Temple of the sacred tooth relic(dalada maligawa)

Temple of the sacred tooth relic is a most beautiful and ancient temple in sri lanka. It situated in kandy.it is situated in royal palace complex of the former kingdom of kandy,which houses the relic of the tooth of the lord Buddha. In ancient times king of the country should hold the relic.if the king doesn't hold the relic the people of the country didn't trust that he is the king of the country. Whoever holds the relic he is the real king of the country. Kandy was the last kingdom.so temple of the sacred tooth relic is a most important place to the sri lankan people.

This temple was built by king vimaladharmasuriya.he was a great king in srilanka.after the parinirvana of Gautama Buddha the tooth relic was preserved in the kalinga and smuggled to the island by the hemamala and prince dhantha under giudense of her father king Guhasiva.

They landed on the island in lankapttana in the reign of sirimeghavanna of anuradhapura and handed it over.the king enshrined it in meghagiri vigaraya.  Safeguard of the relic was responsibility of monarch,therefore custodianship of the raelic came into the symbolize the right to rule. Therefore reigning monarchs built tooth relic temples near to their royal residences. Therrfore many kingdom was built.anuradhapura,polonnaruwa,kurunegala,gampola,kotte,seethawaka,kandy are the kingdoms. During the reigning of dharmapala of kotte, the relic was hidden in delgamuwa viharaya inside a grinding stone. After that vimaladharmasuriya king built a temple and kept the tooth of the relic. Present temple of the tooth has a beutiful architecture.you can see it if you visit there. The main entrance gate which lies over the moat called mahawahalkada.at the foot of mahawalkada steps there isa sandakada pahana(moonstone).

The walls are architectured according to the kandyan stylrs.there are many arts in the wall. They very beautiful. Tourist visit here to see this wall arts.

So i think if you visit kandy \or sri lanka dont forget visit temple of the sacred tooth relic because if you visit you could never forget the experience.