Buddha'S Tooth

Among the many shrines of Buddha in Ceylon the most famous is that of his far-travelled "Tooth."

The origin of the worship of this relic is accounted for by tradition. It is said that at the death of Buddha, eighty cities disputed the possession of his mortal remains. The difficulty of a decision was amicably settled by a distribution of his body in sections. Of these, the Island of Ceylon possesses two, a sacred "Tooth" and the left "Collar-bone."

The "Tooth relic" was, until very lately, carefully guarded by the British Government of Ceylon, as the Palladium of her sovereignty over the island. At the funeral of Buddha "the Tooth" fell to the lot of Kalinga, in India, and was magnificently enshrined on the spot where now stands the celebrated temple of Juggernath, at Puri. It remained there for eight centuries, performing many miracles; but upon the invasion of the country by the Mohammedans it was conveyed to Ceylon, concealed in the hair of a king's daughter. It reached Ceylon 911 A. D., and has ever since been preserved in the great temple of Kandy.