History of sacred tooth

After the Parinirvana of lord Buddha The Sacred Tooth wass preserved in Kalinga Desha, India. The Kalinga king Guhasiva in the 4th century AD sends the tooth relic to Sri Lanka with Prince Danta and Princess Hemamala to safe guard the most sacred relic of lord Buddha from enemies. They landed in the island in Lankapattana during the reign of Sirimeghavanna of Anuradhapura (301-328) and handed over the tooth relic.

The tooth relic became a symbol of status denoting the right to ascend the throne, and later kings in the kingdoms of Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and Dambadeniya built temples for the relic close to the royal residences. In the era of the Kotte Kingdom, the temple of the tooth was situated in the toyal city – Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte. With the rise of the Kingdom of Kandy the Tooth of Lord Buddha was brought to the city, where it was housed in a two story building by the King Vimaladharmasuriya I. The building did not survive the ravages of time. 

The tooth relic was taken into hiding during the Portugese Invasion in 1603. It was brought back to Kandy by King Rajasingha II almost half a century later, and rehoused in a building identical to the former building. The current temple of the tooth was built by King Vira Parakrama Narendra Singha in the early 1700s. There was further construction on the moat and octagonal structure by the later King Sri Wickrama Rajasingha.It was attacked in 1998 by the terrorist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and got repaired.