The relic of the tooth of Buddha (
Palidanta dhātuya) is venerated in
Sri Lanka as a sacred
cetiyarelic of the
Buddha, who is the founder of
Buddhism, the fourth largest religion worldwide.
History
The relic in India
According to Sri Lankan legends, when the Buddha died in 543 BC, his body was cremated in a
sandalwood pyre at
Kushinagar and his left canine tooth was retrieved from the funeral pyre by his disciple,
Khema. Khema then gave it to King Brahmadatte for veneration.[1] It became a royal possession in Brahmadatte's country and was kept in the city of Dantapura (modern
Dantapuram).
A belief grew that whoever possessed the tooth relic had a divine right to rule that land.[2] The Dāṭhāvaṃsa recounts the tale of a war fought over the relic 800 years later between Guhasiva of
the republic of Kalinga and a king named Pandu.[3]
The relic in Sri Lanka
Legend states the
Abhayagiri vihāra was first appointed custodianship of the relic when it was brought to the island after the conflict in Kalinga. As time went on, the land was threatened with foreign invasions; at one time, King
Bayinnaung of
Toungoo dynasty in Burma had offered the Portuguese invaders £50,000 as ransom to save the sacred tooth;[1] and the seat of the kingdom was moved from
Anuradhapura to
Polonnaruwa, then to
Dambadeniya and other cities. Upon each change of capital, a new palace was built to enshrine the relic. Finally, it was brought to
Kandy where it is at present, in the
Temple of the Tooth.[2] The scholar Charles Boxer, however, claimed that the tooth was "publicly pounded to smithereens with a mortar and pestle by
the Archbishop of Goa"[4] as one of the results of
the Church's attempt to eradicate native religions [no date given but inferred 1550s or so].
The relic came to be regarded as a
symbolic representation of the Buddha and it is on this basis that there grew up a series of offerings, rituals, and ceremonies. These are conducted under the supervision of the two
Mahanayakas of Malwatte, Asgiriya chapters, and
Diyawadana Nilame of the Maligawa. These have a hierarchy of officials and temple functionaries to perform the services and rituals.[5]
Other tooth relics
Aside from the relic in Sri Lanka, several relics in other countries are also reputed to be a tooth-relic of the Buddha.