwise you may have to purchase a sarong, like my husband.

You may also like to read.

24 Hours in Andy
Thai Pongal Festival
Exploring Colonial History in Galle, Sri Lanka

How about pinning for later?