6:10 am, 25th January 1998

The Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy, Sri Lanka, the temple which houses the Sacred Tooth Relic of the Lord Buddha, is possibly the most sacred Buddhist shrine in the world. It is venerated not only by Buddhists in Sri Lanka but also by Buddhists all over the world.
A UNESCO designated World Heritage Centre, millions of pilgrims and Buddhists and non-Buddhist visitors from all countries of the world visit this historic centre in Kandy, Sri Lanka.
The sacred Tooth Relic was brought to Sri Lanka from India during the reign of King Sirimeghavanna (303 - 331 AC) and has been protected by successive kings and the Buddhist monastic order through the centuries. The archaeological remains of earlier Tooth Relic temples exist at a number of earlier capitals, such as the World Heritage Sites of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. The shrine in Kandy is the last in a long, historic succession. The Tooth Relic Temple is one of the finest examples of architecture associated with the Second Kandyan Kingdom (1592-1815 AC). It is two-storeyed structure, last re-built in the early 18th Century by King Narendrasinghe (1707-1739 AC). The temple preserves an architectural form that goes back more than a thousand years. It is constructed of stone, and timber, with a tiled roof and elaborate paintings, wood and stone carvings and metal reliefs.
At 6:10 am on 25th January 1998, suicide carders of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) exploded a massive truck bomb at the entrance to the Sri Dalada Maligawa killing 8 persons including 2-year old infant and injuring about 25 others, all peaceful innocent civilians, who were on their way to offer alms at the temple that morning.