We flew from Bangkok to Sri Lanka, and started exploring the city of Kandy, which is the “cultural capital” of Sri Lanka. It’s beautiful and green here, more lush than Kerala but otherwise similar. Kandy was built around an artificial lake that was created in the early 19th century.
There several kinds of big trees lining the lake and at a nearby beautiful botanical garden, and we enjoyed strolling around. Pictured here are our favorite trees, the Pride of Burma has the red flowers and the Rain Tree was immense - this is a close up of one main bough.
Close by to the lake is the Temple of the Tooth, the most important Buddhist shrine in Sri Lanka. The legend is that a tooth of the Buddha, after he had died and was cremated, was smuggled to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century, in the hair of a princess. It was taken to Sri Lanka, because the Buddha had said that Buddhism would be safe in Sri Lanka for 5,000 years. The tooth was first given to King Meghavarna and housed in Anaradhapura (the ancient capital of Sri Lanka, which we will also visit). Due to various power struggles over the years, the tooth has been housed all over the country. It ended up in Kandy at this temple in about 1687. Look for the gold roof - this is the Temple of the Tooth.
The Jataka tales are stories about the Buddha in his previous lives, before he was born as Siddartha Gautama and attained enlightenment. There are 50 of these Buddhist parables where the Buddha was born as different animals. One of the stories is about a starving monk who is saved by a hare who sacrifices his body to feed the monk. The hare is said to have “jumped into the moon”. The tale is captured on this Temple of the Tooth flag.
Over the years, safeguarding the tooth relic has been a responsibility of the Monarch, such that custodianship of the tooth came to symbolize the right to rule. The Temple of the Tooth was bombed on two occasions. Most recently and during the Sri Lankan civil war, the LTTE (Tamil insurgents) detonated a bomb in 1998 and destroyed part of the temple, but not the tooth. There was huge public outrage at the bombing, not just from Buddhists. This is because the tooth symbolizes Sri Lankan sovereignty.
While researching the tooth relic of Sri Lanka in Wikipedia, we came to learn that four other counties also claim to have a tooth of the Buddha's: China, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore. As part of the 2600th anniversary of the Buddha’s birth in April of 2011, there was a beautiful gallery of Buddhas created at the Temple of the Tooth.
In the gallery are a series of paintings showing the history of the tooth. This is a close up of one of the paintings that shows the tooth well. The tooth is said to be the Buddha's left canine. Take a look at the tooth in the photo – it looks more like a tiger’s tooth than a human’s to us.
We attended a puja (offering) ceremony at the temple, and we were able to get a quick look at the casket that holds the tooth. There are 6 more nested caskets within the golden casket before you get to the tooth. No photographs are allowed of the casket, so here's a picture of the flower offerings.
King Meghavarna started a festival to honor the tooth called Perahera. The Perahera festival takes place in July or August each year. During the 11 day festival, the relic casket (without the tooth) is placed in a special case that is carried on an elephant’s back. The tusker (male elephant with tusks) that carries the relic is highly venerated.
We also learned on Wikipedia that Sri Lankan Asian male elephants generally do not have tusks. This fact makes the tuskers even more special. This is a picture of Raja the Tusker, the most highly venerated of all tuskers. He carried the tooth casket in the annual Perahera festival from 1950-1987. In 1986 he was named a national treasure. When he died at age 65 there was a national day of mourning. Raja was taxidermied and the Tusker Museum was created to display him.
And here’s a picture of Raja’s tooth. As you might imagine, the museum has some interesting displays!
This is a glass of avocado juice. There are lots of avocado trees in Sri Lanka, and the fruit is larger than the Hass variety we are used to. The fruit also has less fat. To make the juice, it’s slightly sweetened and thinned. It tastes delicious.
There several kinds of big trees lining the lake and at a nearby beautiful botanical garden, and we enjoyed strolling around. Pictured here are our favorite trees, the Pride of Burma has the red flowers and the Rain Tree was immense - this is a close up of one main bough.
Close by to the lake is the Temple of the Tooth, the most important Buddhist shrine in Sri Lanka. The legend is that a tooth of the Buddha, after he had died and was cremated, was smuggled to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century, in the hair of a princess. It was taken to Sri Lanka, because the Buddha had said that Buddhism would be safe in Sri Lanka for 5,000 years. The tooth was first given to King Meghavarna and housed in Anaradhapura (the ancient capital of Sri Lanka, which we will also visit). Due to various power struggles over the years, the tooth has been housed all over the country. It ended up in Kandy at this temple in about 1687. Look for the gold roof - this is the Temple of the Tooth.
The Jataka tales are stories about the Buddha in his previous lives, before he was born as Siddartha Gautama and attained enlightenment. There are 50 of these Buddhist parables where the Buddha was born as different animals. One of the stories is about a starving monk who is saved by a hare who sacrifices his body to feed the monk. The hare is said to have “jumped into the moon”. The tale is captured on this Temple of the Tooth flag.
Over the years, safeguarding the tooth relic has been a responsibility of the Monarch, such that custodianship of the tooth came to symbolize the right to rule. The Temple of the Tooth was bombed on two occasions. Most recently and during the Sri Lankan civil war, the LTTE (Tamil insurgents) detonated a bomb in 1998 and destroyed part of the temple, but not the tooth. There was huge public outrage at the bombing, not just from Buddhists. This is because the tooth symbolizes Sri Lankan sovereignty.
While researching the tooth relic of Sri Lanka in Wikipedia, we came to learn that four other counties also claim to have a tooth of the Buddha's: China, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore. As part of the 2600th anniversary of the Buddha’s birth in April of 2011, there was a beautiful gallery of Buddhas created at the Temple of the Tooth.
In the gallery are a series of paintings showing the history of the tooth. This is a close up of one of the paintings that shows the tooth well. The tooth is said to be the Buddha's left canine. Take a look at the tooth in the photo – it looks more like a tiger’s tooth than a human’s to us.
We attended a puja (offering) ceremony at the temple, and we were able to get a quick look at the casket that holds the tooth. There are 6 more nested caskets within the golden casket before you get to the tooth. No photographs are allowed of the casket, so here's a picture of the flower offerings.
King Meghavarna started a festival to honor the tooth called Perahera. The Perahera festival takes place in July or August each year. During the 11 day festival, the relic casket (without the tooth) is placed in a special case that is carried on an elephant’s back. The tusker (male elephant with tusks) that carries the relic is highly venerated.
We also learned on Wikipedia that Sri Lankan Asian male elephants generally do not have tusks. This fact makes the tuskers even more special. This is a picture of Raja the Tusker, the most highly venerated of all tuskers. He carried the tooth casket in the annual Perahera festival from 1950-1987. In 1986 he was named a national treasure. When he died at age 65 there was a national day of mourning. Raja was taxidermied and the Tusker Museum was created to display him.
And here’s a picture of Raja’s tooth. As you might imagine, the museum has some interesting displays!
This is a glass of avocado juice. There are lots of avocado trees in Sri Lanka, and the fruit is larger than the Hass variety we are used to. The fruit also has less fat. To make the juice, it’s slightly sweetened and thinned. It tastes delicious.
