24th September 1981

Our morning expedition was to the famous Temple of the Tooth down on the lakeside. The tooth is the famous canine tooth of Buddha enclosed in eight caskets all of gold. Three times a day the shrine enclosing the tooth is opened for the people to view, and at festival time the Tooth Casket is carried around the city on the back of a huge elephant – a tusker splendidly jewelled for the celebration. Once every five years, the tooth itself is viewed.

In the evening, after a quick trip to the Market and a walk through Kandy’s main streets, we went to a Kandy Dance Evening and watched men and women perform some of the local dances. There were lots of costumes, feathers and loud music but it was exciting and I must say, very different to the sedate Morris dances back home.