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Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.<br/><br/> Kandy is Sri Lanka's second biggest city with a population of around 170,000 and is the cultural centre of the whole island. For about two centuries (until 1815) it was the capital of Sri Lanka.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.<br/><br/> Kandy is Sri Lanka's second biggest city with a population of around 170,000 and is the cultural centre of the whole island. For about two centuries (until 1815) it was the capital of Sri Lanka.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is located in the royal palace complex and houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is believed that whoever holds the relic holds the governance of the country.
Sri Lanka had always been an important port and trading post in the ancient world, and was increasingly frequented by merchant ships from the Middle East, Persia, Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia. The islands were known to the first European explorers of South Asia and settled by many groups of Arab and Malay merchants.<br/><br/> A Portuguese colonial mission arrived on the island in 1505 headed by Lourenço de Almeida, the son of Francisco de Almeida. At that point the island consisted of three kingdoms, namely Kandy in the central hills, Kotte at the Western coast, and Yarlpanam (Anglicised Jaffna) in the north. The Dutch arrived in the 17th century. The British East India Company took over the coastal regions controlled by the Dutch in 1796, and in 1802 these provinces were declared a crown colony under direct rule of the British government, therefore the island was not part of the British Raj. The annexation of the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815 by the Kandyan convention, unified the island under British rule.<br/><br/> European colonists established a series of cinnamon, sugar, coffee, indigo cultivation followed by tea and rubber plantations and graphite mining. The British also brought a large number of indentured workers from Tamil Nadu to work in the plantation economy. The city of Colombo was developed as the administrative centre and commercial heart with its harbor, and the British established modern schools, colleges, roads and churches that introduced Western culture.<br/><br/> On 4 February 1948 the country gained its independence as the Dominion of Ceylon. It changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972.