Sri Lanka pilgrimage - Kandy and the Sacred Tooth Temple

With three buses almost a hundred people we continued the journey to other sacred places of Sri Lanka, first in the direction of Kandy. Thanks to Orgyan Tobgyal Rinpoche and other courageous volunteers, we travelled in style and firstly enjoyed a grand buffet at the outskirts of Kandy. 

Buffet near Kandy

The first thing scheduled was a dance performance of the famed Kandyan dance style. The dance, just as any practice done at most Tibetan monasteries, started with a blowing of the conch. After that, when the drums started, the whole audience was mesmerized. I'm not someone who visits theatres a lot, but this was certainly thrilling. Dance acts followed up in rapid succession, never becoming boring. 

Kandyan Dance

Most of the dance is performed as an offering to the Buddha. At the end the dancers showed their courage by walking on burning coals, and rolling flames alongside their body and on their tongue. The fire dance goes back to the myth of Seetha, Ram, and the demon Ravana.

Playing with fire

Description of the dances part 1

Description of the dances part 2

The next day the main attraction was planned, the Sacred Tooth temple, or Sri Dalada Maligawa. 

Temple of the Sacred Tooth from across the lake

When the Buddha passed away, he was cremated in a sandalwood pyre. Then, the Arhat Kema

obtained the sacred tooth of the Buddha. It was kept in India, in Kalinga, until it was brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century. In the main hall, beautiful paintings portray an elaborate history of the tooth relic. The tooth has a special shrine room dedicated to it, and musical offerings are made a few times a day. It is only displayed to the public once every few years. Since we travelled in a large group we were fortunate and were allowed to -quickly- visit the inner shrine room.

Main shrine hall (thanks to Boon for the photo)

Painting portraying the Arhat Kema obtaining the tooth relic

Bodhi trees abound in Sri Lanka. This is the one at the sacred tooth temple
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Lighting candles

For budget travellers, Kandy certainly has some cheaper places to stay and dine. We stayed in a double room for 2000 rupees and had an elaborate breakfast for 4 persons at a large middle class restaurant for only 800 rupees