Tooth Relic of our Gauthama Buddha
From TheBuddhism.Net
The Tooth Relic of our Gauthama Buddha which is in Kandy, Sri Lanka is highly venerated by all Buddhists all over the world.
According to legend, when our Gauthama Buddha died (mahä Parinibbhäna) in the 543 BC, his left canine tooth was given to King Brahmadatte of Kalinga Desha (present day state of Orissa) for veneration, after the cremation at Kushinagar, India. It became a royal possession in Kalinga Desha and was kept in the city of Dantapuri (present day Puri).
A belief grew that whoever possessed the Sacred Tooth Relic had a divine right to rule that land. Wars were fought to take possession of the relic. 800 years after the Buddha’s death, in the 4th century BCE, the tooth came into the possession of King Guhaseeva. The wrath of the Brahmins and their followers, made many kings from other lands that supported them, come into war with King Guhaseeva.
This made King Guhaseeva to send the tooth relic to Sri Lanka secretly in the possession of his daughter Princess Hemamala & her husband Prince Dantha since our Gauthama Buddha had declared that his religion would be safe in Sri Lanka for 5000 years. Princess Hemamala hid the relic in her hair ornament and the royal couple set sail to Sri Lanka disguised as Brahmins in order to evade capture. They landed at the Port of Lankapattana in the East of Sri Lanka. King Keerthi Sri Meghawarna, who ruled the country at the time warmly welcomed the couple and received the Sacred Tooth Relic with great veneration.
He built a beautiful palace within the royal palace complex and enshrined the relic in it.
When the Capital of Sri Lanka was shifted from place to place due to various reasons, the Sacred Tooth Relic too was shifted into new places. King Wimaladharmasooriya in 1592, brought it to its final resting place in Kandy building a special palace for it. King Narendrasingha (1707 – 1739) enlarged it to the present day structure and King Sri Wickrama Rajasingha (1798 – 1815) built the octagon along with the Kandy Lake.
The Sacred Tooth Relic came to be regarded as a symbolic representation of the living Buddha and it is on this basis that there grew up a series of offerings, rituals, and ceremonies. These are conducted under the supervision of the two Mahanayake Theros of Malwatte & Asgiriya Chapters, and Diyawadana Nilame of the Temple of the tooth relic.
Additional information:
Kandy is a major city in Sri Lanka, located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka. It is the second largest city in the country after Colombo. It was the last capital of the ancient kings’ era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is both an administrative and religious city and is also the capital of the Central Province. Kandy is the home of The Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa), one of the most sacred places of worship in the Buddhist world. It was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1988.
City view of Kandy, Sri Lanka
After the parinirvana of Gautama Buddha, the tooth relic was preserved in Kalinga and smuggled to the island by Princess Hemamali and her husband, Prince Dantha on the instructions of her father King Guhasiva. They landed in the island in Lankapattana during the reign of Sirimeghavanna of Anuradhapura (301-328) and handed over the tooth relic. The king enshrined it Meghagiri Vihara (present day Isurumuniya) in Anuradhapura. Safeguard of the relic was a responsibility of the monarch, therefore over the years the custodianship of relic became to symbolize the right to rule. Therefore, reigning monarchs built the tooth relic temples quite close to their royal residences, as was the case during the times of the Anuradhapura Kingdom, Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, and Kingdom of Dambadeniya. During the era of the Kingdom of Gampola, the relic was housed in Niyamgampaya Vihara. It is reported in the messenger poems such as Hamsa, Gira, and Selalihini that the temple of tooth relic was situated within the city of Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte when the Kingdom of Kotte was established there.
During the reign of Dharmapala of Kotte, the relic was kept hidden in Delgamuwa Vihara, Ratnapura, in a grinding stone. It was brought to Kandy by Hiripitiye Diyawadana Rala and Devanagala Rathnalankara Thera. King Vimaladharmasuriya I built a two-storey building to deposit the tooth relic and the building is now gone. In 1603 when the Portuguese invaded Kandy, it was carried to Meda Mahanuwara in Dumbara. It was recovered in the time of Rajasinha II and it has been reported that he reinstate the original building or has built a new temple. The present day temple of the tooth was built by Vira Narendra Sinha. The octagonal Patthirippuwa and moat was added during the reign of Sri Vikrama Rajasinha. Famous Kandyan architect Devandra Mulacharin is credited with building the Patthirippuwa. Originally it was used by the kings for recreational activities and later it was offered to the tooth relic.
