Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c12.1782

v1.c12.1782

2. Kāliṅga.—A country: the Kāliṅgaraṭṭha. It is one of the seven political divisions mentioned in the time of the mythical king Reṇu and is given first in the list, its capital being Dantapura and its king Sattabhū.¹ It is not, however, included in the list of sixteen Janapadas appearing in the Aṅguttara Nikāya,² but is found in the extended list of the Niddesa.³ A later tradition⁴ states that after the Buddha’s death, a Tooth was taken from among his relics and placed at Kāliṅga, where it was worshipped. From Kāliṅga the Tooth was brought to Ceylon, in the time of King Sirimeghavaṇṇa, by Hemamālā, daughter of Guhasīva, king of Kāliṅga, and her husband Dantakumāra, a prince of the Ujjeni royal family. In Ceylon the Tooth became the “Palladium” of the Sinhalese kings.⁵