Community Highlights Asia To Kandy and the Temple of the Tooth

To Kandy and the Temple of the Tooth

We had set an alarm as we needed to be up a little earlier for the long drive to Kandy, but we needn't have bothered as the peacocks woke us with their screeching some time before it was due to go off. We packed before breakfast so we could enjoy a last relaxing meal overlooking the lake. We also had a nice chat with German owner Thomas and manager Dinesh about the hotel and their friendly dog Ronnie.

We met up with Champi at 9.00 and set off, at first following the same road we'd taken a few days previously. We were surprised when we saw a turning for Kandy that Champi didn't take it, but he explained when we stopped for petrol a short while later that the road was still blocked in places following December's devastating cyclone. The route we took instead was very scenic but also showed many signs of damage, especially landslides. They had all been cleared to the side of the road but the impact was nevertheless very clear.

Champi pointed out a sign by the roadside with a number 18 on it. Eighteen what, we asked; bends in the road he replied. Sure enough this road climbed high into the mountains with a succession of eighteen tight hairpin bends. I enjoyed seeing lots of monkeys on this road. Near the top Champi pulled over so we could see and photograph the view, though it was really too hazy for decent photos.

We arrived in Kandy around 1.15 and checked into our city centre hotel, The Radh. Such a contrast to where we had started the day!

Champi proposed collecting us for our afternoon visit to the Temple of the Tooth at 3.00, so we had time to enjoy a good cup of Illy coffee on the terrace in front of the hotel while watching the activity on the street. We also had time for a short walk to a nearby money exchange and to check out a possible restaurant for this evening.

At 3.00 we met up with Champi as planned and walked to the temple which was only about five minutes away. We were pleased to see that the local tour office had arranged for a guide as we'd agreed a few days earlier. He proved to be almost too thorough, as he explained more than we could properly take in, but I'd rather that than have no idea what I was looking at. And he was very patient while we took photos, which was permitted throughout (the only restriction is to refrain from posing in front of the statues and shrines).

Champi bought some flowers as offerings outside the temple.

On the way in we saw several monuments including one to a young boy. A sign explained that he was Madduma Bandara and had been executed at just nine years old, facing his fate with extreme bravery. I later read more about him. His father had wrongly been accused of treachery by the king (supporting the British when in truth he was fighting against them) and the whole family killed as a result. He is consequently one of the country’s national heroes.

At the entrance to the temple we removed our shoes. Our guide then gave us an introduction to the temple’s history which was built specifically to house the sacred relic. According to Buddhist tradition, when the Buddha was cremated in 543 BC at Kushinagar in North India, various parts of his remains were rescued from the ashes, including several teeth. In the fourth century AD, as Buddhism was declining in India in the face of a Hindu revival, this particular tooth was smuggled into Sri Lanka, hidden in the hair of a princess, Hemmamali. After being held in several parts of the country it found its way to Kandy in the late sixteenth century. While non-believers may (and do) challenge its provenance and authenticity, for Sri Lankan Buddhists it is not only of religious significance but also a symbol of the island’s independence.

Before we entered our guide pointed out the site of a major Tamil bomb blast in 1998 which badly damaged the adjoining Royal Palace. The latter clearly had a big impact on him personally as well as on the temple, as he mentioned it several times during our tour.

Inside we saw some photos of the annual festival, Esala Perahera, when the tooth relic is paraded around the city on the back of a specially chosen temple elephant, always a male tusker.

Then we entered the shrine itself. The golden casket which holds the tooth is for most of the time hidden behind a curtain. It is revealed three times a day, when worshippers and pilgrims throng to the temple. It must be quite an experience but incredibly crowded.

The temple is large with several different rooms. I didn’t catch the significance of everything we saw because of our guide’s strongly accented English, but some things stood out. In front of a white stupa (known as a dagoba in Sri Lanka) we saw coins left as offerings, tied in white cloth. Nearby was a bronze relief depicting Princess Hemmamali with her husband, Prince Dantha, bringing the sacred tooth to Sri Lanka.

On the upper floor was an area where flowers were left as devotions, and Champi gave us one each from his tray to place on the pile. Our guide talked about the significance of flowers for Buddhists. I think I understood him to say that the impermanence of flowers was seen as a reflection of our own life and death. The flowers would quickly wilt and would be removed and thrown away, and indeed we saw men doing just that, almost as quickly as worshippers were leaving them.

Another room had a collection of Buddha statues from all the major Buddhist countries including Thailand, South Korea and India. I loved the ceiling here with its two lines of golden elephants.

The final place we visited was a hall containing a stuffed elephant, Raja, the tusker who was the first to serve the temple, which he did for 50 years. I’m not a fan of stuffed animals and as he was behind glass I didn’t even attempt to get a photo of him.

We said goodbye to our guide at the exit, where we also retrieved our shoes. Champi then suggested a walk by the lake, as we wouldn't have time to see it in the morning. This is an artificial lake, constructed on what was once an area of paddy fields. The stroll was a pleasant way to round off the afternoon.

In the evening we had dinner at the Luna Leaf rooftop restaurant a couple of blocks from our hotel. It made a nice change to go out to eat after so many hotel meals, good as many of them had been. I'd read good reviews of the Luna Leaf and on the whole it lived up to them. We had a good table on the outside terrace, with views across Kandy. The beers were chilled, the burgers pretty good, but the vegetable spring rolls we shared to start with were disappointing as they were filled with mainly potato and rather stodgy as a result.

This featured blog entry was written by ToonSarah from the blog Travel with me ....
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