{"id":101714,"date":"2020-04-29T17:20:01","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T00:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=101714"},"modified":"2020-04-29T17:21:51","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T00:21:51","slug":"the-tooth-relic-of-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/04\/29\/the-tooth-relic-of-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"THE TOOTH RELIC OF SRI LANKA"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

There are three categories of objects which\nare venerated by Buddhists, said historian Lorna Dewaraja. Firstly, the charred\nbodily remains of the Buddha which were collected and distributed after his\ncremation.   Secondly, objects which came in touch with the\nBuddha in his life time, such as the Alms Bowl and the Bodhi tree.  The third category is Buddha images. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most important items in the first category are the Tooth Relic and the Collar Bone, both of which are enshrined in Sri Lanka. The history of the Tooth Relic is known. The \u2018Dathavamsa\u2019 says that when the remains of the Buddha were divided, after the cremation, among rival claimants, \u00a0\u00a0the left Eye Tooth came to an Elder named Khema who took it to Dantapura in Kalinga where it was accorded the highest honour by the rulers of Kalinga. Kalinga is present-day northern Telangana<\/a>, northeastern Andhra Pradesh<\/a>, most of Odisha<\/a>, and a portion of Madhya Pradesh<\/a> . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For eight centuries the Tooth Relic remained\nundisturbed in Dantapura.  In the 4\ncentury AD the ruler of Dantapura, Guhasiva, who was a convert from Brahmanism\nto Buddhism, paid homage to the Tooth Relic. This angered the Brahmin priests\nwho complained to their king, Pandu at Pataliputra who ordered that the Tooth\nRelic be brought to the capital.   The Tooth Relic came, but Pandu converted to\nBuddhism and the Tooth Relic was safe .Then Pandu was defeated in a battle with\nthe king of Savaththi, who demanded the Tooth Relic. However, according to\nDathavamsa, the Tooth Relic went back to Guhasiva. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thereafter, the son of the king of Ujjain, who\nwas an ardent Buddhist, came on a pilgrimage to Dantapura      bringing offerings to the Tooth Relic. Guhasiva\ngave his daughter Hemamali to him in marriage and appointed him \u2018Dantarakkkhadhikari\u2019\nor custodian of the Tooth Relic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Savaththi again sent a large army demanding\nthe Tooth Relic. Guhasiva entrusted the Tooth Relic to his son- in- law and\ndaughter and told them that if he lost the battle with Savaththi, to take the\nTooth Relic to his friend, Mahasena, king of Sri Lanka, who had shown a great\ndesire to possess it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guhasiva must have lost the battle and\nprobably his life, said Dewaraja, for Danta and Hemamali brought the Tooth\nRelic to Sri Lanka.  They had travelled\ndisguised as beggars and after many adventures had arrived at the port of\nLankapattana situated in the Jaffna peninsula. They travelled to Anuradhapura\nand offered the Tooth Relic to the king. \nBy this time, King Mahasena had died and his son, Kirti Sri Meghavanna (301-308\nAD), was king.  He was a contemporary of\nEmperor Samudragupta in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Culavamsa only gives one sentence to this\nevent, observed Dewaraja.  Culavamsa\nsimply says the Tooth Relic was brought to Sri Lanka during the time of King Kirti\nSri Meghavanna. But there are other    \nwritings which commemorate the event, particularly the \u2018Dathavamsa\u2019. The\nDathavamsa was written in the 13 century, but it was based on an earlier work,\n\u2018Daladavamsa\u2019   which   was composed during the reign of Kirti Sri\nMeghavanna, at the express command of the king. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \nDewaraja says information in Dathavamsa can be taken as authentic.  The information agrees with conditions in\nIndia at the time. In India the Gupta period saw a powerful Brahmanic revival .But\nthere were flourishing Buddhist centers too, and these had close religious ties\nwith Sri Lanka. That is why Guhasiva wanted the Tooth Relic sent to Sri Lanka\nfor safety. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirti Sri Meghavanna showed great reverence to\nthe Tooth Relic. He placed it in an urn of pure crystal and deposited it in the\nDhammachakka building, constructed by King Devanampiya Tissa on the palace\npremises. This building was then called the Temple of the Tooth Relic. Kirti\nSri Meghavanna  held a  great festival for the Tooth Relic, for which\nhe spent 900,000 kahapana. Dewaraja says the Tooth Relic went to Abhayagiri and\nnot  Maha vihara, because Kirti\nSri\u2019s  father supported Abhayagiri and\nnot Maha vihara. The son,  perhaps out of\nloyalty, did the same. