Devanampiya Tissa is said to have received…

Devanampiya Tissa is said to have received Buddha's right collarbone and his revered alms bowl from Asoka and to have built the Thuparama Dagoba, or stupa (Buddhist shrine), to honor these highly revered relics.

Another relic, Buddha's sacred tooth, will arrive in Sri Lanka in the fourth century CE.

The possession of the Tooth Relic will come to be regarded as essential for the legitimization of Sinhalese royalty and will remain so until its capture and probable destruction by the Portuguese in 1560

The sacred Tooth Relic (thought by many to be a substitute) that is venerated in the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy links legendary Sri Lanka with the modern era.

The annual procession of Perahera held in honor of the sacred Tooth Relic will serve as a powerful unifying force for the Sinhalese in the twentieth century.

Asoka's daughter, Sanghamitta, is recorded as having brought to the island a branch of the sacred bo tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment.

According to legend, the tree that grew from this branch is near the ruins of the ancient city of Anuradhapura in the north of Sri Lanka.

The tree is said to be the oldest living thing in the world and is an object of great veneration.