I was up early & had my breakfast at the 'Devon' restaurant again, I had string hoppers (noodles), fish curry, dhal curry, coconut sambol & Ceylon tea all for 175 LKR.
I arrived early at the Temple of the Tooth (Dalada Maligawa), Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist shrine. The temple houses the legendary Buddha’s Tooth which arrived here in the 16th century. Nothing remains of the original temple built in 1600, what you see now was rebuilt during the time of Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-81). It was bombed badly in 1998 by the Tamil Tigers also killing 20 people, (entrance fee was 1000 LKR).
Upstairs was the Tooth Relic Chamber (Pirit Mandapa). The Tooth Relic is kept in the furthest section, the Vedahitina Maligawa, concealed from the public gaze in a 'dagoba shaped' gold casket which is said to contain a series of six further caskets, the smallest of which contains the Tooth itself.
I was lucky to experience the morning puja, which is the main attraction. I witnessed the noisy drumming which proceeds and accompanies the ceremony, most of which is performed behind closed doors.
I arrived early at the Temple of the Tooth (Dalada Maligawa), Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist shrine. The temple houses the legendary Buddha’s Tooth which arrived here in the 16th century. Nothing remains of the original temple built in 1600, what you see now was rebuilt during the time of Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-81). It was bombed badly in 1998 by the Tamil Tigers also killing 20 people, (entrance fee was 1000 LKR).
The Temple of the Tooth
The Temple of the Tooth
The Drummer’s Courtyard
Upstairs was the Tooth Relic Chamber (Pirit Mandapa). The Tooth Relic is kept in the furthest section, the Vedahitina Maligawa, concealed from the public gaze in a 'dagoba shaped' gold casket which is said to contain a series of six further caskets, the smallest of which contains the Tooth itself.
Tooth Relic Chamber
Kandyan drummers
Handing out the holy water
On Wednesdays (the day I was here), there is a symbolic bathing of the Sacred Relic with a herbal preparation made from scented water and fragrant flowers, called 'Nanumura Mangallaya'. This holy water is believed to contain healing powers and is distributed among those present, I was fortunate to be given a little by a local.
Alut Maligawa (New Shrine Room)
It was built in 1956 to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of the Buddha’s death. It is full of Buddha statues donated by other countries & a sequence of 21 paintings depicting the story of the Tooth Relic from Buddha’s death to the present day.
Alut Maligawa
Later I visited the Raja Tusker Museum, which is devoted to Sri Lanka’s most famous elephant, Raja. His stuffed remains now stand proudly in a glass cabinet. He died in 1988 after 50 years loyal service as Kandy’s Malligawa Tusker, (the elephant that carries the Tooth Relic casket during the Esala Perahera). All Malligawa Tuskers must fulfill certain physical requirements, only male elephants are permitted to carry the relic, and more important they must be Sathdantha elephants, meaning all 7 parts of their body, the four legs, trunk, penis and tail, must touch the ground when they stand upright. He did look very big in the cabinet!
Raja!
I later took another walk around Kandy Lake, & witnessed plenty of Macaque monkeys stealing food from the local garbage bins! I then caught a bus 6km southwest of Kandy to a place called Peradenyia to see the Botanical Gardens (the largest & finest gardens in Sri Lanka apparently?) which cover 150 acres & are full of amazing local & foreign trees & plant species. It was a really nice place to spend a few hours looking at the amazing trees including the mighty tailpot palms and the giant fig tree but I thought the price of 10 dollars (1090 LKR) was a little too much. There were also a few gardeners hanging around keen to show you scorpions they had caught for a few rupees!
Macaque monkey (along Kandy Lake)
Botanical Gardens at Peradenyia
After leaving the Botanical gardens I caught another bus further up the road to a place called Daulagala, (bus #644, 19 LKR; approx 10km south west of Kandy). I planned to visit the nearby Embekke Devale and the Lankatilake temple. The bus ride took about 35 minutes as it was mostly up hill, (I was hanging on to the rear door as it was jam-packed!) After jumping off the bus I had to take a left turn by a shop and a sign saying 'Embekke 2 km'. For whatever reason I kept walking & walking (probably about 6km) & I ended up at Lankatilake Temple & somehow missed the turning for Embekke! However it was a great walk through the countryside and I met lots of locals keen to say 'Hello'! The temple was built on a large rock outcrop surrounded by tea plantations and it was a great climb to the top. Founded in 1334, it was quite small inside with a large seated Buddha. The entrance fee was 200 LKR.
Steps leading to the Lankatilake Temple
Lankatilake Temple
I walked all the way back to Daulagala, and I was only waiting about 10 minutes before a bus arrived to take me back to Kandy (23LKR). Later I decided to head over to the Temple of the Tooth Temple again for some night photographs and I was amazed to see hundreds of monks all waiting to pay homage within the temple.
The Temple of the Tooth
I finished off the evening with a really nice meal a few doors down from my hotel (Expeditor), which was really just someone’s house with a couple of tables and chairs outside (black canvass sheeting outside). I had a four vegetable curry, which I could tell was lovingly prepared for me. The owners were really friendly, and I would highly recommend the place.
Evening meal in Kandy
Thanks for sharing! Very well done Mark.
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