From Dambulla we continued towards Kandy. En-route we had a stop at a spice garden – where we got a good introduction into spice production, before making it over to the showroom for the sales pitch; lunch came together with a small cooking presentation – and I have no good photos of any of that.

We made it into Kandy in the afternoon; after a short break we got together again for a quick orientation tour of town and a walk through the market – before making it to the Temple of the Tooth for the evening puja.

The temple of the tooth houses the sacred tooth of Buddha, per the story taken straight from the Buddha’s funeral fire in the 5th century BC. In the 4th century the tooth made it to Sri Lanka and quickly became a symbol of sovereignty – the tooth was essentially the key of power for the island.

Today the tooth is the single most important Buddhist relic on the whole island and has a special place in the temple of the tooth in Kandy. The tooth itself is contained in a special dagoba/stupa-shapped container; the container is presented to the public during puja – i.e. three times a day – – and we were now here for evening puja.

Puja itself was a bit underwhelming – likely due to the number of people around (tourists and worshipers alike); the overall atmosphere was festive though.