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kirti Sri Meghavanna  ordered that the Tooth Relic must be brought\nevery year to Abhayuttara vihara (Abhayagiri vihara) and the festival be held\nthere. The annual Tooth Relic perahera\nassociated with Abhayagiri vihara continued throughout the Anuradhapura period,\nsaid Dewaraja. It was a spectacular event. Fa Hien who was in Anuradhapura in\n410 AD has   left an account of the Tooth\nRelic perahera in Anuradhapura.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Fa Hien\nsaid there were many noblemen and rich householders living in the city. The houses\nof the merchants are beautifully adorned. The streets and passages are all\nsmooth and level. There are fifty or sixty thousand priests in the country.  At the head of the four principal streets\nthere are Preaching halls. On the 8, 14 and 15 days of the month they hold bana\npreachings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They always bring out the Tooth Relic in the\nmiddle of the third month, continued Fa Hien. \nTen days before hand, the king magnificently caparisons a great\nelephant, and commissions a man of great eloquence, dressed in royal apparel\nand riding on the elephant to sound a drum and proclaim a statement about the greatness\nof the Buddha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018After ten days the Tooth Relic will be\nbrought forth and taken to Abhayagiri vihara,\u2019 the announcer said.  \u2018let all ecclesiastical and lay persons\nwithin the kingdom who wish to lay up a store of merit , prepare and smooth the\nroads, adorn the streets and high ways, \nlet them scatter every kind of flower and offer incense in religious\nreverence to the Relic.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dewaraja summarizes the above account. The\nKing commissions an officer riding a gaily caparisoned elephant to announce the\nfact that the Tooth Relic will be brought from the city to the Abhayagiri\nvihara and kept for ninety days for the public to worship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fa Hien,   continued his description, saying, the king\nnext causes to be placed on both sides of the road representations of the     500 bodily forms which the Buddha assume\nduring his births, such as elephant and antelope. These figures are all beautifully\npainted in diverse colors and have a very life like appearance.   Then the Tooth Relic is brought forth and\nconducted along the principal road. As they proceed religious offerings are\nmade to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 When\nthe Tooth Relic arrives at Abhayagiri vihara, they place it in the Hall of   Buddha, where the clergy and laity all\nassemble in vast crowd and burn incense,  \nlight lamps and perform many religious ceremonies both night and day\nwithout ceasing. After ninety days they again return it to the Vihara. This vihara\nis thrown open on the chief holidays for the purpose of religious worship,\u201d concluded\nFa Hien.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dewaraja observes that this shows that Kirti\nSri Megavanna\u2019s order was followed even hundred years later. Fa Hien said the Tooth\nRelic was taken out in the middle of the third month, this will be Esala added\nDewaraja. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nTooth Relic continued under the protection of the king. In AD 428 king Mahanama\nhad sent a letter to the Sung Emperor in China together with a model of the\nTooth Relic as a sign of friendship. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

King Dhatusena (455-473) showed great devotion\nto the Tooth Relic. He repaired the temple and   had a casket made for the Tooth Relic with a \u2018halo\u2019\nmade of closely fitting mosaic thickly set with precious stones. Aggabodhi I\n(571-604) decorated the temple and built a golden reliquary with brightly\ngleaming precious stones. Sena II (853-887) held a glittering festival of the\nTooth Relic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dewaraja points out that  in this time, several persons, kings and\nnobles have  the Pali word Datha\u2019 or the\nSinhala word \u2018Dala\u2019 which  mean \u2018tooth\u2019,\nattached to their names, such as Dhatusena, \nDathapabhuti ( 531AD) Dala Mugalan ( 531-551) Dathopa Tissa ( 639-650)\nHattadatha (659-667).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese traveler, Hiuen Tsang   who came to \nthe island in  629 AD\nreported  , that beside the  king\u2019s palace was the Temple of the Tooth,\nwhich was  decorated with all kinds of\ngems which dazzled like the sun and above the \ntemple at considerable height  was\nfixed a great ruby that shone with brilliant light, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dewaraja observed that in Anuradhapura the\nTooth Relic had to compete with other shrines such as the Sri Maha Bodhi and\nthe Maha thupa.  