Temple of the Tooth, Kandy (Sri Dalada Maligawa): The Sacred Tooth Relic of the Buddha

The sound of drumming reaches you first. Across the water from the northern shore of Kandy Lake comes a rapid, pulsing beat of temple drums, pierced by the high reed notes of the horanawa oboe and the long call of a conch shell. Looking toward the sound, beyond a water-filled moat runs a low whitewashed wall pierced with triangular niches for oil lamps, a steep red-tiled roof, and an eight-sided pavilion projecting at the southeastern corner, its reflection shimmering in the moat. Everyone walking toward the gate wears white, carrying trays of fresh lotus blossoms, water lilies, and frangipani petals still wet with dew, young children walking beside white-haired elders. No one speaks loudly. The drums announce the daily offering ritual inside the relic shrine.

In Sinhala this sanctuary is called Sri Dalada Maligawa, the Palace of the Sacred Tooth Relic, known in English as the Temple of the Tooth (or Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic). Inside its innermost chamber, enclosed within seven nested gold caskets studded with gems, rests the left canine tooth of Gautama Buddha, according to the temple's official chronicle. In Theravada Buddhism, few relics command deeper reverence. For Sri Lanka, the island that preserved the Pali Canon in writing and transmitted Theravada Buddhism across mainland Southeast Asia, this tooth relic is the thread binding the island's entire Buddhist history: for seventeen centuries the relic moved from one royal capital to the next, and wherever the relic resided was the rightful seat of sovereignty.

IThe Sacred Tooth Relic and Its Three Joint Custodians

In Sinhala, Dalada means the tooth relic and Maligawa means palace. The name itself states the building's function: it is a royal palace built specifically to enshrine a relic, standing directly beside the residence of the former kings of Kandy. The temple belongs to Sri Lankan Theravada Buddhism, grounded in the Pali Tipitaka and honoring Gautama Buddha as the supreme teacher. Custody of the keys to the relic caskets is shared jointly among three authorities: the two Chief Prelates (Mahanayaka Theras) heading the Malwatta and Asgiriya monastic chapters (of the Siam Nikaya order), together with a lay chief custodian holding the traditional office of Diyawadana Nilame. Monks of the Malwatta and Asgiriya chapters alternate in performing the daily liturgical service inside the relic chamber. Monastic and lay custodians hold responsibility together, with neither side acting alone.

Vietnamese Buddhists share a close historical bond with Sri Lankan Buddhism (traditionally known in Vietnam as Tích Lan): both Kỳ Viên Pagoda and Xá Lợi Pagoda in Saigon enshrine Buddha relics alongside Bodhi saplings propagated from the sacred tree at Anuradhapura that the Sri Lankan monk Narada Maha Thera presented to Vietnamese Buddhists in 1953. Meanwhile, the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple in Singapore also honors a tooth relic, but it is a modern Mahayana temple completed in 2007, whereas Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy is an ancient Theravada sanctuary whose relic lineage on the island dates back to the 4th century CE.

According to the tradition

According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta and the classical chronicle Dalada Vamsa, after the Buddha's cremation at Kushinagar, the arahant Khema recovered the left upper canine tooth from the funeral pyre and presented it to King Brahmadatta of Kalinga (in modern Odisha, India), where it was venerated for eight centuries. The Central Cultural Fund of Sri Lanka (CCF) records this traditional account. In Theravada understanding, venerating a bodily relic is an act of mindfulness and gratitude toward the historical Buddha who lived in this world and taught the path to liberation, rather than supplicating a talisman. Worshippers come here to offer flowers and oil lamps, listen to chanting, and bow before the outer golden reliquary casket rather than viewing the bare tooth itself during ordinary daily rituals.

According to the historical record

As both the temple's official website and the CCF recount, in the 4th century CE, when King Guhasiva of Kalinga faced invasion by rival rulers seeking to seize the relic, he entrusted it to his daughter Princess Hemamala and his son-in-law Prince Dantha. Disguised as Brahmin ascetics with the sacred tooth concealed inside the princess's hair coil, the couple sailed to Sri Lanka during the reign of King Kirthi Sri Meghavarna (reigned 301 to 328). From that time onward, the tooth relic became the palladium of Sinhalese kingship: it moved with each shift of the royal capital from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa, Kurunegala, Gampola, and Kotte, before arriving in Kandy in 1592 (with its two-story shrine completed around 1595 according to the CCF). In Sri Lankan political tradition, possession of the tooth relic legitimized a monarch's right to rule, and the capital was wherever the relic dwelt.

