Dantapuram

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Buddhas Tooth at Dantapura, the capital of the Kalingas.

The word danta means tooth. While ancient Dantapuram sank into oblivion, Kandy receives tens of thousands of visitors every month. A site of great religious and historical significance is Dantapuram, a small village in Srikakulam district. Historians believe it to be the capital of Kalinga Kingdom. Emperor Asoka fought kalinga war in 261 BC. Archaeologists infer that one tooth of Lord Buddha was taken to Kandy in Sri Lanka from Dantapuram.

Dantapura, the reputed capital of ancient Kalingas. There is similarity between Dantavuram and Dantapura of the Buddhist chronicles induces me to identify Dantavuram. This identification is also corroborated by the writings of the ancient Roman geographer, Pliny who mentions about the Calingoe in his Natural History.

People of Amudalavalasa and the neighbourhood near Srikakulam Road railway station point out to a site which is within two miles from the railway station and where stands to this day a huge earthen wall about a mile in length and a large opening into it in the middle which is said to be the place where stood once the main gateway or the simhadvara into the fort and call the place Dantavuram