When the capital shifted\nto Polonnaruwa only the Tooth Relic could be taken there. The Tooth Relic\nbecame the sole object of worship In Polonnaruwa and this continued in all the\nother capitals to which the Sinahla monarchy moved after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dewaraja also observed that by about the 12th century,\nthe Dalada came to be regarded as the symbol of royalty and its custodian was destined\nto wear the crown. So deep rooted was this belief in the minds of the public\nthat in 1818 the capture of the Tooth Relic by the British, quite by accident,\nmarked the end of the rebellion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Polonnaruwa kingdom   faced an invasion of the Tamil  Cholas, who ruled there for   seventy years. When the Cholas invaded    Sri Lanka, the bhikkhus took the Tooth Relic\nand fled to Ruhuna in the south. The Tooth Relic returned to Polonnaruwa when\nVijayabahu I (1055-1110) chased away the Cholas and started to rule from Polonnaruwa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Vijayabahu built a beautiful costly temple for\nthe Tooth Relic and   instituted a permanent\ngreat festival for the Tooth Relic.  Vijayabahu\nalso obtained a fresh upasampada from Burma as the Sangha had declined in his\nkingdom. In return King Anaurata asked for the Tooth Relic. Vijayabahu sent a\nreplica. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Culavamsa, Vijayabahu\u2019s son\nVikramabahu plundered the treasures offered to the Tooth Relic by devotees. The\nbhikkhus, thoroughly alarmed, once again  hid the Tooth and Bowl relics, taking them\nfrom place to place to ensure their safety. The Tooth Relic ended up at\nUdundora and its custody passed into the hands of the princes of Ruhuna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parakrama bahu I (1153-1186) found that his\nrule was challenged because he did not possess the Tooth Relic when he took\npower. The Tooth Relic was still in Ruhuna in the care of Queen Sugala. In 1157\nParakrama bahu waged war against Ruhuna to get the Tooth Relic and the Bowl\nrelic back. Ruhuna had planned to send the two relics abroad. Parakrama bahu\ngave express orders to his generals to capture the relics.  After a fierce battle led by Commander in\nchief Rakkha, the Ruhuna group were defeated. The army took possession of the\ntwo relics at Uruvela, southeast of modern Moneragala. They were sent to\nPolonnaruwa under strict security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Culavamsa said that Parakrama bahu shedding\ntears of joy and with his hair standing on end walked eight miles to the river\nto take charge of the relics. He held a grand festival then and there. He left\nthe relic heavily guarded, and returned to the capital. He ordered a temporary\npavilion for the exhibition of the Tooth Relic and a splendid edifice as a\npermanent home for the Tooth Relic.  <\/em>The Tooth Relic was placed in a casket studded\nwith costly gems. The casket was then placed inside a gold box. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parakrama Bahu I held a festival for the Tooth\nRelic. .Culavamsa describes this festival. The king riding his favorite\nelephant  accompanied by his courtiers on\nhorseback, and hundreds of dancing girls and musicians, and surrounded by his\npeople, carried the relics amidst the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of horses,\nthe clatter of chariot wheels, the rattle of drums and the cries of victory of\nthe bards.\u2019 Dewaraja notes that the king\u2019s procession as described in the Culavamsa\nhas a martial note to it. It includes all four components of war fare,\nelephants, cavalry, charioteers and infantry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Culavamsa says torrential rains fell at that\ntime, though it was not the monsoon season. Dewaraja observed, this is one of\nthe reasons the Tooth Relic is of such importance to the king. As custodian of\nthe Tooth Relic he could play the role of rain maker which is vitally important\nin an agricultural society. Even today, she says,   it is believed that rain will fall when the\nrelic is taken in procession. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nissanka Malla (1186-1197) also looked after\nthe Tooth Relic. He built for it the temple known today as Hatadage. He made\nseveral offering to the Tooth Relic, including his own son and daughter whom he\nthen redeemed by paying the price of a golden Dagoba to the relic. Dewaraja\nobserved that this custom is followed today. \nParents place their new born children before the Relic chamber in the\nDalada Maligawa in Kandy and then buy them back by paying whatever they can. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 King\nKalinga  Vijayabahu, known as  Magha, ruled from 1215 to 1236. He was\nagainst Buddhism and destroyed Buddhist monuments. Therefore, the Sangha,\nheaded by Ven. Vacissara took the Tooth Relic to Malaya rata and buried it in a\nmountain for safety, reported Culavamsa. In the latter part of Magha’s rule, Vijaya\nbahu III (1232-36)  was also ruling at\nDambadeniya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  His\nson, Parakrama bahu II (1236-1270)  rescued the Tooth Relic and took it to  Dambadeniya,. He   held a\ngrand festival and built an edifice for it near the Palace.  