The Temple of the Tooth


A visit to the holiest shrine in Sri Lanka

Kandy is the ancient royal capital of Sri Lanka, and was the last holdout when the British took over the island. The Kandyans' MO was often to burn down everything before anyone could grab it. So, the Temple of the Tooth is a bit newer than you might expect.

The Temple of the Tooth is one of the holiest places for Bhuddists, since the temple holds a reliquary for the Bhudda's tooth. The tooth was brought by an Indian prince. The temple features a gold roof from the Japanese--a thank you to Sri Lanka for espousing a forgiveness of Japan's war crimes after WWII. Everyone in Japan gave money to do the roof here. The tooth is rarely taken out, and the temple has been a target of the Tamil separatists. So, everyone goes through security, even the lotus blossoms you bring with you.

It was deadly hot out, but you cannot show bare legs in the temple, or wear shoes, so I slipped a sarong over my shorts and left my sandals at the gate. The problem: My feet were almost badly burned on the pavement between buildings.

The Temple also has a building devoted to elephant that carried the tooth reliquary the longest--50 years. It features the elephant, post-taxidermy. There are photos of the elephant being visited by two Sri Lankan prime ministers: Jayawardena and Premadasa. The temple is surrrounded by a nice lawn, and is "infested with monkeys," as Sanath, the guide, put it. [Click here to see the Temple of the Tooth .}


Posted: Tue - March 22, 2005 at 03:20 PM        

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