Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic or locally known as the Sri Dalada Maligawa is the center of the Buddhist faith in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. This place of worship is located in the royal palace complex which houses a relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since the past, the relic has played a major role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic, he or she has the legal government to control the county. Kandy was the last kingdom of the Sri Lankan kings and it is a UNESCO world heritage site partly due to the temple.
Monks of the two divisions of Malwatte and Asgiriya conduct daily worship in the inner chamber of the temple. Rituals of worship and ceremony start from within the inner chamber of the temple, It happens three times a day (dawn, noon, and evenings).
The Kandy Esala Perahera also known as The Festival of the Tooth is one of the oldest and grandest of all Buddhist festivals in Sri Lanka. Event with elegant costumes and is held in July and August in Kandy, Sri Lanka. This historical and attractive ceremony is held annually to pay homage to the Sacred Tooth Relic of Lord Buddha. This unique Sri Lankan event consists of many traditional local dances such as fire dances, whip-dances, Kandyan dances, and various other cultural dances. This festival ends with the traditional diya-kepeema ceremony, It is a water cutting ceremony that is held at the Mahaweli River at Getambe, Kandy.
