With the enshrinement of the Tooth Relic in the Abhayagiri Vihara, King Mahasen initiated a second symbol of royal authority, the first being the Bodhi in Mahavihara. So it was; that as long as the king's writ ran from Anuradhapura, two annual festivals were conducted with great splendour and piety.The tooth relic was taken in procession from Abhayagiri vihara and a solemn ceremony of bathing the Bodhi Tree was performed at the maha vihara.

This even tenor of Buddhist ritual was broken in th twelfth century and centuries that followed.

Foreign invasions and civil wars took the relic first to Polonnaruwa, during which period the belief took root that the pocession of the Tooth relic gave the ruler the legal sanctity of kingly power.

Parakramabahu I after his conquest of Rajarata fought and won a difficult campaign against queen Sugala of Ruhuna to capture the Tooth Relic. From Polonnaruwa The Relic bequeathed a Temple to each of the cities through which it was conducted: Dambadeniya;Kurunegala;Kotte;Kandy.

After the kandyan convention of 1815 , John D'oyly's greatest concern was to retrieve the Tooth Relic from it's place of concealment which was Puhulpitiya in Kotmale.On 3 May 1815 it was brought in procession andplaced in the inner sanctum of Dalada Maligawa.

The eminent Archeologist Hocart gives an interesting account of maligava as it stood before new building was constructed.According to that description the ground floor had two rooms. The first was called the Dig-ge.Worshippers had to get into a upper chamber called "Sandalwood Shed"which led to another ante-chamber.The third chamber was callled the "Athul Maligawa" where in the sacred Relic reposes.

An important clause in the chronicle Dalada Siritha is that no one could be molested within the sacred precincts of dalada maligawa.The Pattirippuwa or the Octagon ; A unique architectural feature of Maligawa has come to stay as part of the national art and architercture.It was built for state functions and for the king to receive greetings form his subjects.

Even today the Maaligawa occupies a unique position in the life of people of Sri Lanka.Not only during festive days ;But through out the year the throb of drums, the wail of the fife,the clang of the cymbals and the call of the conch continues to resonate within the chambers of this hallowed shrine reminding us of oblations that have been performed throughout the ages.

Closely associated with the Maligawa is "the Maha Maluwa"which exactly means the Great Terrace.The Kandyan kings held maha Maluwa in great esteem and considered it a sacred place.Early rulers of the kingdom exhibited the Tooth Relic at the MAha Maluwa for the Public veneration.