The Temple of the Tooth is one of the world's most revered shrines where the left tooth relic of Gautama Buddha resides.  This shrine was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the year 1988.  The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which is the pinnacle of the Buddhist community all over the world with its incomparable cultural value, has architectural features that are unique to the upcountry as well as the architectural features of the ancient Temple of the Tooth.  Kandy Shangri Dalada Maligawa is located near the royal palace near the Udawatte forest east of Kandy city.  To the north is the royal palace.  To the south is the Milky Way or Kandy Lake.  The Natha and Pattini temples are located in the west.  The temples of Sri Dalada Maligawa, which look like a living creation, are adorned with silver, ivory and brass carvings.

                        The historic Senkadagalapura Kandy Temple of the Tooth is built by Kanjariwa.  King Wimaladharmasuriya I who ruled between 1592-1604.  History has it that the Temple of the Tooth built by him was destroyed by the Portuguese invaders.  Later, King Rajasinghe II (1635-1687) built the Second Temple of the Tooth on the same site as the Temple of the Tooth.

                         It was also burned to ashes by the Dutch and later destroyed.  The history of the Tooth Relic states that King Wimaladharmasuriya II, who reigned in 1687, built a majestic three storied Temple of the Tooth and placed the Tooth Relic in it and performed various rituals.  As the Temple of the Tooth decayed and was eventually destroyed, his son King Shangari Weera Paraknarama Narendrasinghe (1707-1739 AD) built the present two storied Temple of the Tooth.  Later, the Nayakkar dynasty Tamil kings who came to the Senkadagala dynasty also renovated and protected the Temple of the Tooth built by King Sri Narendrasinghe.  King Keerthi Shannari Rajasinghe the Great has renovated the Temple of the Tooth to its present appearance.  The Atasagnara building or pattirippu is made of corn.  ව.  King Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe who ruled Kandy between 1798-1815.





An excerpt.  Photography is owned by the photographer