A common misunderstanding

First common misconception: many visitors assume that entering the temple allows them to see the actual tooth relic with the naked eye. It does not. As the CCF explains, the tooth is sealed inside seven nested golden stupa-shaped caskets (karanduwa) encrusted with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds inside the inner sanctum, so worshippers filing past during the daily Thewawa ceremonies see only the outermost golden casket through the open portal. Second is the chronological baseline: the CCF records the year of the Buddha's parinirvana as 543 BCE in accordance with the traditional Sri Lankan Buddhist Era, whereas modern historians generally place the Buddha's passing later in the 5th century BCE (around 483 or 400 BCE). The library notes both so readers recognize 543 BCE as the foundational epoch of the Theravada Buddhist calendar.

IIFollowing the Royal Capitals to the Kandyan Palace from the 16th to 18th Centuries

Kandy, known in Sinhala historical chronicles as Senkadagalapura, was the last independent capital of the Sinhalese kings, as UNESCO notes. After the sacred tooth relic was brought to this mountain city at the end of the 16th century, successive monarchs between the 1590s and the early 1800s built, rebuilt, and enlarged the shrine inside the royal palace precinct, making the Sri Dalada Maligawa complex seen today a layered work of several reigns.

543 BCEParinirvana of the Buddha in Sri Lankan tradition
The CCF records that the arahant Khema retrieves the left canine tooth from the funeral pyre at Kushinagar. The year 543 BCE serves as the starting epoch of the traditional Sri Lankan Buddhist calendar.
301 to 328Arrival of the relic in Sri Lanka from Kalinga
During the reign of King Kirthi Sri Meghavarna at Anuradhapura, Princess Hemamala conceals the relic in her hair and brings it from Kalinga (India) to Sri Lanka together with Prince Dantha, according to the temple's official history.
1592 to 1604First Tooth Relic shrine in Kandy
King Vimaladharmasuriya I brings the relic to Kandy (the CCF cites 1595 for the enshrinement) and builds the first two-story shrine beside the royal palace. In the late 17th century, King Vimaladharmasuriya II (1687 to 1707) replaces it with a three-story structure.
1707 to 1739Two-story Dalada Madura inner shrine
After the earlier building deteriorates, King Vira Narendrasinghe (the last Sinhalese-dynasty monarch of Kandy) constructs the two-story core inner shrine (Vadahitina Maligawa) that survives today.
1747 to 1798Renovation and integration of the Esala Perahera
The Nayakkar-dynasty monarchs King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747 to 1782) and King Sri Rajadhi Rajasinha (1780 to 1798) refurbish and paint the shrine, in 1775 Kirti Sri Rajasinha decrees that the Sacred Tooth Relic procession lead the annual Esala Perahera.
1798 to 1815Construction of the Pattirippuwa octagon and Kandy Lake
King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, the last king of Kandy, commissions royal architect Devendra Mulachariya to build the octagonal Pattirippuwa pavilion and creates Kandy Lake (Kiri Muhuda) in 1807 immediately south of the temple.
1988UNESCO World Heritage Site
UNESCO inscribes the Sacred City of Kandy on the World Heritage List under criteria (iv) and (vi) (reference number 450), with the Temple of the Tooth and royal palace complex as its centerpiece.

According to the historical record

Regarding the date the relic arrived in Kandy, the library's summary table lists 1592 to 1604, which is the regnal period of King Vimaladharmasuriya I, the monarch who brought the tooth relic from its hiding place inside a grinding stone at Delgamuwa Raja Maha Viharaya (in Sabaragamuwa) to Kandy and erected its first shrine. The CCF cites the specific year 1595 for the completion of that enshrinement in Kandy. The two figures complement each other, one giving the reign and the other the specific year of enshrinement. Over the two centuries from 1592 to 1815, the temple complex was successively built and expanded by Kings Vimaladharmasuriya I, Vimaladharmasuriya II, Vira Narendrasinghe, Kirti Sri Rajasinha, Sri Rajadhi Rajasinha, and Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe.

IIIKandyan Architecture, the Moat, and the Octagonal Pavilion

The CCF describes the sanctuary as the finest surviving example of Kandyan architecture, blending indigenous Sinhalese timber-and-stone building traditions with South Indian decorative influences: low whitewashed moat walls pierced with rows of triangular niches for oil lamps (Diyagala), steep double-pitched red-tiled roofs with wide overhanging eaves, intricately carved wooden pillars, painted coffered ceilings, and arched doorways (vahalkadas) inlaid with ivory and murals depicting Buddhist narratives. Set within the former royal palace precinct, the temple is fronted by a water moat and bordered along its southern flank by the sacred Kandy Lake (Kiri Muhuda, the Sea of Milk). Rather than a single freestanding hall, the complex consists of concentric courtyards, tunnels, and pavilions: the two-story inner relic shrine itself stands entirely sheltered beneath the roof of a larger enclosing courtyard structure.