He is said to have offered his 64 ornaments\nincluding his diadem and bracelet to the Tooth Relic. He wanted his son to take\nthe Tooth Relic back to Polonnaruwa. But his son Vijayabahu IV took it to\nYapahuwa, which he made his capital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chandrabanu of Ligor invaded Sri Lanka at this\ntime to obtain relics, presumably the Tooth Relic.  Ligor was another name for Nakon si Thammarat,\nin present day Thailand. In the Vat Hva Vian inscriptions datable to 1230\n.Chandrabanu is identified at king Siridhamma of Dhammarajanagara. Dhammaraja\nnagara has been identified as Nakhorn si Thamarat, and the ruler has been\nidentified as the Chandrabanu who invaded Sri Lanka.   Chandrabanu  invaded twice and the second time he is said to\nhave lost his life, according to Culavamsa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a Pandya outpost in Jaffna during\nthis time headed by Ariyachakravarti. Ariyachakravarti successfully invaded\nYapahuwa, in the time of king Buvaneka bahu 1 (1272-84), captured the Tooth\nRelic and sent it to the Pandya king Kulasekhera who was ruling in Madura in\npresent day Tamilnadu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parakrama bahu III (1287-93), who succeeded\nhis father, Buvaneka bahu 1, went to Madura, spoke to Kulasekera and brought\nback the Tooth Relic. This diplomatic achievement has not received the applause\nit deserved. Parakrama bahu took the Tooth Relic to Polonnaruwa as his father\nhad wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, the reputation of the Tooth\nRelic had spread across Asia and Chinese emperor Kublai Khan sent an embassy to\nthe Sinhala king asking for the Tooth Relic and Bowl relic. At that time the\ntwo relics had gone to Madura. Kublai Khan then sent an embassy to Madura, but\nby then, the relic had come back to Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next king Buvaneka bahu II (1293-1302),\nestablished his capital at Kurunegala and took the Tooth Relic there. Parakrama\nbahu IV (1302-1326) known as Pandita Parakrama bahu also ruled from Kurunegala.\n “Dalada sirita” was written by\nDevrad in 1326 during the reign of this king. Dalada Sirita\u201d said that\nfestivals of the Tooth Relic should be held to obtain rain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dalada sirita\u201d described the ritual connected\nwith the Tooth Relic and also how the king should behave towards it. When the\nking enters the Temple of the Tooth he should leave his retinue outside, clean\nthe room and reverently pay homage to it, said Dalada Sirita<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dalada sirita\u201d also said that when a king\nwent to reside in a new palace the Tooth Relic \nshould be brought accompanied by \nthe Sangha, reciting pirit and sprinkling  sacred water. The temple was to function as a\nsanctuary and those who entered it enjoyed immunity. Any money taken from the\ntemple,   due to economic difficulties,\nshould be returned with interest within six months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to “Dalada sirita” every\nyear the Tooth Relic was taken in procession around the capital and exhibited\nto the public. For seven days preceding the date fixed for the procession,\nspecial offerings were made to the Tooth Relic, with the king, the high\ndignitaries of the state and the public taking part.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After morning service on the 7th<\/sup>\nday the relic was taken out and paraded along the streets of the city. The\ncasket containing the Tooth Relic was taken out in the presence of the head of\nthe Uturumula   sect of the Abhayagiri\nvihara. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The casket was then placed on an ornamental\nchariot which was yoked to a gaily decorated elephant. Sacred water was\nsprinkled on the streets. In front of the chariot walked members of the Sangha,\neach one holding a string of protection, tied to the chariot, chanting pirit.\nOfficials attached to the temple of the Tooth, palace officials and detachments\nfrom the army followed. After this the casket was opened and the relic\nexhibited to the public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next king, Buvanekabahu IV (1341-51) moved\nhis capital to Gampola and the Tooth Relic went to Gampola. The only\ninformation available for this period is that the Tooth Relic was housed in the\nNiyamgampaya Maha vihara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The capital then shifted to Kotte. Parakrama\nbahu VI (1412-1467) set up his capital there. The literature of  the time say that he built a splendid three\nstorey mansion to house the Tooth Relic near his palace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese emperor Yung Lo (1402\n\u2013 1424) asked   Cheng Ho, the\nadmiral of the  Chinese fleet, to try and\nget the Tooth Relic from Sri Lanka, when his ship docked there. There was a\nclash between Cheng Ho and the chief officer of the king, Vira Alakesvara,\nduring Cheng Ho\u2019s  two visits to Sri\nLanka ,  the last of which was in 1412.  