Concept of worshiping a toothThe historical premises of famous temple of tooth relic in Kandy became once again a battle ground when chief Monks of the temple declared a riotous gathering of monks, in front of the temple, just after the arrest of defeated presidential candidate Sarath Fonseka by SL army, demanding his release. Although, the attempt of riotous monks has temporary been withdrawn, tendency of Kandyan monks toward misuse of their dignity and social benefits against the moves of the SL government should seriously be taken into consideration. As soon as we look back at our past we can easily identify another Thibbotuwawe who had, in 17th century, led monks to establish a separate kingdom in mountainous central parts of the Island leaving rest of country at risk of invasion of Portuguese. Regardless of race, cast or religion, whoever attempts to divide the Island is convicted of offence, subjected to beheading.
The Kandyan Kingdom suddenly came to existence at the beginning of 17th century as a result of Portuguese intervention using Konar (Konappu bandara- Son of an officer of Rajasingha 1) as a puppet to create disorder in central region of the Island against the dominion of King Seitawake Rajasingha. Konar, who entered the country from east via Batticaloa with Yamasinha Bandara and Portuguese soldiers, was welcome and supported by monks, Devanagala Rathanalankara and also Gampola Darmakeerthi. With the help of them Konar implemented the plans of Portuguese by devastating property as well as looting residents. Unfortunately, Seitawake troops led by Aritta Kee Wendu- Emigrant from India- against Konar failed twice due to suspicious reasons. This was soon followed up by sudden death of Rajasingha the first in 1592 leaving Konar as provincial ruler of Kandy.The original name of Kandy is Senkadagala which means rocky place of Hindu priest named Senkada. As legend says, when this Hindu priest first arrived at the ground where now the temple of tooth stands, he observed a miracle. A rabbit that had been chased by a jackal suddenly began fighting back which caused the jackal to run away being defeated. Perhaps in reality, when the rabbit being surprised by the sudden appearance of a man on the way may have stopped and turned back to run in opposite direction, the frustrated jackal would have done the same. However, the priest decided to make his residence on the spot which later became palace-ground of Kandyan rulers.
Ka
ndy (Ancient Senkadagala) is the capital of the South Indian Malabari Nayakkar Monarchy the History of which goes back to not more than two centuries before the beginning of the Common Era. The city is surrounded by a ring of mountain ranges and Sri Lanka’s longest river Mahaweli. Kandy enjoys a salubrious climate and still breathes the ancient lifestyle of the people. The Kandyan Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Dance and Music, all such cultural traditions are unique although they are not considered as superb as of Anuradhapura or Polonnaruwa etc. Despite of that Kandy remains the home for all denominations of major world religions.Located in Kandy, the stunning 17th-century Temple of the Tooth is believed to house the left upper canine tooth of the Lord Buddha himself. This relic attracts white-clad pilgrims, bearing lotus blossoms, every day.
Aside from this specific tooth relic, another relic of the tooth of the Buddha is currently in Lingguang Temple in Badachu, Beijing, China. Fo Guang Shan monastery in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the reliquary hall (shariden) of Engaku-ji in Kamakura, Japan, and the Buddha Relic Tooth Temple in Chinatown, Singapore are also reputed to each contain a tooth of the Buddha.
According to Sri Lankan legends, when the Buddha died, his body was cremated in a sandalwood pyre at Kusinara in India and his left canine tooth was retrieved from the funeral pyre by Arahat Khema. Khema then gave it to King Brahmadatte for veneration. It became a royal possession in Brahmadatte's country and was kept in the city of Dantapuri (present day Puri in Orissa). A belief grew that whoever possessed the Sacred Tooth Relic had a divine right to rule that land. Wars were fought to take possession of the relic. 800 years after the Buddha's death, in the 4th century AD, the tooth came into the possession of King Guhaseeva of Kalinga, which roughly corresponds to the present day state of Orissa.
Guhaseeva had become a Buddhist and begun to worship the Sacred Tooth relic. This caused discontent among some of the citizens, who went to King Paandu and said that King Guhaseeva had stopped believing in god and that he had started to worship a tooth.
King Paandu decided to destroy the relic, and ordered to bring it to the city. It is said that, as the tooth arrived at the city, a miracle occurred, and King Paandu converted to Buddhism.
King Ksheeradara having heard of this, went with his army to attack Paandu in the city of Palalus. The invaders were defeated before reaching the city, and King Ksheeradara died.
A prince from the city of Udeni who had become a Buddhist came to worship the sacred tooth. King Guhaseeva was pleased with him, and let him marry his daughter. The prince was known as Dantha (means tooth) and the princess as Hemamala.