Every day the temple conducts three liturgical offering services called Thewawa at dawn, midday, and dusk, accompanied by traditional Kandyan Hewisi drumming, horanawa reed music, and conch blowing, as documented by the CCF. Those drumbeats have echoed across the waters of Kandy for more than four centuries.

Maha Wahalkada Gate and the Whitewashed Moat Wall

The main western entrance crossing the moat, preceded by a Kandyan-style carved moonstone step (Sandakada Pahana) and elephant reliefs, leading through the painted Ambarawa tunnel corridor into the inner courtyard.

Handun Kunama (Inner Relic Chamber)

The sandalwood-scented upper sanctum where the tooth relic rests inside seven nested gold caskets (karanduwa) studded with gems atop a golden lotus throne. Its doors, inlaid with silver, ivory, and copper, open briefly during the daily liturgical hours.

Vadahitina and Ihala Maligawa

The freestanding two-story timber-and-stone inner shrine built by King Vira Narendrasinghe (1707 to 1739), with the lower hall facing the drumming pavilion (Hevisi Mandapaya) and the upper floor housing the relic chamber.

Alut Maligawa and the Relic Museum

A three-story wing added behind the main shrine, displaying historic reliquaries, royal gifts from across Buddhist Asia, and a series of paintings chronicling the history of the tooth relic from India to Kandy.

Magul Maduwa (Royal Audience Hall)

An open-sided pavilion with double rows of carved wooden pillars built in 1783 under King Sri Rajadhi Rajasinha, formerly the royal court where the Kandyan kings received ambassadors and held state councils, now used for major religious assemblies.

Pattirippuwa (The Octagon)

The iconic eight-sided pavilion with whitewashed walls and a pitched red roof projecting over the moat at the southeastern corner of the facade, built under King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe as a royal viewing balcony and now housing ancient palm-leaf (ola) manuscripts.

Major construction phases according to the temple's official history, the CCF, and the UNESCO dossier. Source: sridaladamaligawa.lk, ccf.gov.lk, whc.unesco.org/en/list/450..
Structure	Royal Patron	Period
First two-story Tooth Relic shrine in Kandy	King Vimaladharmasuriya I	1592 to 1604 (enshrined 1595)
Three-story replacement shrine	King Vimaladharmasuriya II	1687 to 1707
Standing two-story Dalada Madura inner shrine	King Vira Narendrasinghe	1707 to 1739
Magul Maduwa Royal Audience Hall	King Sri Rajadhi Rajasinha	1783 (extended in the 19th century)
Pattirippuwa Octagon and Kandy Lake	King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe	1798 to 1815 (Kandy Lake built 1807)

IVLandform and Orientation

In Sri Lankan tradition, geomancers did not choose a site for the relic, rather, the presence of the relic sanctified the royal capital. King Vimaladharmasuriya I established his capital at Kandy because its rugged mountain passes in the central highlands provided natural defense against European colonial powers on the coast. Nor does Theravada Buddhism teach Chinese feng shui. The paragraphs below offer the library's comparative reading of Kandy's mountain-and-water setting through traditional Vietnamese landform principles alongside verified map bearings, purely as a point of comparison for readers.

Terrain and orientation

First is the ring of mountains and backing ridge. Kandy sits at an elevation of about 500 meters in a highland basin of central Sri Lanka encircled by the Knuckles, Hanthana, and Bahirawakanda ranges. In traditional Vietnamese landform reading, an upland valley enclosed on all sides by forested hills exemplifies a wind-sheltering and energy-gathering basin (tàng phong tụ khí). Rising immediately behind the royal palace and temple to the north and east is the dense forest sanctuary of Udawatta Kele (historically the royal reserve known as Uda Wasala Watta), serving in landform terms as a lush backing pillow (hậu chẩm) directly behind the sanctuary.

Second is the orientation and three tiers of water. On OpenStreetMap geometry, the temple complex occupies the northeastern corner of Kandy Lake: its main Maha Wahalkada entrance gate, moat, and Pattirippuwa octagon face outward toward the west across the open esplanade (where the four guardian deity shrines, or Devales, stand), while the southern flank of the temple looks directly out over Kandy Lake (Kiri Muhuda). Farther out, Sri Lanka's longest river, the Mahaweli Ganga, bends in a wide loop around the northern, eastern, and western sides of the city. These three concentric layers of water (the moat hugging the walls, the calm mirror of Kandy Lake alongside, and the Mahaweli River encircling the valley) form a classic configuration of gathering water and a jade-belt river embrace.