Cheng Ho was unable to get the Tooth Relic. The\nTooth Relic never went to China. It stayed in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka in 1509\nand eventually took control of Kotte ruling it through king Dharmapala. The\nPortuguese were hostile to Buddhism. They had come to spread their    religion, Christianity (Roman Catholic) to\nSri Lanka. Due to this, the Sangha fled from Kotte, taking with them the Tooth\nRelic which they hid in a grinding stone in the Delgamu vihara in Sabaragamuwa.\n Records indicate that during this time, King\nBayinnang ( 1551-1581) of Myanmar sent offerings to the Tooth Relic , and showed\ngreat concern for its safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Portuguese  took over \nthe Kotte kingdom, the Sinhalese moved the Sinhala kingdom to  the Udarata. Vimaladharmasuriya I (1592-1604)\nthe first ruler of Udarata kingdom, rescued the Tooth Relic from Delgamu\nvihara. He built a splendid two storied relic house  near his palace and placed the  Tooth Relic there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Udarata kingdom was a huge kingdom,\nextending from the western shore to the eastern shore and including the ports\nof Kalpitiya and Trincomalee. The Portuguese and the Dutch possessions in Sri Lanka\nin the south west, were small in comparison. (See map no 4 in KM de Silva\n\u2018History of Sri Lanka \u2018)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Udarata kingdom never went under the rule\nof either the Portuguese or the Dutch. The Udarata kings such as Rajasinha II\nwere feared by them. The Tooth Relic continued to stay safely in the Udarata. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Udarata capital, Senkadagala was   attacked several times by the Portuguese and\nthe Dutch. Whenever this happened the Sangha took the Tooth Relic away from the\ncapital Senkadagala  and hid it. During\nthe rule of Senerat when the Portuguese invaded, the Tooth Relic was hidden\nin  Pansiyapattu in Dumbara. Pansiyapattu\nhad impenetrable forests,   mountains and\nrivers. The public there  were  \u2018made to protect the relic\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vimaladharmasuriya II (1687-1707) was very\nreligious. He held a festival of the Tooth Relic  built a three storied palace and golden\nreliquary inlaid with precious stones . Hs son, Narendrasinha, rebuilt the\npalace his father had built for the Tooth Relic and had thirty two jatakas tales\npainted on the two walls of the courtyard. Reported the Culavamsa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The\nnext king came from Andhra Pradesh,  India. He was Sri Vijaya Rajasinha (\n1739-1747). According to Culavamsa, he became a Buddhist  and patronized Buddhism . He  refurbished the Dalada Maligawa ,  organized \na grand festival in honour of the Tooth Relic and displayed the relic to\nthe public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 King\nKirti Sri Rajasinghe (1782- 98) is remembered today as the king who combined\nthe Dalada perahera with the annual procession held in Senkadagala for the\nHindu gods, Pattini, Kataragama and Vishnu. I think that the Natha devale\nperahera would also have joined this collection of peraheras  once the Dalada Perahera  came in. Natha  is not a Hindu god. Natha is  a Mahayana deity, the bodhisattva\nAvalokitesvara. The Esala perahera which continues to this day in Kandy,\nstarted in the  time of Kirti Sri\nRajasinghe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last King of the Udarata kingdom, Sri\nWickrema Rajasinghe added the Pattirippuwa to the Dalada Maligawa. This is\ntoday, the most conspicuous part of the Maligawa. During the reign of Sri Wickrema,\nin 1815, the British took the Udarata kingdom. The Sangha once again took the\nTooth Relic away from Senkadagala for safety. After considerable persuasion,\nthey surrendered the Tooth Relic to the British rulers. The Tooth Relic was\nbrought back to the Dalada Maligawa in procession   in April 1815. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was brought back in a  magnificent procession. This procession was conducted\nvery correctly, said observers, not a single lapse. It is difficult to see how\nthis could be. It had at least one alien element in it, the British representative\nJohn D\u2019Oyly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This perahera, \naccording to the description related by Dewaraja, was full of tusked\nelephants, grandly dressed,  in sets each\nof eight, six and five.  First came\neight  elephants, followed by the  High priests, then Adigar Molligoda heralded\nby whip crackers and accompanied by other disawas, then came another five\nelephants with the Maligawa tusker in the middle, his tusks cased in gold. Then\ncame John D\u2019Oyly  followed by Ehelepola\non a horse. The procession was a mile long. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tooth Relic was handed over to the Sangha.\nD\u2019Oyly was invited to join them in the relic chamber. D\u2019Oyly accepted and said that\nthe Governor, Robert Brownrigg wished to \nmake an offering to the Temple and  handed over  a beautiful musical clock. This was accepted\nwith great delight by all present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The keys of the casket containing the Tooth\nRelic were now given to D\u2019Oyly. The Dalada perahera was held again in 1917 and\nthere are two eye witness accounts of it, by John Davy, physician to the Governor\nand also by Milleva, former dissawe for Vellassa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then came the \nrebellion of 1817 which was led by the ex-Bhikkhu Vilbave. He obtained\npossession of the Tooth Relic , which he had \nsecretly removed from Kandy, with the help of soldiers and some\nbhikkhus.  The British quelled the\nrebellion, took back the relic and in 1818 banned the Dalada perahera.  But after a prolonged drought, the British\nadministration was persuaded to re-start the Perahera. The perahera was held   in 1828\nunder the patronage of the Governor.  There were torrential rains during the entire\nfestival. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The British government was now the custodian\nof the Temple of the Tooth. And the Tooth Relic was in the custody of the\nGovernment Agent, Central Province.  The\nkeys of the casket were with him. The temple officials were appointed by him.\nThe temple lands continued to perform services for the Maligawa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Christian \nmissionaries in England were dead against the  British administration supporting Buddhism like\nthis in Sri Lanka . Viscount Torrington was sent as Governor in 1847  with orders to de link the British administration\nfrom Buddhism . In October 1847, the Temple of the Tooth was handed over to a\ncommittee of two Bhikkhus and a chief, a decision which the Buddhists accepted\nwith great reluctance, said Dewaraja. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, Dalada Maligawa is open to the public\nall through the year, every day.  But as\nfar as I know, the only time the relic is presented for public exposure is the\nEsala Perahera.  The audience seated on\nthe pavement watching the Perahera say \u2018Sadhu Sadhu\u2019 and bow before the\nMaligawa Tusker, as he moves along majestically carrying the karanduwa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dalada Maligawa has various rituals\nincluding daily rituals.  There is the\nmorning, noon and evening thevava, with drumming in the open area facing the\nrelic chamber. The Maligawa is also the focus of the Alut sahal mangalyaya\nceremony held in January at the commencement of the harvest. At an auspicious\nhour, the paddy set aside for the Maligawa from the new harvest is brought on\nan elephant and ritually offered to the Maligawa, which means it is offered to\nthe sacred Tooth Relic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhala \n kingdom  and the Tooth Relic  would never have migrated to the central hills\nas it did, if not for the arrival of the Portuguese. The Sinhala king and the\nTooth Relic ended up in the \u2018Uda rata\u2019 only because of the foreign occupation\nin the \u2018Pahata rata\u2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the 13 century the seat of government was\nmoving downwards as the East-West trade routes started operating near the island\u2019s\nfat bottom. The great leap to Kotte from Gampola shows that the monarchy\nrealized that they had to get to the southern coast fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think that the capital city would not have\nstayed for long in Kotte either. It is not possible to rule the whole island\nfrom Kotte. The central hills are blocking. The capital city would probably\nhave moved from Kotte to a permanent capital in Ruhuna from where it would have\nbeen easy to monitor the rest of the island, specially the east coast .The\nTooth Relic would then have gone where it had not gone before, to Ruhuna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 I have extensively\nused the text of The Kandy Asala Perahera\u201d by Lorna Dewaraja (Vijita Yapa,\n2018) for this essay and wish to make grateful acknowledgment. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS There are three categories of objects which are venerated by Buddhists, said historian Lorna Dewaraja. Firstly, the charred bodily remains of the Buddha which were collected and distributed after his cremation.   Secondly, objects which came in touch with the Buddha in his life time, such as the Alms Bowl and the Bodhi tree. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101714\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}