Wall painting at Kelaniya Temple of Princess Hemamali and her husband, Prince Dantha which she carried Gautama Buddha’s tooth relic hidden in her hair to Sri Lanka. – Painting by Solias Mendis
Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex of the former Kingdom of Kandy, which houses the relic of the tooth of the Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country. Kandy was the last capital of the Sri Lankan kings and is a World Heritage Site mainly due to the temple.
Bhikkhus of the two chapters of Malwatte and Asgiriya conduct daily worship in the inner chamber of the temple. Rituals are performed three times daily: at dawn, at noon and in the evenings. On Wednesdays there is a symbolic bathing of the relic with an herbal preparation made from scented water and fragrant flowers called Nanumura Mangallaya. This holy water is believed to contain healing powers and is distributed among those present.
The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. This temple is one of the most holy sites in Sri Lanka reputed to contain an actual tooth of the Buddha on his 2nd visit to the Island over 2000 years ago.
Front view of The Temple of the Tooth, Kandy, Sri Lanka
Inside the Temple of the Tooth
Information and pictures from Wiki
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Sri Lanka Holds many other relics of the Buddha as well, with regards to the tooth relics, there are 4 canine tooth relics, and Sri Lanka holds both the left and right upper canine teeth of the Buddha (Left one is in Kandy, and the right one is in Somawati Stupa in Pollonaruwa),
The Gods of realm of thirty three, (ruler being the Sakkra (Indra)) hold the thrid canine tooth relic. it is said to be enschrined in a stupa called Chintamani in the realm of 33.
the Fouth relic was given the human Kings of Gandarwa kingdon after the Crimation of the Blessed one, (modern day Pakistan) and recently this relics was also discovered by the acheologist and was confirmed as the actual relic and the original casket. Presently it is been held by the authorities of Dir Meuseum of Pakistan.
Sri Lanka also has the Buddha’s left clavicle bone relic in the Thuparama Stupa in Anuradhapura, and the forhead bone relics in Seruwavila stupa, the whole eighth Relics casket of the buddha in the Enschrined in the Ruwanwali maha stupa of Anuradhapura(Buddha’s relics were devided to 8 bowls, 8th one was completely dedicated to the maha stupa in Sri lanka). Legend says There is no other stupa than the Ruwan weli Maha stupa which holds so many Buddha relics at one location.
it is quite important to have relics from the past especially those belonging to the Buddha, for people to really appreciate that the Buddha did exist before.
i have not been to Kandy but I have been to the Buddha Tooth Relic temple in Singapore. According to a write up at the Buddha tooth relic temple, in the accounts depicting the passing to clear light of Buddha in the Mahaparinirvana Sutra, the Buddha mentioned that seeing His relics was as good as seeing the Buddha in person, as good as learning the Dharma and knowing nirvana. Such is the immense gratitude one should hold while seeing the relics of Buddha.
The Buddha’s relics are also said to be visual evidence to show people that enlightenment is possible, to remind them that the Buddha was a real person who existed, and to also promote the good qualities of the Buddha which we should emulate.
I would love to visit this place one day. It seems almost unreal that a relic from Gauthama Buddha himself still exists. Unreal not in the sense of impossibility or unbelievable but more in the sense of awe!
How this particular relic “made its way” from one spot to another is just amazing. How incredibly lucky and meritorious to be able to go on a pilgrimage to such holy places with such holy relics!
Holy relics are great objects of worship because we get to plant powerful seeds for future lives by venerating it and also able to open seeds from previous lives so we get to do Dharma in this life to benefit others. This is different for everybody but I think that whatever it is, it can only be good as the object is a relic of a perfectly enlightened Buddha. There can only be good that can come out from venerating a sacred object like this tooth relic. However, one must have that motivation.
Just like Joy, I have also been to Kandy and Rinpoche took us to Kandy myears ago and he taught us the significances and Rinpoche did say that he felt a special aura around this relic and advised all his students to generate a virtuous mind and motivation when making prayers before the tooth relic. I remember, they had a grand procession of musicians, drummers and so forth before opening the tooth relic for display and worship.
I remembered Kandy and visiting this beautifully enshrined tooth relic palace. A group of us was travelling to Bodhgaya, one of the holiest places where Buddha sat under a Bodhi Tree and gained enlightenment, we took a stop over at Sri Lanka.
The tooth relic was enshrined in beautiful golden stupa made from real gold they say. Many people, tourist who visited Sri Lanka came to visit this tooth relic and pilgrims came to pay homage. The stupa of this tooth relic was huge and it was beautifully adorned and decorated as an offerings to the Buddha. Indeed it was a powerful sacred sight to visit and make offerings and aspirational prayers!