Third is the octagonal geometry. The eight-sided Pattirippuwa pavilion projecting at the southeastern corner of the facade readily reminds East Asian visitors of the eight trigrams (Bagua). Historically it was built as a Kandyan royal viewing pavilion rather than a geomantic diagram, yet positioned right where the western moat meets the northern shore of Kandy Lake, its eight facets command views across both expanses of water and anchor the corner of the complex.

Finally, there is the Five Elements balance of colors and materials. The long whitewashed walls express Metal, the pitched red-tiled roofs express Fire, the moat and lake embody Water, the ancient Udawatta Kele forest behind embodies Wood, and the highland stone terraces represent Earth. All five elements meet around the sanctuary in a visual harmony unmistakable to anyone standing by Kandy Lake at dusk. The library records this purely as a comparative reading.

VThe Esala Perahera and the Sri Lankan Buddhist Ritual Calendar

The grandest annual festival of the temple and of Sri Lanka is the Kandy Esala Perahera (also called the Dalada Perahera), the great procession of the Tooth Relic held in the lunar month of Esala according to the Sri Lankan Buddhist calendar, falling in July or August. In its modern form, established in 1775 by decree of King Kirti Sri Rajasinha, the festival unites the procession of the Buddha's Tooth Relic with the processions of Kandy's four guardian deity shrines. According to the CCF, following the ceremonial planting of the sacred kap post, the main night processions run for ten nights (five nights of the Kumbal Perahera followed by five nights of the grander Randoli Perahera) and conclude with the water-cutting ceremony (Diya Kepeema) on the Mahaweli River and a daytime procession. On the culminating Randoli Perahera nights, a golden replica reliquary casket is placed inside an ornate Ransivige canopy atop the magnificently caparisoned lead tusker (Maligawa Tusker), which walks over white cloth spread along Kandy's streets amid dozens of illuminated elephants, hundreds of Kandyan dancers, Hewisi drummers, whip-crackers, and fire-spinners. Following the Temple of the Tooth cortège are the processions of the four guardian deity shrines (Sathara Maha Devale): Natha (revered in Sri Lanka as the Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara / future Maitreya Buddha), Vishnu (Upulvan), Kataragama (Skanda/Murugan), and the goddess Pattini.

Dates follow the Sri Lankan lunisolar calendar, so Gregorian dates shift each year. Source: ccf.gov.lk, sridaladamaligawa.lk..
Timing	Calendar	Observance	Description
Month of Esala (July or August)	Sri Lankan Buddhist calendar	Kandy Esala Perahera	Ten nights of grand processions (five Kumbal nights and five Randoli nights): the golden reliquary casket is paraded atop the lead temple tusker accompanied by dancers, drummers, and the retinues of the four guardian deity shrines.
Daily, three times (dawn, midday, dusk)	Temple liturgical schedule	Thewawa	Three daily offering services of flowers, lamps, and food (Buddha Puja) accompanied by Hewisi drums and horanawa reed music, during which the relic chamber portal opens for devotees to venerate the outer golden casket.
Every Wednesday morning	Temple liturgical schedule	Nanumura Mangallaya (Herbal Bathing Ritual)	A symbolic weekly bathing of the sacred relic reflected in a bronze mirror using fragrant water infused with herbs and flowers, the consecrated water is distributed to devotees for healing and blessing.
Full moon of Vesak (usually May)	Sri Lankan Buddhist calendar	Vesak Full Moon Poya	Commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and parinirvana of the Buddha, marked across Kandy by paper lanterns (Vesak kudu) and free vegetarian food stalls (Dansala).
Rare special occasions (non-fixed)	Proclaimed by the Chief Prelates and President	Dalada Dekma (Public Exposition of the Tooth Relic)	Held only once every several years or decades over a few days, when the seven caskets are opened so hundreds of thousands of pilgrims can view the actual tooth relic inside a glass case.

For Vietnamese Buddhist monks, nuns, and lay pilgrims visiting Sri Lanka, Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy is the supreme pilgrimage destination on the island: Vietnamese delegations customarily dress in pure white or ceremonial robes, carry trays of fresh lotus blossoms to present before the upper relic chamber during the Thewawa drumming, and chant scriptures together in the courtyard halls. Readers can compare Kandy's elephant procession of the Tooth Relic with the candlelight circumambulations at Pha That Luang in Laos and Shwedagon Pagoda in Myanmar: sharing the same Theravada heritage, each nation honors the relics of the Buddha through its own distinctive cultural expressions.

