Sanctuary of the sacred tooth relic
View(s):In the village of Kuruwita is a temple, which was conferred the responsibility of sheltering the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha during the dark years of Sri Lankan history.
For 40 years Delagamuwa Raja Maha Viharaya protected the sacred relic from many parties including the invading Portugeese, who were not only seeking to destroy the most revered symbol of Buddhism but the token of ownership to the throne of the country, and the child king of Kotte, King Dharmapala. 
The political turmoil created by the arrival of Portuguese and the death of the King of Kotte Buwanakabahu the Seventh led the then Diyawadana Nilame, the lay custodian of the tooth relic, Hiripitiye Divana Rala to move the relic out of Kotte to King Mayadunne of Sitawaka for safe keeping in 1549.
The king fearing a Portuguese invasion at any moment had the relic hidden at the Delgamuwa Vihara. The incumbent thera of the Vihara, sensing danger, ordered a series of artificial replicas to be made in ivory. Keeping one of them in the place where the original was, one was given to Vidiya Bandara, the rebelling father of King Dharmapala and had concealed the genuine relic inside a large grinding stone, large enough to hold the almost four feet gold casket holding the tooth relic.
Proving the fears of the incumbent thera to be true one of the first steps taken by Portuguese was to destroy the original Dalada Maligawa or the Shrine of the Tooth Relic at Kotte Kingdom and to build a Catholic Church on its place. They then invaded Sitawaka and carried away the artificial relic, imagining it to be the original, and sent it to Goa to be destroyed. However, they were quick in 
realising their mistake and were soon on the track of Rebel leader Veediya Bandara for the tooth relic. He too was later captured with a replica in possession by the Portuguese. Having retrieved what they believed to be was the sacred tooth relic, the Portuguese quickly dispatched it to the Bishop in Goa, India, who grounded and burnt the ‘pagan’ token.
Meanwhile, the giant grinding stone in Delgamuwa was keeping its precious possession safe and all the rituals entitled to the sacred tooth relic was being performed in secret at the Delgamuwa Rajamaha Viharaya. In 1592 King Wimaladarmasuriya of Kandy, who was declared the king of tri state reclaimed the sacred relic, a token of royalty and possession to the throne in Sri Lanka, and moved the relic to its own palace in Senkadagala ending its 40 year stay in Delgamuwa.
Few years after the removal the Portuguese ransacked the Delgamuwa Viharaya and robbed the temple of its treasures and built a fortress in its vicinity. 
Today only few memories of the once glorious sanctuary of the tooth relic remain. The temple was rebuilt during the 17th century and has lost its ancient grandeur but in it remains its most proud possession, a grinding stone of mammoth proportions, once the hiding place of the sacred tooth relic of Lord Buddha.
How To Get There
Colombo → Padukka → Ingiriya →Indangoda → Horana Road→Gorokella Juntion → Gonapitiya Road → Kuruwita → Kuruwita Post office → Saddhatissa Mawatha → Delgamauwa Raja Maha Vihara (78.8 Km – 1 Hour 41min)
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