Sri Dalada Malagawa

The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy is a wonderful place. I first went there in the early '90s, reaching Kandy by train from Colombo, one of the world's great train rides up into the hills of central Sri Lanka with jungle on one side of the train and panoramic views over the plateau leading to the coast on the other. Kandy was one of the capitals of the kingdoms of Sri Lanka and tea plantation country begins higher up the hillsides from the lovely small town.

I went to Kandy specifically to visit the Temple of the Tooth, Sri Dalada Malagawa. It is the final resting place of one of Lord Buddha's teeth, rescued from his funeral pyre in northern India and taken to Sri Lanka two and a half thousand years ago. It's been fought over and moved countless times but it has been in the Temple for a long time now.

Several times each day a puja takes place, a ceremony of worship, at which the doors of the inner sanctum are opened so that people may see the golden casket covered in jewels in which the tooth is housed. In front of the doors is a large table that gets covered in flowers of all colours and varieties, flowers piled high while the Kandian drummers pound out their hypnotic rhythms and the odours of incense fill the air. People of all ages pay their respects at the Temple and leave their offerings of flowers or rice or money. It's not a ceremony of awe - it's a live and living ceremony with people chatting and laughing, queuing to see the casket, pushing to get close to it. After all these centuries you can almost feel the belief in the air.

My first puja at the Temple was in the early evening as the sun went down and electric lights flickered on, with candles and incense sticks glowing. I was allowed to enter free since the guard remembered I had visited the Temple earlier that day. I climbed the stairs to the first floor sanctum as the drummers started pounding and the floor-boards shook. The crowds became restless as the doors to the inner shrine opened and people formed a disorderly queue.

A toothless, stick-thin old man offered me his lotus and orchid flowers so I could make the offering for him, wanting me, as the only westerner present, to be part of the ceremony. I smiled but declined and I regret that. My offering was some soiled Sri Lankan rupee notes in the big brass collection bowl. I was touched. I could feel the belief running through the Temple. After I had passed in front of the Tooth casket I went to the back of the hall to sit down on the floor and absorb the atmosphere of the Temple, watching people pass, listen to the drums and the chatter. It was a most strange experience.

Above the table in front of the inner shrine is a plaque with a summary of what Buddhism is all about from the Dhammapada in Pali and in English. The English translation reads:

Abstinence from all evil
Performance of all good
Governance of one's mind
It's the teaching of the Enlightened One

I like thinking of Sri Dalada Malagawa and Lord Buddha and the Rabbit in the Moon.

But that's another story.