VILocation And How To Get There

Address: Sri Dalada Veediya, Kandy 20000 (trong khu hoàng cung cũ, bên hồ Kandy)
Getting there: The temple stands on Sri Dalada Veediya in central Kandy, Central Province, right on the northern shore of Kandy Lake at the foot of the Udawatta Kele forest reserve. From Kandy Railway Station (about 1.5 kilometers to the southwest), visitors can walk along the lakeside promenade or take a five-minute tuk-tuk ride to the main entrance gate.
Coordinates: 7.2936, 80.6413

Directions View on the map

When you arrive

Temple etiquette is strictly enforced: clothing must cover shoulders and extend below the knees (Sri Lankan worshippers and Vietnamese Buddhist pilgrims traditionally wear all white). Remove shoes at the footwear counters outside the moat gate and take off hats before entering. Security screening at the entrance is thorough, and single-use plastic bags are prohibited inside the shrine complex to protect the environment. Never turn your back to a Buddha statue or toward the relic chamber to pose for photographs, and never point your finger or the soles of your feet toward sacred images. When the upper portal opens during the daily Thewawa services, the line of worshippers moves steadily forward, so keep your hands joined in respect, maintain silence, and avoid stopping to block those behind you.

Nearby places in the library

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VIIContribute To This Page

Contribute photos, information or video for Temple of the Tooth

Góp ảnh, thông tin hoặc video cho Chùa Răng Phật Kandy (Sri Dalada Maligawa)

Everyone is welcome to enrich this page: a photo you took, a detail the page misses, a short video. Every contribution is read and answered.

Thầy Ưng Khiêm mời cộng đồng cùng làm giàu trang này. Ảnh chụp tận nơi, một chi tiết lịch sử chưa được nhắc, một đoạn video ngắn: mọi đóng góp đều được đọc và trả lời.

Send photos · Gửi ảnh Send information · Gửi thông tin Send video · Gửi video

Once published, your name is credited right here on this place's page. Sau khi được đăng, tên bạn sẽ được ghi công ngay tại mục địa điểm này. Photos and videos must be your own or shared with permission.

No community contribution yet. You could be the first. Chưa có đóng góp nào từ cộng đồng. Bạn có thể là người đầu tiên.

?Quick Questions

What is enshrined at the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy

According to the temple's official chronicle and Sri Lankan Buddhist tradition, the sanctuary enshrines the left upper canine tooth of Gautama Buddha, recovered from his funeral pyre at Kushinagar by the arahant Khema. The relic is kept inside seven nested gold caskets (karanduwa) studded with precious stones in the upper inner chamber of the main shrine.

How did the Buddha's tooth relic reach Sri Lanka

According to the temple's official history and the Central Cultural Fund of Sri Lanka (CCF), in the 4th century CE during the reign of King Kirthi Sri Meghavarna (301 to 328), Princess Hemamala and Prince Dantha smuggled the relic out of the kingdom of Kalinga in India by concealing it inside the princess's hair coil. From then on, the tooth relic served as the palladium legitimizing Sinhalese sovereignty, moving through the royal capitals of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa before arriving in Kandy at the end of the 16th century.

When was the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy built

The first Tooth Relic shrine in Kandy was built by King Vimaladharmasuriya I during his reign from 1592 to 1604 (enshrined around 1595). After a three-story rebuilding by King Vimaladharmasuriya II in the late 17th century, King Vira Narendrasinghe (1707 to 1739) erected the standing two-story core inner shrine, while the last king of Kandy, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe (1798 to 1815), added the octagonal Pattirippuwa pavilion and Kandy Lake. In 1988 UNESCO inscribed the Sacred City of Kandy as a World Heritage Site (reference 450).

When does the Kandy Esala Perahera take place and what happens during it

The Kandy Esala Perahera takes place in the lunar month of Esala (falling in July or August) and features ten nights of grand processions. On the culminating Randoli Perahera nights, a golden replica reliquary casket is carried atop the lead temple tusker over white cloth through the streets of Kandy, accompanied by dozens of illuminated elephants, hundreds of Kandyan dancers, Hewisi drummers, and the processions of the four guardian deity shrines (Natha, Vishnu, Kataragama, and Pattini).

Why does Sri Lankan tradition date the Buddha's passing to 543 BCE

According to Sri Lanka's Pali chronicles (such as the Mahavamsa) and the CCF, the Buddha entered parinirvana in 543 BCE, which serves as the starting epoch of the Buddhist Era calendar used across the Theravada world. Modern historians generally place the Buddha's passing later in the 5th century BCE. The library notes both figures so readers understand the traditional chronological reckoning of Sri Lankan Buddhism.