According to legend, Hemamala hid the relic in her hair ornament and the royal couple disguised themselves as Brahmins in order to avoid discovery. They set sail from Tamralipti, a port at the mouth of the river Ganges, and landed in Sri Lanka at the port of Lankapattana (now Ilankeiturei).It immediately became an object of great reverence and was enshrined in a series of nested jeweled reliquaries. The tooth was brought out for special occasions and paraded on the backs of elephants. The concept of political usage of tooth relic was quickly discovered, as a new opportunity of making kings with lack of inheritance, as soon as the belief spread out by monks among Sri Lankans that whoever possessed the Sacred Tooth Relic had a divine right to rule the Island. Hence, the Buddhist monks became rightful king-makers of Sri Lanka who exercised the freedom of putting anyone on throne irrespective of his inheritance and talents. In this regard they had mastered the techniques such as maintenance of chronicles in which mainly rulers who favoured Buddhist monks were praised and also up-heaving the authority of ruling chapters or Nikayas of monks. As a result of this attitude the sinhala throne, through out the history, was time to time occupied by rulers emigrated from Java as well as from different parts of India with the help of Buddhist monks. The only condition, such a ruler had to follow, was to favour the chief monks while having the tooth relic placed in a shrine near the palace.
Since the capital was shifted mainly due to invasions new relic shrines were built up at different locations. As it is commonly accepted by Buddhists, the tooth relic survived numerous attempts to capture and destroy it. It is reported in the messenger poems such as Hansa, Gira, and Selalihini that the temple of tooth relic was situated within the city of Kotte during the reign of King Parakum the sixth who came to power with the help of China. However, as Chinese chronicles report the original tooth relic had been looted by Cheng Ho and taken to China, years ago, during the reign of Veera Alakeshwara. As a fact the originality of relics does not matter the belief of Buddhists, there was always a replacement. Later in 16th century, there is evidence enough to believe that provincial leaders, such as Veediye Bandara of south Indian origin, had been carrying their personal relics with them to prove that they were supporters of Buddhism.
Whatever was the tooth relic placed in Kotte had to be shifted secretly to Seitawake Kingdom in 1557 as soon as Kotte fell under Portuguese rule and it was hidden and protected in a grinding stone at the Kuruwita temple, Ratnapura. When King Rajasingha 1 came to throne as the successor, over his father Mayadunne's death at the age of 80, he ordered the annual pageant (Perahera) to honour the tooth relic. Thus, eleven processions (Dalada Perahera) had been conducted till his death in 1592.When the capital was moved to Kandy, the tooth was considered to be taken to the new city and placed in temples to honour it. The present day temple is said to be originally built under Kandyan kings between 1687 and 1707, but later severely damaged during the 18th-century colonial wars against the Portuguese and Dutch. After the wars, the original wooden structures were restored in stone by Malabari Rulers.
On the outside, the temple buildings are not magnificent or elaborately decorated. White with red roofs, they cluster around Kandy Lake. This is the wrongly but commonly accepted life style of Buddhists being very simple and charm only in outward guise while maintaining an inner complex nature. Hence, in striking contrast to the plain exterior, the interiors of the temple buildings are richly carved and decorated with inlaid woods, ivory, and lacquer.
Around the entire complex is a low white stone wall, delicately and simply carved with openings that give a filigree effect. During celebrations, candles are placed in the openings, lighting up the entire front. The relic of the tooth is kept in a two-story inner shrine fronted by two large elephant tusks. The relic rests on a solid gold lotus flower, encased in jeweled caskets that sit on a throne.
The temple is joined to the Pattiripuwa (Octagon) tower, built in 1803 by the last king Sri Vikrama Rajasimha who was later expelled to Malabar, India with his family by British, that was originally a prison but now houses a collection of palm-leaf manuscripts. The king's palace is also in the temple compound.
The Relic Shrine is approached by a large draw-bridge over the moat and through a decorated frontispiece. A tunnel ambarawa, leads to the main shrine complex, having a central courtyard surrounded by storied structures. The two-storied open pillared hall in front constitutes the area where visitors and devotees gather. The lower hall has its central part set apart for the beating of drums and other forms of traditional music performed during ritual service hours. On either side are the Pallemale Vihara constructed by king Kirti Sri Rajasimha and the Octagon (Pattirippuva) on one side and the small stupa supposed to contain the Bowl Relic of the Buddha on the other. The storied structures to the right and left of the shrine, constitute the residence quarters of the monks engaged during daily service (Tevava), the conference hall, the Library and the Office of the Diyawadana Nilame (Civil officer/caretaker of temple). The whole Royal Complex consists of the Palace, a central courtyard separating the Dalada shrine at its southern extremity, the Audience Hall, Queen's Quarters, Queen's Bath, the Harem (the present National Museum), the Jalatilaka Mandapa (The traditional Island Pavilion) and other British period buildings.
The new three-storied structure (Alut Maligava) at the back of the courtyard consists of the new shrine assuming the design of a Thai shrine on the ground floor. Although, a number of Thai style Buddha statues are more prominent in this shrine, as it is visible on photographs above, there is also a sequence of picture boards with respective descriptions hanging below each of it in order to highlight the tooth relic related History as per the monks.
Since the description recorded on one of them is totally considered as a humiliation to the great king of Sri Lanka who had sacrificed his life to overthrow European invasion in 16th century, several requests were made at different occasions to draw their attention in this regard. The Diyawadana Nilame of temple had once replied that since the same statement had been recorded by Kandyan monks in the chronicle Mahawansa, he was not in a position to proceed further. This shameful and disgusting act of Kandyan Buddhists against King Rajasingha the first is certainly a black mark on Buddhism in Sri Lanka.
