Temple of the Tooth, Kandy

Visit Kandy's sacred temple housing Buddha's tooth relic, where drummers and worshippers gather for evening rituals each day.

Year-round

Best Time

Mild, 20–28°C

Weather

Shoulders/knees covered, shoes off inside

Bring

Overview

Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, is one of the most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in the world, said to house a tooth relic of the Buddha himself brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century. Set on the shore of Kandy Lake in the last capital of the Sinhalese kings, the temple complex comes alive during the thrice-daily puja rituals, when drummers and horn players lead a ceremonial procession to the inner shrine. The relic chamber itself is rarely opened to view, but the atmosphere, architecture and devotion on display make a visit worthwhile any time of year — especially so during the Kandy Esala Perahera festival each July or August.

History & Culture

According to tradition, the tooth relic housed at Sri Dalada Maligawa was smuggled out of India in the 4th century CE, hidden in the hair of a princess named Hemamala, to protect it from destruction during political unrest in her homeland. It has been enshrined in Sri Lanka ever since, moving between capitals as the seat of power shifted, before settling in Kandy when the city became the last capital of the island's Sinhalese kings.

For centuries, possession of the tooth relic was considered central to the legitimacy of Sri Lankan kingship — ancient chronicles record the belief that whoever held the relic held the right to rule the island, and successive capitals built temples to house it as a symbol of sovereignty as much as of faith.

Kandy itself held out as the last independent Sinhalese kingdom until it fell to the British in 1815, ending over two thousand years of local monarchy on the island. The temple and the old royal palace complex around it were inscribed as part of the Sacred City of Kandy UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1988.

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