The Relic Of Lord Buddha's Tooth | The Story Of Unique Sri Lankan Temple, Where The Buddha's Original Tooth Is Preserved And Saved Through Ages

Lord Buddha, also known as Gautam Buddha, whose life span is generally given from 563 to 483 BC, and thousands of years have elapsed since that time. But you will be surprised to know that there is such a wonderful Temple in Sri Lanka, where even today it is claimed to have kept the tooth of Lord Buddha.

Buddha took Mahasamadhi in 483 BC and his mortal remains were cremated in a sandalwood pyre at Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, India. While the pyre was burning, there was a debate among Buddha's disciples as to who would keep the ashes of Buddha's body. Meanwhile, a female disciple of Buddha named Khema retrieved a left upper canine tooth of Buddha from the funeral pyre. 

Khema reached King Brahmadatta who was ruling the Kalinga kingdom at that time. She gave the tooth to the King for veneration. The tooth was kept in Dantapuram for about 800 years. Dantapuram translates as "The City of Tooth". Around the 4th century, a king named Pandu ordered this tooth to be burnt, but due to its miraculous powers, it survived.

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A belief grew that whoever possesses this tooth gets a boon from the divine to rule that land. This was the reason that many battles were fought to get the tooth and in doing so the tooth went into the hands of many kings. But in 1268, a follower of Lord Buddha secretly took the tooth to Sri Lanka, in the mountainous region of Kandy. A huge grand temple was built there for this relic of Buddha where the tooth was kept with reverence. 

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But around 1640, the Portuguese colonizers stole the tooth from there. A Catholic bishop ordered the tooth to be destroyed, but the tooth again remained intact. Not only this, the tooth magically reached back to Kandy in Sri Lanka, where it is still present. The tooth is placed in a small box inside the temple and people visiting the temple can see that tooth. Although the tooth is not shown to anyone by opening the box. It is even said that the tooth of Lord Buddha is so miraculous that it is increasing in size day by day.