The Bruner Family Journey: The Proud Sinhalese Kingdom Of Kandy & The Sacred Tooth Of The Buddha

Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic

It took the Europeans a little bit longer than they anticipated to colonize the proud Sinhalese kingdom of Kandy. The Portuguese conquered all of the coastal regions of Sri Lanka in the 16th century, but they were unsuccessful in capturing Kandy, where the island's last remaining independent kingdom established its capital in 1592. After expelling the Portuguese, the Dutch controlled most of Sri Lanka by the 1660s but didn't fare any better in their repeated attempts to conquer Kandy. The English also failed to take Kandy in 1803, but they finally succeeded in subjugating the kingdom to colonial rule in 1815.

Inside the temple, looking for the sacred tooth

Today, Kandy is an important religious center and place of pilgrimage, home to the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, which Sri Lankan Buddhists believe they must visit at least once during their lifetime. Legend has it that the tooth was snatched from the flames of the Buddha's funeral pyre in 483 BCE and was smuggled into Sri Lanka in the 4th century CE, hidden in the hair of a princess. According to Sinhalese tradition, the tooth has been closely linked with Sri Lankan sovereignty: The protector of the tooth was deemed to hold the right to rule, hence the temple housing the tooth and the royal palace were placed in proximity to each other. As the royal rulers moved their residences over the centuries to various places on the island, they took the tooth with them, and it eventually found a home in Kandy.

I think the tooth is somewhere in there

The tooth has seen some drama in its time. In 1283, an invading army from India seized the tooth and took it back with them, but it was later retrieved and made its way back to Sri Lanka. In the 16th century, the Portuguese seized the tooth - or so they thought - and burned it in Goa (one of their territorial holdings in India) in a grandiose act of devout intolerance. But alas, the seized tooth - or so it is said - was only a replica, while the real tooth remained safe and sound in Sri Lanka. More recently, in 1998, a powerful bomb attack by the Tamil Tigers inflicted significant damage on the temple housing the tooth, and as a result security at the temple remains very strict to this day.

In addition to the temple, which attracts throngs with pilgrims and tourists, in Kandy and the surrounding countryside there are a host of interesting small temples and shrines, several dating dating back to the 14th century. The Vishnu Devale in the heart of the city serves as an active place of worship for both Hindus and Buddhists, highlighting the intermingling of the two faiths. There's also a very impressive botanical garden (Sri Lanka's largest) on the outskirts of town; apparently, it served as a royal pleasure garden before the British colonized the area. It's a pretty place to linger - the highlight was a large canopy of trees densely inhabited by a noisy population of bats.

Like Ella, Kandy also boasts some gorgeous mountain vistas, and we were lucky enough to have one from the balcony of our charming guesthouse, which featured a lovely garden and a large lawn for playing soccer. I don't know that we were ready to leave Kandy, but we only had a 30-day visa for Sri Lanka, so it was time to move on to the ancient Buddhist ruins to the north. See you there...