Somawathie stupa in a national park

The ancient chronicles of Sri Lanka mention only one Tooth Relic which came to the island. This Tooth Relic is enshrined in Sri Lanka’s most sacred temple, the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, also known as Tooth Relic. Not many foreigners know that there is a second place of worship where another tooth of the Buddha is believed to be enshrined. The Somawathie stupa, also known as Somawathiya Chaitiya, is situated in the national park of the same name, which is on the left bank of the Mahaweli River, to the north of Polonnaruwa and Flood Plains National Park. It is named after Princess Somawathie, who was the sister of King Kavantissa and aunt of King Dutthagamani. Her husband is said to have built the dagaba in the 2nd century BC for a tooth relic brought by Monk Mahinda, the first Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka.

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