Ranjan, our tuk tuk driver for the afternoon to the mountain devales or shrines and temples north of Kandy, dropped us off back in the city at The Church of St. Paul close to 6. The church was responsible for the upkeep of the 163 graves of the British officers and family members at the Kandy Garrison Cemetery that we'd visited just the afternoon before after our arrival from Colombo. Unfortunately, however, the church was closed because of the late hour.
I bet with a large infusion of cash, the rather decrepit building across from the church could be turned into something pretty fabulous.
The most famous sight in Kandy was undoubtedly the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic as it was Sri Lanka's most important Buddhist relic as it contained a tooth of the Buddha as you might have guessed! We'd purposely left our visit to the evening as that was when prayers would take place and the room where the tooth was located would be open.
Once inside the temple grounds next door, though, we were able to glimpse more of the church.
As we didn't enter by the revered main temple, we wandered first through a series of smaller temples, none of which were named. As there had been a bombing here a year earlier, security was very tight to enter the grounds with a close examination of our backpacks.
A sign said, "You are now approaching the sacred precincts of the Natha Devala dedicated to Lord Natha, the future Buddha." Because of that, no one was permitted to walk across the sacred premises wearing any sort of footwear or headgear. Fortunately, the late hour meant it was no longer hot, so going shoeless wasn't uncomfortable for our tootsies!
When setting out that morning for the Ceylon Tea Museum, then the Peradeniya Botanic Gardens, followed by the mountain shrines, we'd made sure to both wear pants and have our shoulders covered knowing we'd be ending the day at this temple. The reason was we'd observed the night before many tourists being turned away for not wearing the proper attire.
Buddhist prayer flags fluttered in the breeze at what I suspected was the 19th century Audience Hall based on a tour book description about an open-air pavilion with stone columns that had been carved to look like wooden pillars.
We were fortunate that the crowds had been very sparse while walking around the minor temples because we had read that we might have to jostle with Chinese tour groups and Thai monks for space. Even though it was still the early days of the coronavirus and there weren't then any advertised cases in Sri Lanka, that may have played a part in the smaller crowds outside.
The main temple in the background:
There were several religious museums in the complex but given we'd been playing tourist for close to ten hours by then, our interest in touring them flagged so we concentrated on only seeing the main tooth shrine known as the Vahahitina Maligawa. We snagged spots upstairs on the floor behind a large group of schoolchildren waiting for the puja or offerings or prayers to take place when the heavily guarded room in front of us housing the tooth would open.
Given the importance of the temple to Sri Lankans, I want to share with you the history of Buddha's tooth. The sacred tooth was said to have been snatched from the flames of the Buddha's funeral pyre in 483 BC in India and smuggled to Sri Lanka during the 4th century AD when it was hidden in a princess's hair. After moving around the country for hundreds of years, it ended up here in Kandy. In 1283, an invading Indian army took it back but it was retrieved by King Parakramabahu III.
The tooth gradually grew in importance as a symbol of sovereignty, and it was believed that whoever had possession of the tooth relic could then rule the island of Sri Lanka. Some say the Portuguese seized the tooth in the 16th century and burned it in the devoutly Catholic city of Goa, now part of India, and where we'd planned to spend about a week at the end of March. However, the Sinhalese claim that the Portuguese stole a replica tooth and the real one had been safe elsewhere. Rumors abound the real tooth may be hidden even now and the tooth kept in the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is only a replica!
Whatever the truth, the temple was built under Kandyan kings from 1687-1707 and also from 1747-1782. The entire temple complex was part of the Kandyan royal palace. Just like male Muslims believe they must visit Mecca, Saudi Arabia once in their lifetimes, Sri Lankan Buddhists believe they also must make a pilgrimage to the Sacred Tooth Temple once in their lifetime.
Not being Buddhists and not having access to any sort of a guide to explain what was happening, Steven went downstairs and I stayed put to save our spots outside the guarded room. After waiting patiently for what seemed like forever and seeing everyone else leave, the constant noise of drummers downstairs led me there, too. I sure didn't want to miss out on seeing the monks enter and anything else that might happen!
Clearly, downstairs was where the action was happening!
No idea what or who this fellow was but he must have been important as we all had to stay clear.
While we all waited still longer, three drummers played these drums for close to half an hour with hardly a break. I loved the music so much I took a video of them.
I found myself by happenstance in a perfect spot to capture the procession of pura or offerings.
Thanks to texting, I was able to locate Steven in the throngs of people. We rushed back upstairs to then watch hundreds of worshipers slowly make their way in single file to just outside the guarded room where the tooth was (theoretically at least!) kept.
The man in the enclosure made sure the faithful didn't tarry!
As worshipers passed the opening, each was blessed and had no more than a moment to glance inside. The tooth was kept in a gold casket shaped like a dagoba or stupa, that itself contained a series of six dagoba caskets of diminishing size, just like a Russian doll.
When the line finally became a trickle, we, too, made our way to the doorway to be blessed. I don't remember seeing anything inside the room where the tooth was kept as we were hustled on. Regardless, it was still a beautiful experience and worth every moment.
The temple looked smashing at night when we finally called it a day.
If my pedometer app could be trusted, Steven and I walked almost 8 miles and 18,000 steps that day! Rain had been forecast all day but it only poured cats and dogs when we finally stopped for dinner close to 8. Luckily, it only drizzled in our 'air-conditioned' tuk tuk ride back through town and up the hill to our digs. Then the deluge began in earnest - we couldn't even hear the ac in our room because the noise from the rain was so deafening!
Next post: Traveling north to Dambulla via a stop at a spice and herb garb garden followed by lots of climbing!
I am also finally finishing up the blog from our trip last fall to Ireland and the United Kingdom, about time, right?! Here's the link to the latest post about our exciting drive through the Western Highlands of Scotland from Glasgow to Oban via the pre-historic Kilmartin Glen:
Posted on April 28th, 2020, on a gloriously sunny day in Denver's burbs. Steven and I hope that you are taking care of yourself and not just everyone else who might need you in these troubled times.
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