Kandy - Tooth Temple

Last evening we visited the famous Tooth Temple. On the way, we walked on a promenade teeming with bats!

The wingspan is really enormous, I would almost say it's about 1m! From below, you really think Batman or a herd of vampires (or a pack? A swarm? What do you call the group?). ;-)

But you also have a beautiful view of the hilly landscape.

Inside the temple, there is a tooth of Buddha preserved. It is a pilgrimage site for Buddhists, as they worship Buddha very much. They also bring flowers here (jasmine, lotus, etc.), pray, and then place the flowers in front of Buddha statue or, in this case, in front of the tooth.

There are 3 daily ceremonies where the doors to the tooth are opened. We had to stand in a long line and wait. During this ceremony, the door is closed for about 15 minutes and then reopened for 10 minutes. You need to have patience. This is accompanied by drummers, so the tension in the temple is enormous.

In front of us was a family and I couldn't help but ask if I could take a photo of the youngest in the group. I really liked him. So cute!!!

Finally, it was our turn to see the tooth, or rather the casket. Because you can't see the actual tooth.

I am fascinated by the great reverence for Buddha here. It's just unimaginable.

Unfortunately, you couldn't take a photo right in front of the tooth, and I couldn't take one from further away because I'm not that skilled of a photographer to capture it due to the brightness.

Before that, Don (our tour guide and a Buddhist himself) showed me a room where about 20 pictures hung, depicting the history of Buddhism, similar to the pictures of the crucifixion of Jesus.

In short, it started with Hinduism, where Buddha grew up. He was a bad person and did all the things that a Hindu did not do. He led a luxurious life in his palace. At some point, Buddha left all of this and met 4 different people who ultimately enlightened him (he didn't know about it before):

- A sick person

- An old person

- A dead body

- A monk

From that moment on, he changed his way of life and only tried to do good. He meditated a lot and then as a teacher showed his fellow human beings the good and bad paths. After his death, the teeth were removed (similar to bones in our case). As there were often wars even back then, a king gave his son and his wife a tooth and sent it to Sri Lanka for safety.

And since that moment, every king in Sri Lanka has built his own tooth temple (see posts about Anuradhapura or Polonnaruwa) and passed on this tooth until his death.

The last king lived here in Kandy. His end came when the British entered here and arrested him. He then died in Indian captivity.

It was also a very educational evening for me!

PS: You should come back in July/August because then there is a procession where the tooth is carried through Kandy. A huge parade with fire eaters, decorated elephants, etc. can be seen.