Kandy was the capital of the Sinhalese Kings
from 1592 to 1815. Fortified by a terrain of mountains and the difficult
approach Kandy managed to operate in independence from Dutch, Portuguese and
the English till 1815. The city is a world heritage site declared by UNESCO, in
part due to this temple.
The Sri Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the
Sacred Tooth Relic is a temple in the city of Kandy in Sri Lanka. It was built
within the royal palace complex which houses the one of the two surviving relic
of the tooth of Buddha, an object of veneration for Buddhists. The other tooth
relic is believed to be enshrined in a stupa called Somawathi Chethiya.
The Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, the temple
which houses the Sacred Tooth Relic of The Buddha, is possibly the most sacred
Buddhist shrine in the world. It is venerated not only by Buddhists in Sri
Lanka but by Buddhists all over the world.
King Wimaladharmasuriya I (1592 - 1603), the
first to select Kandy as the ruling capital, originally built a two storied
temple for the Relic and brought the tooth relic from Delgamuwa near Kuruwita
in Sabaragamuwa which had been hidden for protection. Remains of this temple no
longer exist.
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