According to the Tooth Relic Temple website, on Wednesdays there is a ritual of tooth washing, in addition to daily rituals. What we had not expected, and just as we witnessed the day before at the Lankathilaka Temple, was that all these rituals happen entirely behind closed doors, except for a few musicians animating the whole affair. This was completely unexpected from the hundreds of Buddhist temples we visited before. These Sri Lankan Buddhist rituals are more similar to those in Hindu temples, except Hindus are not even that secretive. I doubt Lord Buddha would have approved all the hullabaloo.
I have been convinced for a while that the goings-on at Greek and Roman temples must have been some versions of what we see at Hindu temples today; a forecourt where the devotees gather and roam, a place/table/altar for offerings, a cella that contains the diet(ies), where the priests do their mumbo jumbo. There would have been much communication between the subcontinent and Europe, after all the languages all belong to the same family of Indo-European language. Sanskrit? While India still practices the religion in the ancient way, Europeans have long been converted to Christianity.
About 45 minutes after the ceremony began, buckets of cinnamon colored bath water from the tooth began to be distributed to the adherents. Holding empty bottles and vessels, some had been waiting for more than two hours. Such faith, of course, is a familiar sight, yet the materialist in me finds it incredulous every time, just looking at that murky water makes me want to gag. What I loved was seeing all the flower offerings. Photos only capture their beauty, not their fragrance. I imagine ancient Greece and Rome were not so prodigious with such sumptuous flora given their climate, therefore clay figures sufficed as votive offerings.
The inner sanctum of the Temple of the Tooth is guarded by elephant tusks,and hidden behind a curtain
Flower Offerings are given on the 2nd floor of the temple, and the slow moving line up the stairs seemed endless.
In the photo below you can see the first floor inner sanctum guarded by the tusks, and the Japanese-like grill of the second floor directly above.
A few photos of the "action"; that is, various costumed priests and functionaries entering and leaving the inner temple, plus occaisonal parading by the drummers.
A few more shots of the drummers and and single flutist.
Distribution of bath water. The priest admonished more than several line-jumpers.
The Temple of the Tooth is located on a lake in central Kandy (1st below - far right). The most prominent architectural feature is an octagonal room (2nd and 3rd below).
The front of the Temple of the Tooth was reduced to rubble in 1998 by a truck bomb, and security is still tight several blocks away.
Here are more than several (short, I promise) videos of the tooth washing proceedings in chronological order. Turn on your audio.
John & Sun-Ling
Wander the Earth
Wander the Earth
Sun-Ling and John have been traveling the earth since 2008 while blogging, eating vegetarian and vegan, and riding public transportation. We love uphill day hikes, 20th-century architecture, Roman ruins, all bodies of water, local markets, shopping for groceries, aqueducts, miradors, trip planning, blablacar, and more.
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Kandy: Three Temple Loop
When the British appeared in Sri Lanka, the Dutch controlled much of the coastal area, and Kandy was still the seat of the Sri Lankan monarchy. Much of the royal palace was destroyed by the British conquerors, save for the Tooth Relic Temple, which is the main draw for Kandy.
I was really tempted by Stage 1 of the Pekoe Trail, but the weather was hot, so we opted for the Three Temple Loop walk outside Kandy, a 7km walk that connects the Embekke, Lankathilake, and Gadaladeniya Buddhist temples all dating from the 14th century. It turned out to be a good outing. I was amazed by the wood carving at Embekke: 1)old wooden structures rarely survive - they must be rainforest wood 2)the intricate carvings are reminiscent of stone carvings from the same period in church cloisters in Europe - but these are finer.
Lankathilake is particularly photogenic, embellished with elephant sculptures coming out of the walls, and it also has a Hindu side. Hmmmm. There was some ritual going on, which we didn't quite understand until we visited the Tooth Relic Temple.
Gadaladeniya Temple, apparently in perpetual renovation, is known for its ancient stone carvings. Today, the nearby villages are known for their brasswork (see below).
Embekka Dewalaya Buddhist Temple.
The amazing carvings on the wooden columns: "Wrestlers, Swans, Lion and Elephant Fight, Warrior"
There was a rice granary in the temple complex. Rice = wealth = power.
One of the several Buddha images.
A well-behaved, 4-bus-load group of school kids came in as we were leaving.
On the walk to the second temple we passed a mosque, a White-Throated Kingfisher, a traditional pambaya (traditional Sri Lankan scarecrow with a realistic head), and farmers harvesting rice.
The Lankathilaka Temple is perched on the top of a large rock outcrop - large not huge. Later in the trip we would see huge. The south approach has steps cut out of the granite.
This temple also had a granary.
There was a ceremony in action when we arrived, similar but way smaller than the one we would see in Kandy the next day. Check out the elephants coming out of the wall in the upper right (below).
The temple is a brilliant white so in the photos below it's hard to see the elephant sculptures in the walls.
Guardians and Doors.
The innermost room of the temple and its three large images of the Buddha.
And another few kilometers down the road to Gadaladeniya, the last of the three temples.
We ride a local bus back to Kandy...
... and relax at the hotel pool.
I was really tempted by Stage 1 of the Pekoe Trail, but the weather was hot, so we opted for the Three Temple Loop walk outside Kandy, a 7km walk that connects the Embekke, Lankathilake, and Gadaladeniya Buddhist temples all dating from the 14th century. It turned out to be a good outing. I was amazed by the wood carving at Embekke: 1)old wooden structures rarely survive - they must be rainforest wood 2)the intricate carvings are reminiscent of stone carvings from the same period in church cloisters in Europe - but these are finer.
Lankathilake is particularly photogenic, embellished with elephant sculptures coming out of the walls, and it also has a Hindu side. Hmmmm. There was some ritual going on, which we didn't quite understand until we visited the Tooth Relic Temple.
Gadaladeniya Temple, apparently in perpetual renovation, is known for its ancient stone carvings. Today, the nearby villages are known for their brasswork (see below).
Embekka Dewalaya Buddhist Temple.
The amazing carvings on the wooden columns: "Wrestlers, Swans, Lion and Elephant Fight, Warrior"
There was a rice granary in the temple complex. Rice = wealth = power.
One of the several Buddha images.
A well-behaved, 4-bus-load group of school kids came in as we were leaving.
On the walk to the second temple we passed a mosque, a White-Throated Kingfisher, a traditional pambaya (traditional Sri Lankan scarecrow with a realistic head), and farmers harvesting rice.
The Lankathilaka Temple is perched on the top of a large rock outcrop - large not huge. Later in the trip we would see huge. The south approach has steps cut out of the granite.
This temple also had a granary.
There was a ceremony in action when we arrived, similar but way smaller than the one we would see in Kandy the next day. Check out the elephants coming out of the wall in the upper right (below).
The temple is a brilliant white so in the photos below it's hard to see the elephant sculptures in the walls.
Guardians and Doors.
The innermost room of the temple and its three large images of the Buddha.
And another few kilometers down the road to Gadaladeniya, the last of the three temples.
We ride a local bus back to Kandy...
... and relax at the hotel pool.
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Kandy: Tooth Relic Temple
According to the Tooth Relic Temple website , on Wednesdays there is a ritual of tooth washing, in addition to daily rituals. What we had no...
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