Unaccustomed as we are to changing plans at the last minute, we seem to have managed the challenge. Instead of flying in to Jaffna and spending two days on the eastern coast, as a result of the cancellation of our flight and the impending cyclone, we flew in to Colombo yesterday and spent last night in Kandy.
True, we strayed from our usual style by staying in a fifteen-storey hotel full of tour groups with a man in the bar singing cover versions of ‘Take me home, country road’ and ‘Hallelujah’ , but one can hardly expect those chic boutique hotels with the highest ratings to be keeping a room for us.
And we got to visit Kandy, Sri Lanka’s second city and home to the most important religious shrine – the Temple of the Tooth. For those of you who have not been to Sri Lanka , the temple houses Buddha’s tooth which had been travelling around Sri Lanka and India before it settled here in the sixteenth century.
We passed through a beautiful but somber garden with statues of child heroes and other notable figures:
We noticed armed policemen in the shade of the gorgeous trees which seemed out of keeping with this lovely spot but we understood why: the temple was badly damaged in 1998 when the LTT detonated a bomb outside the entrane and killed more than 20 people.
We were just in time to witness the crowds for the puja who, holding their beautiful flower offerings, are crushed together as they file up the stairs and past the door to the room holding a big gold casket containing the tooth.
Needless to say, we decided to hang out and watch the musicians playing their instruments loudly before going in search of the Tooth Relic museum.
The tooth relic museum (no photos) was a bit of a mish-mash of tooth-related paraphernalia including objects offered to the Tooth Relic by former Sri Lankan presidents. But we learnt what the relic is purported to be – this is one of the Buddha’s teeth rescued from his cremation in 543 BCE. The tooth was smuggled in to Sri Lanka in the hair of an Orissan princess in the fourth century and then moved around the country until it was captured by a Pandyan army from South India in the thirteenth century. Four years later, the Sri Lankans got it back and it then travelled some more before coming to rest in Kandy in the sixteenth century,
We moved on to the Raja Museum, Raja being the elephant who, for more than fifty years, carried the tooth relic in its casket at the annual celebrations. He’s now been stuffed and has his own museum where people worship before him – he was so important that, when he died in 1988, the government ordered a day of national mourning:
It’s been really difficult to replace Raja because they need a Sathdantha elephant – that is, the elephant must not only be male and over twelve feet tall but also that all seven parts of the body (four legs, trunk, penis and tail) must touch the ground when they stand upright. Not so easy to come by … (We saw a wild elephant on the road this evening but didn’t have the opportunity to check out the relevant elements.)
We are sorry not to show you photos of the unique Museum of World Buddhism – a collection of displays sponsored by different countries showing off their Buddhist heritage – Buddhist travel advertising, we guessed,
But we did see an amazing group of mostly women who turned out to be from Tibet. They were not only dressed in full Tibetan traditional dress in temperatures of 30 degrees, but they had also brought their own slippers with them as they knew they would have to be shoeless to visit the sights:
We particularly liked the guy who had created his own version to protect his feet.
And have you got your own slippers with you too? Sounds like a great, albeit alternative, start to the adventures.
Sadly no, we hadn’t packed slippers and are now reusing the quite grubby socks for future holy visits. Will now always pack slippers ( am now always packing a vest after surprisingly chilly India trip and, now I come to think of it, having to buy a thermal fleece in a Bulgarian early summer – clue is in the word early I guess)
What wonderful info….
And that’s only the beginning! Lots more tooth and non tooth related rivalries over thousands of years plus, I’m sure, more about elephants and their dimensions
I could just imagine you muttering and sighing at the sound of ‘Take me home, country road’ and ‘Hallelujah’ ! Well done on your flexibility! Sounds like you had a good time anyway.
One of the few advantages of age related hearing loss is that you miss the choruses altogether so much of the music was just a faintly annoying blur ( vastly preferable to actually recognising the song) – and yes, a good time was had!
Glad you made it to Kandy and pleased to see the blue skies. Have to confess we decided to give the tooth a miss and visit some quieter temples in the hills above Kandy and the botanical gardens
Trust you’ll soon be back on track
Yes, on track now. The Tooth complex ( sounds just a little like an affliction I fear) is very nice to visit, lots to look at and I suspect the 5.30 am puja is much quieter ( well, it’s bound to be) but yes, you’re probably right to go for quieter spots and I’m sure the botanical gardens are lovely.
Apologies to Anonymous (whoever you are) – I accidentally deleted your comment when approving it, so, for the benefit of everyone else’s amusement, here it is again:
“ The guy’s plastic boots are also readily for sale in Venice during aqua alta… Looks like you made the most of a diverting experience!!!‘
And there was me thinking the guy had made the boots himself from recycled plastic and they turn out to be a Venetian fashion item… and yes, definitely a diverting experience…
What a fascinating day you seem to have had – hope it compensated for not missing Jaffna! Where to begin with the questions – was child execution common, what had the poor nine-year old done, did his brother die too, wouldn’t elephants with ground-trailing penises have been evolved out of existence on the grounds of hygiene. And finally, did you see The Tooth?
Well, thank you for your range of thoughtful questions, none of which I can answer with even a pretence of truth. My brief responses ( in order) are: yes, spoken out of turn ( about practically anything), no, sentenced to hard labour for life, maybe they have been and hence the problem in finding a Rajah Replacement and NO! The Tooth is only taken out of its gold Tooth Casket very 10 years and sadly this wasn’t one of those years. Thank you so much for your interest.
Glad you managed to retrieve your trip. It doesn’t sound as if Kandy has a lot to offer if a tooth and a stuffed elephant were highlights….
Well, you don’t actually get to see the Tooth but Rajah was impressive. We also had a nice lunch.
I saw Raja when I was a teenager – we happened to be there when they paraded Buddha’s tooth. He was truly magnificent, and stunningly decorated. You have brought back memories!!
Lovely to hear from you, Kate. You are definitely the only person I know who has actually seen the famous Raja – how extraordinary! Thanks for sharing. Xxx