Why is the tooth relic festival in Kandy, Sri Lanka, important to Buddhist pilgrims?

The festival in Kandy, known as the Esala Perahera, is of profound importance to Buddhist pilgrims because it commemorates the sacred tooth relic of the Buddha housed at the Temple of the Tooth.

This relic is considered Sri Lanka’s most significant Buddhist shrine. According to tradition, the tooth was retrieved from the Buddha’s funeral pyre and eventually brought to Sri Lanka in the 4th century. Historically, the possession of this relic was believed to grant a ruler the divine right to govern the land, cementing its status as a powerful symbol of both religious and political authority.1

For pilgrims, the temple serves as a site of deep devotion where the relic is kept within a series of gold and jeweled caskets. The annual Esala Perahera—a 10-day torchlight parade featuring dancers, drummers, and decorated elephants—is one of the largest Buddhist celebrations in the world, providing a focal point for the global Buddhist community to pay homage to this sacred object.23