The Temple of Tooth

                                                               

The Temple of Tooth is the destination of highest pedestal among the adherents of Buddhism in Sri Lanka. It is the most sacred temple in the whole of Sri Lanka visited by hundreds of people everyday. The temple took nearly 100 years to build. The construction commenced in 1687 and finished in 1782. It is the grandest temple in Sri Lanka with an imposing pink-painted structure, encircled by a deep moat.

Buddhism in Sri Lanka harks back to 2nd century BC. The religion was introduced in Sri Lanka in 2nd century BC by Mahendra, the son of renowned Indian Emperor Ashoka.. He visited Sri Lanka during the reign of Sri Lanka's King Devanampiyatissa. A sapling of the Bodhi Tree, under which Buddha achieved enlightenment, was also brought to the country. It was planted at Anuradhapura, today placed as the most sacred town in the island. It is held in high regard by the Buddhists.

Contribution of Sri Lankan Monks

 
During the 1st century AD, the Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka penned down the Tripitaka or the , the three baskets of the Teachings, known as the Pali scriptures. They also contributed significantly in spreading Buddhism to South-east Asia.

Branches of Buddhism in Sri Lanka

Buddhism in Sri Lanka has two major sects - Theravada and Hinyana. However most Sri Lankans are the followers of Theravada school. Theravada itself can be segregated into three different sects.

Siyam Nikaya: Official line of monastic line broke in the 18th century since the monks were unaware of the Pali tradition. For ordaining Sinhalese novice monks, the Kandyan ruler invited the Theravada monks from Thailand. The reformed sect later came to be known as Siyam Nikaya.

Amarapura Nikaya: Upper castes in Sri Lankan society dominated the monastic community. As a reaction people of rising low-country castes initiated this sect.

Ramanna Nikaya: There were disputes among the Lankan Buddhists regarding the doctrine and the practice of meditation.

History

According to legend, the tooth was taken from the Buddha as he lay on his funeral pyre. It was smuggled to Sri Lanka in 313 AD, hidden in the hair of Princess Hemamali who fled the Hindu armies besieging her father's kingdom in India.
It immediately became an object of great reverence and was enshrined in a series of nested jeweled reliquaries. The tooth was brought out for special occasions and paraded on the backs of elephants, which are sacred to the Buddha. where it survived numerous attempts to capture and destroy it.
When the capital was moved to Kandy, the tooth was taken to the new city and placed in temples built to honor it. The temple was originally built under Kandyan kings between 1687 and 1707, but later severely damaged during the 18th-century colonial wars against the Portugese and Dutch. After the wars, the original wooden structures were restored in stone.

In January 1998 Hindu Tamil separatists bombed the temple, damaging its facade and roof. Restoration began immediately afterward.