Dalada maligawa history

Dalada Maligawa History
Undoubtedly, it is the most venerated place of worship of the Sri Lank Buddhists. One of the major tourist attractions in Sri Lanka and one of the most valuable treasures we have amongst us as it captures the detailed history and culture of Sri Lanka for more than 16 centuries.

The story behind the tooth relic of the Lord Buddha runs back to the time of his passing away. Several texts written with regard to the tooth relic provides ample information about these interesting stories behind the incidents that took place after his demise. After the final rituals of the Lord Buddha, his remains were distributed to different parts of the Indian sub continent and the neighboring regions as relics to be honored by his followers, normally building monuments named ‘stupas’ where these remains were enshrined. Among these relics, the four canine teeth of the Lord Buddha were distributed into four regions, according to the texts, one to the sakra (king of gods), one to the nagas, one to the gandhara region and the other to the kalinga region in modern eastern India. The story of the tooth relic arriving at Sri Lanka begins with this.

The possession of the tooth relic gradually became of great importance to the state which held it since it was believed whoever has the possession of the tooth relic will claim the throne in the kingdom. This idea was present even in Sir Lank up until the English took over the ruling power of the country. So with this notion came great troubles to hold the tooth relic at one place where it was

pen to regular enemy strikes, fighting for its possession. In a time where the Sri Lankan king and the Kalinga king had a close friendship the strikes were too serious and finally it was decided that the tooth relic should be brought into Sri Lanka for its protection. This came with great timing since by this time Buddhism had taken a firm establishment in Sri Lanka after five centuries of its initial introduction.

History has it that prince Danta and princess Hemamala, both close relatives of the Kalinga king, brought the tooth relic to Sri Lanka with great caution, allegedly hiding the tooth relic within the coiffures of the princess. The relic was received with great devoutness by the ruling king in Sri Lanka, King Keerthi Sri Meghawanna, and was brought into the capital Anuradhapura where it was enshrined in the Meghagiri viharaya.

Since the arrival of the tooth relic in Sri Lanka it was considered as the greatest religious possession Sri Lanka had and the lineage of kings to rule this country had given immense concern over the protection of the tooth relic, once again with the idea that whoever holds the sacred tooth relic is the true owner of the throne. With this background the tooth relic shifted its places to coincide with the shifting of the capital city of Sri Lanka. For the first six centuries of its existence in Sri Lanka, the tooth relic was enshrined in the capital of Anuradhapura and after the enemy invasion that struck the capital; the relic was moved to Polonnaruwa. For the next eight centuries, the tooth relic changed its places primarily due to the rebel attacks from India and each time pious buddhist monks who took the responsibility of protecting the tooth relic took great measures to save the relic and to somehow bequeath it to the true owner of the throne. Through its journey, the tooth relic had been to a widely scattered area in Sri Lanka; Yapahuwa, Kotte, Mulkirigal and Kotmale to name a few.

It was during the Portuguese rule in Sri Lanka that the sacred relic was brought into Kandy, its present resting place. But even then the pressures of protecting the sacred relic were too much and as the history reveals, King Senerath had to flee away with the tooth relic and serve its due offerings in the thick jungles of Madamahanuwara. At the time of King Vimaladaramasooriya II, the period of the Dutch influence, the higher ordination of the Buddhist monks were re-established with the assistance of the Burmese monks where these monks took the responsibility of protecting and serving the sacred tooth and for the first time a golden casket was introduced to accommodate the tooth relic. During the time Sri Lanka became an English colony, the tooth relic again shifted places and was the prime motivation in most of the rebellion attacks that were originated by patriots with the advice of the Buddhist monks to save the country from the British rule. Eventually, after the rebellions subsided the sacred tooth relic took its place at the Maligawa (palace) we see today standing majestically at the heart of the Kandy city.