No Fixed Abode: Toothache

Fri 22 Apr 2016 - The Sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic (Sri Dalada Maligawa)

Early morning Glenn hopped out of bed to re-visit the train station to get our tickets for the journey in a few days time. Running the gauntlet under the roosting trees at the side of the lake (where he’d received an unwelcome message last night) he looked up to see a host (is that the correct collective noun?) of giant fruit bats dangling from the branches.

At the station Glenn formed a queue between the two counters and was joined by some other tourists but just as a server became free he noticed a local lad, who ignored the tourist queue, aim straight to the front. Glenn was having none of this so he quickly barged in front of him firmly advising him that he needed to join the back of the queue to which the lad remonstrated with Glenn and apparently muttered and cursed behind him during the whole transaction. Surely the British would have shown the Sri Lankans how to queue!

Back at base breakfast included a traditional Roti, an unleavened bread with shredded coconut and onions to try. Not bad at all.

Making our way to the camera repair shop being relatively easy to find, we noticed how much quieter the city was compared to yesterday with Poya, which apparently happens every month with the full moon. The camera repair man tutted and mentioned new lens and could promise to have it ready today for 4.30pm. Yeah, let’s see if that actually happens and the estimate doesn’t go up quite a bit. Today’s photos on the phone camera then.

We sauntered to the entrance to the Sri Dalada Maligawa, The Sacred Temple of the Tooth Relic. This temple houses a tooth of Buddha and is Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic - indeed one of the most important in the world. This attracts pilgrims from all over the world. The complex is large and the setting serene with Kandy Lake in front and the Udawatta forest behind it. The golden canopy over the temple was gifted by the President of Sri Lanka in 1987 and quite impressive it is too. The walk to the main entrance passes a statue of a famous monk who brought down the British Flag and hoisted the Sri Lankan flag before the Kandy treaty in 1815. Fancy that, a man of peace leading a revolt. Passing another statue all in gold of the famous Prince and Princess who brought the the sacred tooth relic from India to Sri Lanka back in 312 BC. The tooth always belonged to the Kings of Sri Lanka as their own property with the common man having no access to it. With several foreign invasions and the belief whoever possessed the tooth would rule the kingdom, this sacred object was moved from place to place nine times around the country as a safety precaution.

We paid our foreigners entrance fee, the locals go in for free, and placed our shoes in the shade. We passed the lotus flower sellers and joined the moving queue with the locals carrying their offerings. It was quite busy as the morning ritual held between 9.30 and 11.00am was coming to an end and people were rushing to get in the temple. Climbing the wooden stairs we entered the main room, the tooth relic shrine where the crowds were quite overwhelming. Inside the inner chamber is the golden casket which contains the sacred tooth relic. It is supposed to be encased in seven baskets inside a bullet proof chamber. A smaller golden basket carried by the temple elephant during the full moon festival in July/August is also housed inside the shrine. We passed through and found a quiet corner to watch people making their offerings, praying or just walking by. It wasn’t the calm or serene experience we had been expecting, just the opposite infact. We walked downstairs to the new palace built in 1936 where a large golden Buddha statue sits along huge elephant tusks displayed either side of him and twenty paintings around the room explain the story behind the tooth relic.

Wanting to get value for money from our ticket we went to the museum housing rare manuscripts, statues, murals, carvings and copious amount of artifacts which have been made as offerings over the years to the tooth relic. As much as we both don’t agree with ivory carvings, there were amazingly beautiful pieces there from past centuries.

We needed to take a break as we were hotting up so took refuge under a fine wooden open air building used as the Royal Court Assembly Room and we found a wisp of a breeze to try to cool down. As we tired of people watching, we gathered ourselves to visit a small room dedicated to Raja, the revered tusker elephant and second national treasure, who faithfully carried out his duties during the annual July/August procession for 50 years. A taxidermist had done a good job on him and he did look quite regal.

A quick walk through museums of stone carvings and wooden relics with no english information on, apart from ‘do not touch’ led us back to the main entrance where we gathered our shoes which were boiling as the sun had moved around. We really are amateurs at keep out of the sun.

A stroll around the lake took us back to the hotel for a quick refresh and cuppa, then Glenn picked up the fully repaired camera at 4.30pm, as promised, and costing exactly as quoted - our faith restored in Sri Lankan commerce - however, despite asking in several different ways he was unable to ascertain what had been the problem as the staff didn’t speak very good English.

For dinner we had koththu, a speciality dish we’d tried to order the previous two nights, that we asked for the chef to make specially for us. It is an eclectic mix of thinly sliced meat, veg and roti that had been lightly spiced for our European palate and tasted great.